Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Scary Movie

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for strong crude sexual humor, language, drug use and violence.

Reviewed by: Matthias Shapiro
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Extremely Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adult
Genre: Horror Suspense Comedy
Length: 1 hr. 26 min.
Year of Release: 2000
USA Release: July 7, 2000
Copyright, Dimension Filmsclick photos to ENLARGE
Relevant Issues
Scene from “Scary Movie”. Copyrighted.

“VOTING” FOR BAD MOVIES—Every time you buy a movie ticket or rent a video you are casting a vote telling Hollywood “That’s what I want.” Why does Hollywood continue to promote immoral programming? Are YOU part of the problem? Answer

FEAR, Anxiety and Worry… What does the Bible say? Answer

Featuring Shawn Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Carmen Electra
Regina Hall
See all »
Director Keenen Ivory Wayans
Producer Dimension Films, Wayans Bros. Entertainment, See all »
Distributor
Distributor: Dimension Films. Trademark logo.
Dimension Films, a division of The Weinstein Company

The summer of 2000 has been, overall, a terrible disappointment. But nothing this summer compares to the black hole of moral integrity and basic intelligence that is “Scary Movie”.

If all goes well in Washington, the people who marketed this film will be brought up on charges and fined heavily. This film was marketed toward younger kids and, seeing the previews, one could have easily assumed it was fun for all ages. But this film ends up being a filth-fest from the word “go”.

The plot (using the term loosely) is supposed to be “Scream-with-a-twist.” But since “Scream” already had a twist, the audience ends up wondering what the catch is. In case you don’t know the formula, let me rehash it for you. Someone gets killed. From a single murder, people think a serial killer is on the loose (which ends up being true). One by one the main characters die until (gasp and astonishment) the only person you wouldn’t have thought was the killer, is. Of course this movie doesn’t exist for the plot, but to make fun of it. There are a few clever moments. But you get the feeling soon into the movie that these jokes seemed a lot funnier while they were being made than they currently appear on the screen. They reminded me of high school when my friends and I sat around the table laughing at each other as we made idiots of ourselves.

I want to make a note that I am not a stingy guy. I loved “Dogma”, I laughed until I cried in “Clerks”, and “Magnolia” is my favorite film of all time. But some parts of this movie were so offensive that I literally closed my eyes for extended periods of time. But if you are the kind of person who thinks that no amount of rancid material could dissuade you from seeing a funny movie, let me take a different approach. This movie is simply not funny. You would have more fun if you spent 85 minutes thinking of clever adjectives to describe your feet.

And on to the offensive material. A mere three years ago, this film would have been NC-17. It is raunchy, filthy and completely disgusting. I worked at a theatre this summer and even the non-Christians I worked with, though they were far from the most stellar moral examples I’ve ever met, were telling parents, in the most blunt language possible, “Do NOT take your child to see this movie.” It has no redeeming moral worldview or theme, and you can’t go 15 minutes without seeing some kind of totally unnecessary sexual organ. If there is any way possible to avoid this film, do it.

Reviews of sequels to this movie: Scary Movie 2, Scary Movie 3, Scary Movie 4, Scary Movie 5

“VOTING” FOR BAD MOVIES—Every time you buy a movie ticket or rent a video you are casting a vote telling Hollywood “That’s what I want.” Why does Hollywood continue to promote immoral programming? Are YOU part of the problem? Answer


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
I made the mistake of seeing this movie with my 12 year old son. I was horrified at the content of this movie. Almost all of the humor is either drug or sexually related and is crude at best. I asked for my money back and told the manager that I did not pay to see an X rated film. I was disgusted by the film in general. This is definitely a movie worth MISSING. My Ratings: [1/1]
Mike Boyer, age 40
…I enjoy comedy and I thought I would enjoy this movie. I liked a few scenes, but the movie was just full of sex and violence. If you have any morals at all, don’t see this movie! My Ratings: [1½/2]
Josh Koester, age 19
This movie was pretty funny I have to admit, yet because of the vulgarity of sexual conduct I couldn’t think straight. The plot consists of a bunch of different movies, like “The Matrix” “Scream 1, 2 and 3” “The usual suspects” “The blair witch project” “I know what you did last summer” “The sixth sense” and others, they really didn’t have much of a storyline other than the fact that they used other people storylines… it had a lot of funny comments, but an overwhelming amount of sexual vulgarity. As a christian, I saw this movie before I was baptized and I HAD to REPENT, I couldn’t deal with all that garbage of sex floating around in my head… even if it was kinda funny. I DON’T recommend this movie to any Christian males OR females… My Ratings: [1/1½]
Angelina, age 18
STAY AWAY! I happened to stumble upon this joke of a movie and I am very disturbed by it! There are things in this movie that even people in the secular world are offended by. This movie is nothing more than Satan’s work. How some of these scenes in this movie can even be conceived is beyond me… I am very offended and will NEVER support anything that the Wayans family puts out. Pure and utter trash! My Ratings: [1/1]
Ron Coley, age 25
“Scary Movie” was downright disgusting. As I left the theatre, I felt offended and stupid that I thought it was worth seeing. It made premarital sex look perfectly normal. It would either have lewd or completely corny humor throughout the entire movie. …From a Biblical perspective, this movie shows how much we have degraded as a society to see promiscuous sex, language, homosexuality and drug use as being funny. There are many movies Jesus wouldn’t see, and this movie is included. My name is included in the list of Christians who can be highly entertained by worldly music, movies, etc. Even if you are very open to movies, this movie will most likely offend you. This movie is not for anyone. The bottom line: do NOT see this movie. It is filled with offensive stuff. Just to summarize the dirt, here’s a small list: plenty of swearing, more than one account of male nudity (frontal), a very disgusting premarital sex in which the guy takes a drunken girl, lots of drug use, etc… This movie is not healthy for any Christian.
John Dill
This movie is the must “bury” movie of the summer. I found the “Scary Movie” to be one of the most offensive movies I have ever seen. Its mixture of perverse sexual situations, profanity, and use of drugs makes this movie my pick for the worst moral movie of all time. I mean that! I think for any Christian who is even considering watching this movie, they should look not only at my rating on this particular movie, but also the ratings of other Christians. However, I do feel that the attempt on a “spoof” of all the thriller movies of the past two or so years was obvious. And I thought that the idea was neat. But, to use so much profane-sexual language in doing so was just not necessary. I felt horribly convicted after having seen this movie. I know in my heart, mind, soul, and every inch in between that the “Scary Movie” is not a movie the Lord would want us to watch. So, please Christians, do not fall into the “Scary Movie” trap. This film was terrible on my eyes as well as my heart. My recommendation: Stay as far from the “Scary Movie” as possible, and please, PARENTS, do not let your children view this movie. As much as they may want to, I would strongly advise that no children, let alone adults should see this movie. God Bless. My Ratings: [1/1]
Matthew Beth, age 18
I went into this movie expecting a movie making fun of horror movies, instead it was all about sex. This movie shouldn’t even be allowed to run, and I would suggest that no one go and see this. This movie was the opposite of what it was portrayed, and the film makers obviously have no scruples. The nudity, the private parts and all of this cause it to be a complete waste of money. I was extremely offended, and saw many children in the theater, and was horrified by this. No one should see this film, and this film should be labeled with an NC-17 rating not R, as it does not adequately warn viewers. Also I believe Christians should make a stand against this movie, and rebuke the film industry for misleading viewers through the previews. My Ratings: [1/1]
Steven Rash, age 17
I was expecting some bad stuff going into this movie, because I know what the Wyans brothers are like, but I didn’t expect what I got. This movie was totally gross. It wasn’t even really that funny. The only part I really liked was when they were spoofing “The Matrix”. Other than that, I didn’t really like it. I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anybody. My Ratings: [1/2]
Chris, age 17
This movie seemed very funny in the preview, but once I started to watch it, it turned ugly and fast. There were parts that were really funny (if you could guard against the language and sexual innuendos). But when it came down to it, it was utterly disgusting and I had a sad feeling that this movie was probably going to be the talk of the town. It seems to me that they are trying to out do the previous movie. “Scary Movie” goes one up on “American Pie” and “American Pie” went one up on “Something About Mary.” More and more movies are showing things that would never have been allowed a few years ago. They are getting away with showing pornographic and X-Rated material in public films, when will it stop, are XXX movies about to Go main Stream, I pray that that never happens. Bottom Line… REFRAIN FROM THIS MOVIE AND DO NOT SUGGEST THIS MOVIE TO ANYONE!!! My Ratings: [1/1½]
Rob Ackerley, age 21
My husband and I applaud all of you that walked out. The movie was filthy and not at all funny, and it only got worse. We didn’t even tell our friends we saw this movie… it is too embarrassing. We would not recommend it to anyone from any age group (We are 24 and 27). My Ratings: [1/3]
Joaquin and Tiare S., ages 24 and 27
Ok guys, I didn’t know they were allowed to show an erect penis brushing against a mans face in a rated R movie. Luckily I didn’t pay to see this movie, but I wish I had walked out all the same. I simply thought it couldn’t get worse, but it did moment by moment. The entire movie was nothing but homosexual jokes and fellatio scene after scene after scene… I felt very, very dirty after watching this movie and I have seen some bad stuff. My Ratings: [1/3]
J, age 27
An absolute NC-17 rated movie. I don’t even want to tell anyone I saw this filth. Horrible!!! My Ratings: [1/1]
Andy, age 18
This has got to be one of the most sinful movies I have ever watched! After thirty minutes we got up and left, disgusted by such sickening comedy. Don’t go and see it if you don’t have to because it truly is in the ranks of pornography. My Ratings: [1/1]
Carlos Guillen, age 22
My friend and I recently saw this movie because we were led to believe that it was a funny parody on all the scary movies that have been recently made. I must admit that it did have moments where it was extremely humorous. But, it also had very disturbing scenes too. We couldn’t believe that the movie was rated R with all of the male body parts showing, as well as the female. Many parts literally should have been in a pornography movie and not this one… We are thoroughly ashamed that we saw this movie… From a Christian perspective, it is NOT worth your time, money or effort to see it. My Ratings: [2/2]
Sarah, age 20
Not only was this movie COMPLETELY horrid and offensive from a Christian point of view, it was offensive to even non-Christians. You could tell this was a low budget movie with absolutely no point but to make the millionaire actors richer. There was barely a shred of entertainment value and I would’ve walked out of the theater by myself and walked a mile to my car (I rode with a friend) if there hadn’t been a large laughing man sitting at the end of my row. Some parts were funny, but they were funny only because you had to either laugh or be terribly embarrassed that the writers of this ridiculous script had the distaste to add certain things to this movie. It seemed it was written by a bunch of hormonally charged, weed smoking 13-year-olds. Several people walked out of the movie, and I wish I would’ve been the first. My advice, DO NOT GO SEE THIS MOVIE!! I felt extremely convicted after seeing this and extremely disappointed in myself. My Ratings: [1/1]
Whitney, age 17
I can only tell you what we saw in the first five minutes, we left after that. This was the worst movie we have ever attempted to see. From the get go, every other word was profane, there was partial nudity and direct comments about using drugs, having sex, etc. The use of such filthy language left us embarrassed that we even attempted this movie. On the plus side, the manager at the movie theater gave us our money back. So save yours and avoid this movie, especially parents be aware about your kids going… My Ratings: [1/1]
Lisa Montgomery, age 32
When I saw the trailer for this movie I couldn’t wait. I love parodies, but this movie was SICK. I couldn’t believe the stuff they put in this movie. I left the movie very mad. It was very vulgar and distasteful. It’s no wonder our world is like it is. Their brains are being filled with garbage such as this. My Ratings: [1/3]
Russell Drinkard, age 18
I am proud of the fact that I got up and walked out of this movie. I had no idea what I was getting into and for as much as I saw it was a steaming fetid piece of filth. After leaving I felt like I had just flushed a giant toilet directly into my brain. Ug. Gross. Yuck. Ewww. My Ratings: [1/1]
Embarrassed Person, age 24
…I thought that the R rating was for violence, and I was wrong. Almost every joke involves sex, and the sex jokes are very graphic. This movie should have been rated NC-17. Whenever I see a movie, I always have to see how it ends, no matter how bad the movie is. In retrospect, I should have left the theater. I wouldn’t have missed anything. …do not see this movie. It is definitely the worst movie of the year. By the way, I’ve decided to give away the ending. Doofy is the killer. There, now that I’ve given away the ending, you have no reason to see this movie. My Ratings: [1/1]
Josh Johnson, age 19
SPARE YOURSELF OF THIS MOVIE! My boyfriend and I went to see this movie expecting to laugh at all the jokes made on scary movies …instead… we were totally grossed out by the number of times the movies became vulgar or had to refer… or even show many parts of the male and female sexual anatomy… this movie is a definite NO GO… it was horrible and even to admit that I viewed it is a disgrace to my witness… I strongly recommend as Christian that you do not support this movie in any way. Your eyes and ears should steer clear or this temptation of sin. I regret that I saw it… don’t make the same mistake that I did. My Ratings: [1/2]
Olivia Caffee, age 19
DON’T SEE THIS MOVIE! That about sums it up. This film is basically a parody of many other movies, that themselves were not very good. This movie really revolves around sex, drugs, and more sex. There are some funny moments, but are not worth the other trash that this film will stash in your brain. This movie portrays homosexuality in a funny and light way, making it seem okay and normal. The characters are maybe slightly less sexually active than rabbits, and they are engaging in these acts with people who are not their husband or wife… My Ratings: [1/1]
Ben Eichelberger, age 26
Movie Critics
…some of the phrases seem lifted straight from a hard-core pornographic movie. There are numerous, explicit references to all kinds of sexual acts, conventional and unconventional…
Preview Family Movie and TV Review
…at least 20 uses of the “f” word, while plenty of other profanities and colorful phrases also occur…
ScreenIt!
…penises and phallic objects or the mentioning of one, appear in every single scene. …simply becomes unwatchable…
Lar Lindahl, @N-Zone