Scary Movie 4

Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Craig Bierko, Bill Pullman, Michael Madsen, James Earl Jones, Chris Elliott, Leslie Nielsen, Molly Shannon, Anthony Anderson, Charlie Sheen, Carmen Electra, Shaquille O'Neal, Phil McGraw, Cloris Leachman, Kevin Hart, Simon Rex
Directed by: David Zucker
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
2006

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Cindy (Anna Faris) tries to survive as alien Tri-Pods invade the planet.

Review:

Tim: Back again, with Scary Movie 4. I'm sighing as I write this. It's impressive that this franchise will just not die (much like the supernatural spooks it spoofs!). I will give this film some credit, it's not the worst entry in the franchise, and it's about on equal footing with the third film. Of course, this is not a good movie and it's no where close to being a good movie. It's not as terrible as it could have been.

I will tell you- the best part of this franchise is Anna Faris. Faris has been a trooper, coming back here for her fourth time as Cindy Campbell. I suspect I would hate this franchise so much more without Faris in the film- we've come to know a little about her character over the films, and it's somewhat fun checking in with her ridiculous character once again. Without her presence, there would be very little to enjoy about this film. While I'd love for her to move on and spend her time on better films, she saves this movie from a much worse fate.

Once again, this film follows the exact same formula as the others- they spoof a wide array of horror and thriller movies, combining various elements together in a plot that is just barely held together by the thinnest of strings. I guess in some manner, it's a little fun to see how they are going to spoof familiar movies in crazy ways. None of the jokes are especially funny (I'm not sure if I actually laughed out loud at all here), but they are mildly entertaining in a guilty sort of way.

The cast is average, but large. I actually enjoyed seeing Bill Pullman in a spoof of The Village. Chris Elliott makes his return to this franchise (he was in an earlier film, right? I don't care enough to confirm this), and he's... in the film. Leslie Nielsen makes a nice appearance and was somewhat funny. I liked seeing Charlie Sheen in an uncredited role, although he's in the film for far too short. I'm actually shocked that they got James Earl Jones to do the narration and make a quick appearance. Why in the world did he do this film? Shaq and Dr. Phil have a humorous scene early on. Other than that, we have a wide variety of B and C list "celebrities" who are slightly acting. It's not really worth commenting on.

Honestly, at this point, I'm struggling with what to say about Scary Movie 4. I could say the exact same thing about any of the films in this franchise. They are all bad movies, not especially funny, and yet almost entertaining in their awfulness. Kids keep going to see this films, and so they will probably continue to make them. There will never be a shortage of films to spoof, so it's starting to look like we will see these movies for eternity. I certainly hope not, because I'm starting to really tire of watching them. This movie isn't terrible, but it was still a waste of time.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, Scary Movie 3, War of the Worlds, Saw, The Village