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The poster for Scary Movie proudly declared there wouldn't be a sequel, and there really shouldn't have been. It's yet another testament to the power of the almighty dollar. Here's how the conversation probably went down on the Monday morning after its $42 million opening weekend (which was less than one year ago):
Bob Weinstein: "Hey, fellas. We'd like you to do a sequel. How quickly can you make it happen?"
Keenan Ivory Wayans: "Ummm...we're ready right now."
Weinstein: "Really. What's the sequel about?"
Shawn Wayans: "Well, errrr, this time we're going to make fun of older horror films instead of the newer ones."
Marlon Wayans: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!"
The original was mostly a send-up of the Scream series (which made it a spoof of a spoof), but the sequel is a lot messier. Scary Movie 2 has a bigger budget and bigger stars, but it's not nearly as funny. Part of it has to be attributable to the quick turnaround time, which becomes painfully obvious when you see send-ups of recent hits like Charlie's Angels and Hannibal. The sequel doesn't even roll outtakes during the closing credits, presumably because they had to scrape every inch of film together to break the 80-minute running time.
The principals are back both in front of and behind the camera, with Keenan Ivory Wayans directing brothers Marlon and Shawn, who are also two of the film's seven screenwriters. Anna Faris (who looks completely different) and Regina King are back as well, alongside newcomers Tori Spelling, Christopher Kennedy Masterson (Malcolm in the Middle) and Kathleen Robertson (Beautiful). Hey, didn't Shawn and Regina die in the first one?
This time around, the kids are in college and are required to spend the weekend in an allegedly haunted house as a course requirement of a lecherous professor (Tim Curry) and his wheelchair-bound assistant (David Cross, who has the best cinematic comb-over since Bill Murray's coif in Kingpin). The caretaker of Hell House is played by Chris Elliott, who sports a gimpy arm. Wheelchair-bound? Gimpy arm? I can practically hear Eric Cartman screaming, "Cripple fight!"
Okay, so there isn't much of a story, but Scary 2 is still full of the sick sight gags that made the first one such a hit. Commercials for the film that ran as recently as a few days before it opened claimed the film wasn't yet rated, which means the producers were probably trying to decide if they should tame it down to a PG-13 or keep it a more disgusting R. Here's your answer: There's a piss scene within 90 seconds, a priest taking a shit less than three minutes later, and the film's first vomit scene comes within the first six minutes. And, yes, there's another gratuitous dick scene.
There are a bunch of cool cameos, too, like James Woods (who replaced a sickly Marlon Brando at the last minute), Andy Richter, Richard Moll and Natasha Lyonne. But best of all is Beetlejuice from The Howard Stern Show, who makes a brief but unforgettable appearance.
1:21 - R for sexual content, drugs and language
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