It’s unusual to say this about a sequel with the number 4 in its title, but “Scary Movie 4” is probably the best film in this series.
Previous installments spoofed horror pictures, generally in a quick-hit way that failed to rise to the level of Mad magazine (although – with the first movie at least – there was a considerable amount of raunch thrown in).
“Scary Movie 4” actually strings its gags around a sustained story line, mostly borrowed from last summer’s “War of the Worlds.” It begins, however, with a kooky parody of “Saw” that somehow puts Shaquille O’Neal in a room with TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw (they play themselves) and climaxes with Dr. Phil sawing off his own foot.
It could be argued that any movie that has Dr. Phil sawing off his foot has already justified itself. But there’s more.
Next, a nod to the Japanese horror film (and its U.S. remake) “The Grudge.” That’s how we meet Cindy Campbell (again played by Anna Faris), the indestructible heroine of the first three “Scary” movies. She’s poking around a haunted house, with poor Cloris Leachman being abused as the comatose homeowner.
The house is located near the home of Tom Ryan (hilarious Craig Bierko), a crane operator who’s become estranged from his two children – and for more of his biography, you can just check with the Tom Cruise character from “War of the Worlds,” reconstructed in detail here. (A re-creation of Tom Cruise’s epochal visit with Oprah is wicked and wonderful.)
The alien plot line steers us through a barrage of random jokes, including a long detour that parodies “The Village.”
Nothing is sacred, not even Sept. 11. News of the alien attack is delivered to the U.S. president (Leslie Nielsen) as he sits in a classroom listening to a children’s book being read aloud. This will either strike you as tasteless or one of the funniest things you have ever seen in your life.
| Funniest yet: It’s rude and scatological, but this installment in the parody series is the funniest of the bunch. Most of it follows a “War of the Worlds” send-up, but there’s room for “Brokeback Mountain” and Oprah, too.
Rated: PG-13 rating is for subject matter, language, violence Now showing: tk |
Good to see Leslie Nielsen doing his supremely clueless supreme commander again; he later appears before the United Nations demonstrating a weapon that makes everybody naked.
“Scary Movie 4” is rude, scatological and sometimes brutal. And it should be rated R, not PG-13. A sequence involving the ever-game Charlie Sheen and a bottle of Viagra would seem to qualify for an R by itself.
Still, for those of a sophomoric bent, it should be said that the joke-per-minute ratio is high. This must be the work of director David Zucker (along with one of his “Airplane!” co-writers, Jim Abrahams), who knows how to build and sustain movie parodies.
And it’s all up to the minute. There’s even a “Brokeback Mountain” sequence, complete with Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello.” You’ll never look at a pup tent the same way again.
Anna Faris returns as the star of “Scary Movie 4.”
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