035 Scary Movie (2000)

Retro Grade Podcast

“OH MY GOD! WE HIT A BOOT!“

On this episode of Retro Grade Podcast, we take a look at a movie that meant a lot to the theater-going audiences of 2000. A movie that also meant a lot to Jorge’s childhood. A movie that revived the spoof genre itself. We are talking about none other than, Scary Movie, directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans.

This movie was one of the highest grossing films of 2000, earning more than ten times it’s humble budget of 19 million dollars. The movie was so successful, a sequel was rushed out within the next year, and similarly themed spoof movies to follow suit until the genre eventually wore out its welcome with audiences, long after it did with critics. Not only was this important for the genre, but also, at the time of it’s release, the highest grossing movie from a black director. It turned relatively unknown actors Anna Farris and Regina Hall, into movie stars.

On the other side, re-watching this film in 2021, the film definitely doesn’t hit the same. In fact, it might be the one movie that’s aged the most, despite only being 21 years old. We talk about how the film relies on shortcuts by poking fun at marginalized groups (Doofy, Miss Man, and Ray) in an unsophisticated, almost mean-spirited way that just makes the film very hard to watch at times. We also talk about how some of the classic spoof gags work, but so many of them just seem to fall flat.

How can a movie that has made people laugh so hard, and served as a launching point for people that Hollywood is definitely better for having, leave us feeling so icky? Give us a listen and find out!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o