Review of Scary Movie 2 (2001) by Brandon S — 14 Apr 2010

Judging by its production notes, Scary Movie 2 was always in trouble. No less than 7 writers are "credited" (I wouldnâ??t be boasting, guys!) with working on the project; which means thereâ??s probably double that number uncredited.

In a classic "too many cooks" scenario, Scary Movie 2 never manages to put even the semblance of a plot together. But then, did you really expect it to? This is the kind of movie that doesnâ??t have a body count â?? it has a body fluid count.

Director Keenan Ivory Wayans shows little style in this plodding attempt at repeating the success of his earlier Scary Movie. While the movie tries hard to reference a lot of movies (not all of them in the horror genre), the attempts at parody mostly fall flat.

The only high point is a reasonably funny take on The Exorcist in the opening scenes. From there though, itâ??s all downhill. The one-dimensional characters, the dumb story, the gross-out factor, the recycled scenes from the first Scary Movie â?? all of these could be forgiven if the movie was just funny.

Unfortunately, a few chuckles aside, it fails on that count too. Thereâ??s little point even discussing the acting, as thereâ??s precious little for the actors to do. Tim Curry at least seems to have fun as the nefarious Professor, and Anna Faris tries hard, but this is most certainly not a vehicle for anyone to display their thespian skills.

Scary Movie 2 ends up being a mish-mash of lifeless, often gross, jokes searching desperately for laughs â?? and finding few.