My Thoughts After Re-watching Scary Movie (2000)

After having what has become our traditional end-of-the-week drink and then grabbing Friday fish fry, my wife decided to do some work in her sewing studio, so I found a movie to watch while having my shrimp dinner. Scary Movie was on, so I ended up watching that for what has to be at least the 20th time since my wife and I watched it on our first movie date 26 years ago.

Here are some of the thoughts I had:

The opening scene is one of the things that make this a classic spoof. It's a fairly accurate re-creation of the opening scene from Scream but with plenty of comedic touches that set the tone for this film, whether it's Carmen Electra winding up in her underwear and then doing sexy poses or the Jiffy Pop on the stove.

The James Van Der Beek cameo just has a sadder tone to it now. The way the Dawson's Creek star finds the "wrong window" while Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) makes out with her boyfriend, Bobby (John Abrahams) is still funny but also a reminder of an actor who passed too soon.

Wow, I almost forgot the stars go to B A Corpse High. It's a subtle joke but one that explains a whole lot in terms of how the students react to their classmates being murdered.

I think this is Shannon Elizabeth's best movie. Faris may be the star, but Elizabeth's Buffy Gilmore has some of the film's best scenes, whether it is her "dramatic reading" during a beauty pageant or the way she continually mocks the killer as he is stabbing her to death.

I think the most underrated character in this though is Cindy's father (Rick Ducommun). The drug addict/drug dealer doesn't have many scenes, but they are hilarious. It's just too bad we don't get to see him in a scene with Shorty (Marlon Wayans).

The "wassup" scene is dated but still gives me a chuckle. I think you need to have been there to truly get the reference, but it still hits the right notes today. It's also a scene that showcases some of the funny alternate masks the killer wears throughout, something I always thought was a nice touch.

This may be a comedy spoof, but it also has one of the best horror movie twists I've ever seen. I won't give any spoilers, but I love how this movie used its Scream source material to create a killer fake out that was unexpected and better than most legit slasher movies.

That said, the killer's motives aren't very clear. The movie's reveal shows who and how but doesn't really give the why. It's probably the one thing that keeps the ending from being perfect.

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Here are my thoughts from other movies:

My Thoughts after Re-Watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

My Thoughts After Re-watching Alien (1979)

My Thoughts After Re-Watching The Blob (1958)

My Thoughts from Re-watching Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)