Another day, another reboot announcement. This time, it’s the Scary Movie franchise, that was originally started by Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Marlon Wayans. Neal H. Hortiz is confirmed as the producer of the upcoming reboot. There’s no word on whether the original cast or creators will return. The news of a Scary Movie reboot isn’t too surprising as the brand was a hot commodity in the early 2000’s. As the title suggests, Scary Movie made fun of various horror films; with Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Ring being some of the notable victims of the parody.
Scary Movie was a huge success in the beginning. The first film grossed $278 million worldwide based on a $19 million product budget. The franchise were into overload after that as numerous parody films for the series were born. However, the main Scary Movie series saw diminishing returns at the box office. The series has been on hiatus since Scary Movie 5 on made $78 million in 2013. The Scary Movie franchise was certainly enjoyable for it’s time, but given how much the culture has changed, here’s what the franchise needs to avoid.
Scattershot Plotting
The first Scary Movie did parodies of these twelve films: The Blair Witch Project, Kazaam, American Pie, Election, The Exorcist, The Shining, The Usual Suspects, The Sixth Sense, Halloween, The Matrix, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Scream. The number does not get any shorter with each entry. The biggest issue with the series is it’s lack of focus; Scary Movie was more interested in spoofing what ever film was hot in pop culture than creating a thrilling narrative that allowed the series to subvert expectations and create a genuine and unique experience mocking horror films.
If a new franchise wants to mock an entire genre then that’s fine. Scream was pretty much a part satire on slasher films in general. However, Scream wasn’t desperately trying to bank off the slasher’s greatest hits. It created an excellent narrative that plays out like a traditional slasher, but subverts the tropes that define the slasher genre.
Scary Movie relied too heavily on quick gags and one-liners that may have gotten a laugh or two out of you, but never tied back to the story at hand. The can be an anthology series of sorts, where it picks a genre, crafts a well worn story within the genre and subverts those tropes that results in hilarious and unforgettable moments.
Pop Culture Craze
I stated this under the last topic, but the reboot should not focus on jokes about today’s culture. There’s a reason that Scary Movie is rarely brought up in the conversation as one of the best satires in horror. The film completely relies on gags and your understanding of popular culture references that dominated the late 90’s/early 2000’s. Going back to Scream, their jokes aren’t pop culture based. Neither are other satires like Shaun of the Dead or The Cabin in the Woods; they remain timeless because they play off of genre tropes remains relevant today. Plus, telling one gag or joke wasn’t the focus of the film.
If Scary Movie wants to be dumb or silly then there’s nothing wrong with that. You can get hilarious jokes that type of comedy, but it can’t simply be non-references of what’s cool right now. Even mocking today’s society can work when there’s a compelling social commentary behind it. Throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks only gets you so far, and limits the scope your film can reach worldwide.
Easy Jokes
Look, a fart, poop, or gay joke can be funny if done right. However, it felt that’s what most of franchise had to offer when spooking scary movies. It’s get very tiresome over time, and it’s a big reason that the series saw diminishing returns after the first film. The franchise simply went with the easiest joke possible without much subtly or even subverting much of the film that they’re spoofing. At a certain point, the Scary Movie franchise wasn’t about mocking horror films; it was a nearly two experience that crammed as many one-liners and gags in as possible.
Again, dumb or silly jokes can be done right. Hell, it’s a reason that Idiocracy remains a celebrated film. But some genuine thought and care was put into the world building, story, and characters. We weren’t getting some random moment that could’ve been funny under the right context, but becomes eye-rolling since it didn’t have much weight on the overall narrative. There’s a chance that Scary Movie can turning into a genuinely funny franchise, but it just can’t be the same string of films as it’s predecessors.
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