Scary Movie 2 (2001)

The first Scary Movie was such a resounding success at the box office that inevitably, despite a promise of no sequels, it was only a matter of time before one followed. And though this movie has its share of belly laughs they should have kept that promise. Instead of this not quite as good second installment the talented Wayans brothers should have found another genre ripe for the spoofing. But alas, they instead chose to simply cash in and in doing so have compromised whatever slim hopes the first one had at someday becoming a classic.

This time around The Haunting replaces Scream as the main inspiration. And although the opening scene does a fairly humorous riff on The Exorcist it would most assuredly have been funnier if Marlon Brando had been able to fulfill his obligation instead of the duller James Woods.

The gross-out bathroom jokes are more numerous than maggots on shit. In fact the person I watched it with actually complained of being physically able to smell this movie.

The versatile young cast manages to keep things at least somewhat cohesive; especially good are Anna Faris reprising her role as Cindy Campbell and the reliable Chris Elliott, playing one of the most disgusting characters ever to grace the screen. Whereas the first Scary Movie took people by surprise, this one suffers from the fact that many of its gags can be seen coming from quite a distance. Likewise the jokes do not come as fast and furious. But hey, with the possible exception of The Godfather Part II has any sequel ever improved on the original?

Still if you are either a teenager or are simply clinging to your juvenile sense of humor then this one should tickle your funny bone. If not then why are you even reading this review?

Like the original Scary Movie, its sequel belongs to the same school of comedy as the old Airplane, and Naked Gun movies. The theory being with these sorts of movies that if you throw enough jokes out there, some of them will produce laughs. A nice theory, when it works, as it did with those older movies and even in the original Scary Movie. In this, an inferior sequel, not as many jokes work as should.

Not that there aren't some things to laugh at here, because there are some funny moments. Too many of the jokes though, rely strictly on gross-out humor and shock value. The opening spoof The Exorcist that Patrick mentioned is definitely equipped with smell-o-vision as the various characters puke, piss, and shit for laughs.

While the main thrust of this movie is based on The Haunting, they do manage to throw in a whole bunch of other movie spoofs that include Charlie's Angels, Titanic, and Hannibal, just to name a few. Unfortunately, this also dates some of the jokes, as I had to struggle to remember some of the more obscure movies they were skewering.

The best thing this movie has going for it, as Patrick implied, is the versatile cast. They all throw themselves into their roles with such enthusiasm (especially Anna Faris) that you can't help but find them likable. And in what other movie are you going to see Tori Spelling getting a blowjob from an invisible ghost?

I actually enjoyed this movie. It's just so lowbrow, gutter humor, that when I laughed it was almost with embarrassment at finding such things funny. And I'm someone who ranks the Austin Powers movies as some of my favorite movies of all time. After the movie was over I had the sudden urge to go read some Shakespeare or listen to Mozart just to cleanse myself.

If you are in a very silly mood or possibly slightly drunk, you will enjoy this movie. And at least Keenen Ivory Wayans had the good sense to keep this movie short. At just 83 minutes, the movie moves quickly past without overstaying its welcome too much.

Quite simply put, some jokes work, some don't. There are some funny lines. In one scene a skeleton is chasing Cindy when another girl says, "Cindy, this is just some bones. Would you run from Calista Flockhart?" Other lines are just too obvious to be funny. At one point Cindy gets into a fight with her cat and yells, "Someone help! My pussy's gone crazy!"

My favorite scene is when Cindy gives Buddy a hand job to keep him warm. It plays out like the final scene of Titanic. Cindy is above Buddy stroking away as he says stuff like, "I can't hold on much longer." And she yells with all seriousness, "Hold on buddy!" That is a great spoof because it takes a dramatic scene and gives it a raunchy, yet funny twist. The Charlie's Angels spoof, on the other hand, falls flat.

Anna Faris is great in the Scary Movie series. Her performance keeps this movie from being a total mess. She has great comic timing and can do slapstick. Faris nearly stole The Hot Chick from Rob Schneider. She is the Carole Lombard of her time.

Scary Movie 2 has some laughs to be found but it definitely helps to be in the right frame of mind to watch it. That frame of mind is the one where bodily functions make you laugh.