WMS

Scary Movie

2000 · Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans · $103.6M domestic

🧘4

Woke Score

48

Critic

🍿68

Audience

Ultra Based

Critics rated this 44 points above its woke score. Among Ultra Based films, this critic score ranks #1202 of 1469.

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Synopsis

A familiar-looking group of teenagers find themselves being stalked by a more-than-vaguely recognizable masked killer! As the victims begin to pile up and the laughs pile on, none of your favorite scary movies escape the razor-sharp satire of this outrageously funny parody!

Consciousness Assessment

Scary Movie arrives as a straightforward parody of slasher horror films, wielding its satire with all the subtlety of a rubber knife. The film makes no pretense of engaging with contemporary social consciousness or progressive sensibilities. It exists purely in the realm of physical comedy, film reference humor, and broad genre satire. The cast happens to be predominantly Black, but this is incidental to the film's purpose rather than the result of any deliberate statement about representation or cultural awareness.

The Wayans brothers and their collaborators were chiefly interested in mocking the conventions of late-1990s horror cinema, particularly the Scream franchise and its imitators. There is no evidence of intentional commentary regarding gender dynamics, racial structures, or any social system. The humor derives from exaggeration of established tropes and absurdist physical comedy. When a female character is particularly sexualized or objectified, it serves the parody of horror film conventions rather than any critique of those conventions.

In the context of modern cultural sensibilities, Scary Movie registers as a pre-woke artifact. It was made by comic sensibilities honed on sketch comedy and stand-up rather than informed by the cultural frameworks that emerged in the 2010s and 2020s. This is not a moral failing, merely a historical fact. The film is exactly what it set out to be: a funny genre parody with no aspirations toward social consciousness.

Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm

Critic Reviews

48%from 32 reviews
Los Angeles Times80

While undeniably silly and violent in a cartoon-like manner, is by and large a hilarious skewering of the clichés of teen pix.

Kevin ThomasRead Full Review →
Film.com80

It's very funny and - at times - even witty in a crude, drunken frat-boy-with-an-epiphany kind of way.

Ernest HardyRead Full Review →
Chicago Sun-Times75

Is it funny? Yes, it is.

Roger EbertRead Full Review →
Austin Chronicle0

I'd rather have a testicular nail-gun mishap than sit through this migraine-inducing train wreck of a film one more time.

Marc SavlovRead Full Review →