Scary Movie 2 (R, 2001)

SCARY MOVIE 2 begins with a brief parody of The Exorcist, with James Woods in the Max von Sydow role as the title character. This is the highlight of the movie, especially when Veronica Cartwright, in the Ellen Burstyn role, segues from singing "Hello Dolly" with her friends to a rousing chorus of "Shake Ya Azz." But it ends with tragedy, and we skip ahead to a year later, when a professor (Tim Curry) and his wheelchair-bound assistant take some students to the mansion where it took place, for some paranormal experiments. The rest of the movie is just an avalanche of parodies of everything and anything, from Monica Lewinsky's dress to "The Weakest Link," and violations of every possible standard of good taste. Not one but two handicapped characters are played for laughs (with extended comic use of a withered hand), and there is something to offend everyone.

Though a slight improvement over the original, Scary Movie 2 is the same hour and a half of easy, dumb humor: insults, pop culture references, political incorrectness, and gallons and gallons and gallons of bodily fluids. It is not enough to simply insult someone or make a politically incorrect comment or drown someone in excretions. That's the easy part. The tricky part, and the worthwhile part, is to make those things funny, and this movie misses so often that its hits seem almost inadvertent. So what we have is a lot of fake and lazy attempts at humor. They may have the rhythm and cadence of jokes, but there is nothing really funny inside.

On the other hand, the movie is so cheerfully unassuming about being in the worst possible taste that it is hard to be bothered by it. Woods and Tori Spelling(!) should get good sport Oscars, but the other cast members are mostly forgettable.

Studio: Dimension
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Cast: Anna Faris, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans
Genre: Comedy
Theatrical release: July 3, 2001
DVD release: December 18, 2001
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: extremely graphic and gross material and some violence