These are comedies that marked the beginning of the 2000s for their schoolboy humor, but also for having discredited horror films. The first three “Scary Movies” are available on Netflix.
In the midst of the slasher wave, relaunched by Wes Craven’s Scream in 1996, a comedy will ridicule the figure of the masked serial killer. Released during the summer of 2000 in the United States and in the fall in France, Scary Movie became a phenomenon. The principle is simple: capitalize on the popularity of horror films to make fun of them.
Very popular in the 80s and 90s, notably thanks to the Is There a Cop… franchise and the two Hot Shots, the parody here allows for an avalanche of visual gags, often below the belt, and lines that marked an entire generation of spectators.
Originally, Scary Movie is a mixture of two scripts purchased by the production house Dimension Films in 1998. The first of these scripts is entitled Last summer I screamed because Halloween fell on Friday the 13th and the second, Scream if you know what I did last Halloween.
The story mainly follows the plot of two major hits of the 90s: Scream and Remember… Last Summer. But other films parodied include The Sixth Sense, Usual Suspects, The Blair Witch Project, Matrix and even Titanic.
When the directors prepare the casting, many stars, reluctant to lend themselves to this kind of humor, refuse the project. Alicia Silverstone declines the main role, Jared Leto that of Bobby, Jennifer Coolidge that of the gym teacher and Britney Spears decides not to play the first victim – a role ultimately played by Carmen Electra.
Except that, surprise, once in theaters, the film was a hit all over the world – for a budget of 19 million dollars, it grossed nearly 280. Scary Movie became, in turn, a franchise and numerous sequels emerge. Anna Faris and Regina Hall, who play Cindy and Brenda respectively, reprise their characters for four films.
Scary Movie 2 mainly focuses on horror classics, between The Exorcist, Haunting and Amityville. As for Scary Movie 3, which marks the appearance of Leslie Nielsen – the star of Is There a Cop… – we find the films Signes, The Circle, 8 Miles and The Others with, as a bonus, a lookalike of Michael Jackson. Warning, awkward moment.
Scary Movie 1, 2 and 3 are available on Netflix.