Scary Movie 2

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Scary Movie 2
File:ScaryMovie2.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans
Produced by Eric L. Gold
Shawn Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Bob Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Written by Shawn Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Alyson Fouse
Greg Grabianski
Dave Polsky
Michael Anthony Snowden
Craig Wayans
Based on Characters
by Shawn Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Buddy Johnson
Phil Beaumann
Jason Friedberg
Aaron Seltzer
Starring Anna Faris
Regina Hall
Shawn Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Chris Masterson
Kathleen Robertson
David Cross
James Woods
Tim Curry
Tori Spelling
Chris Elliott
Cinematography Steven Bernstein
Edited by Tom Nordberg
Richard Pearson
Peter Teschner
Production
company
Dimension Films
Brillstein-Grey Entertainment
Gold/Miller Productions
Wayans Bros. Entertainment
Brad Grey Pictures
Distributed by Miramax Films
(Credited as Miramax International in other countries)
Release dates
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  • July 4, 2001 (2001-07-04)
Running time
78 minutes (in other countries)
82 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $45 million[2]
Box office $141.2 million[2]

Scary Movie 2 is a 2001 American parody comedy horror film and the second film of the Scary Movie franchise. Though part of the first Scary Movie's tagline read "...No sequel", this film's tagline compensated by adding "We lied".

The film parodies a range of horror-thriller films, including The Exorcist, The Haunting, What Lies Beneath, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, The Changeling, Hannibal, Hollow Man, and The Legend of Hell House.

The film currently stands as the last film in the series to star Marlon and Shawn Wayans, and the last to be directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans.

The characters: Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans), Shorty Meeks (Marlon Wayans) and Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall) reprised their roles in the film (eventually, they were killed in the first movie, but suddenly the characters returned to life for unknown reasons, in which, Cindy was hit by a car in the final scene, Ray was stabbed to death by Ghostface, Shorty was shot by Bobby Prinze (Jon Abrahams) and Brenda was killed by people in a movie theater who she was bothering during the movie.).

Some of the original working titles were Scary Sequel and Scarier Movie.

Plot

The film opens with a parody of The Exorcist, during which a teenage girl, Megan Voorhees (Natasha Lyonne), becomes possessed by the spirit of Hugh Kane, the previous owner of the House. Megan's mother (Veronica Cartwright) calls in two priests, Father McFeely (James Woods) and Father Harris (Andy Richter), who visit the house. After Father McFeely pays a trip to the toilet, the men attempt to drive Hugh's ghost out, but the exorcism does not go as planned, resulting in a chain of projectile vomit and various instances of pedophilia. Finally, Father McFeely responds to an insult towards his mother by shooting Megan.

Meanwhile, Cindy Campbell, Brenda Meeks, Ray Wilkins, and Shorty Meeks are at college, trying to live new lives following the events of the first film (although most of them actually died in the first film, Brenda claims in a deleted scene that her death was a near-death experience). Cindy and Brenda get tagged by a socially maladjusted girl, Alex (Tori Spelling). Shorty is still the same stoner he was before. Ray, still confused about his sexuality, has two new male friends, Tommy (James DeBello) and Buddy (Christopher Masterson).

A charming (yet lecherous) teacher, Professor Oldman (Tim Curry) and his paraplegic assistant, Dwight Hartman (David Cross), plan to study the paranormal activity at a local haunted mansion called Hell House (the same house involved in the opening scene) using the clueless teens. Meanwhile, Buddy's advances are spurned by Cindy, who is recovering from her previous relationship. When Cindy is the first to arrive at Hell House, she encounters a vulgar parrot (Matt Friedman), and the caretaker, Hanson (Chris Elliott), who has a badly malformed hand. Later that evening, the group, including sexy newcomer Theo (Kathleen Robertson), sit down for dinner. Unfortunately, everybody loses their appetite due to Hanson's repulsive antics.

In the night, Cindy hears voices directing her to a secret room, where she and Buddy discover a treasure chest containing the diary of the wife of the house's deceased owner, Hugh Kane (Richard Moll). They also find an old portrait of the wife and note Cindy's resemblance to her. Meanwhile, many of the teens fall victim to violent attacks. The ghost of Hugh Kane has sex with Alex in her bedroom, yet departs in the morning when Alex expresses her interest in becoming the new Mrs. Kane. Cindy gets involved in a fistfight with the house cat, Mr. Kittles. A toy clown (Suli McCullough) attempts to kill Ray—but thanks to some quick thinking, Ray perversely turns the tables and rapes the clown. A weed-monster turns Shorty into a joint and tries to smoke him—fortunately, the plant gets distracted by munchies and lets him escape.

Oldman is seduced and killed by the disfigured ghost of the murdered mistress. Shorty later encounters the same ghost, yet he seduces her instead. After Dwight equips the teens with weapons that can injure their spectral enemy, they are pursued throughout the mansion. Buddy and Cindy get locked in the refrigerator. Thinking that Buddy is dying from an encounter with the ghost, Cindy gives him a handjob, only to end up being blasted to the door by an explosion of Buddy's semen (something reminiscent of her sexual moment with Bobby Prinze in the first film). The couple then escape the room following a convoluted deus ex machina, in which Cindy uses a collection of random objects in the room to somehow produce a Caterpillar tractor, which she drives through the wall.

Hanson himself gets possessed by Kane. Hanson kidnaps Shorty, who has put himself on drugs. Cindy discovers Hanson cooking a meal for Shorty in the dining room. Hanson has cut the top of Shorty's head off. When Hanson takes off the top of Shorty's head, his brain is a small man rapping (Beetlejuice). Cindy, Brenda, and Theo team up to fight him, but wind up defeated when they are in their bra and underwear. Eventually, Dwight and the teens regroup, and agree to use Cindy as bait to lure Kane into a device that will destroy him. Just as they activate the device, they realize Cindy is still standing on it. Ray springs to action and saves her. The plan succeeds, freeing the group from the house's curse.

Two months later, Cindy and Buddy are in a relationship and go out for a walk. However, Buddy disappears without notice when Cindy discovers Hanson at the hot dog stand. As Cindy backs away in fear, Hanson pursues her, and, in the midst of screaming, gets struck by a red car driven by Shorty, who is receiving a blowjob from the ghost that he seduced earlier in the film.

Cast

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Music

The score for the film features many different composers. A majority of the film was scored by George S. Clinton. The film also featured music by various composers such as Marco Beltrami and John Debney.

Unlike the first film, no official soundtrack was released. Most of the songs featured in the film either have characters singing along to them or serve as background music. For instance, both "Hello Dolly" and "Shake Ya Ass" are sung by characters at a party during the opening sequence (the latter intended to be a humorous juxtaposition with the former, the titular song from the 1960s musical). "Sorry Now" by Sugar Ray begins during the title screen and plays as the film transitions to the college setting featuring Cindy and Shorty. "Graduation (Friends Forever)" is on the radio as Cindy drives to Hell House, and she sings along badly until Vitamin C interrupts her to tell her to stop. Later in the film, "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" plays on a radio as Theo attempts to seduce Dwight and "Smack My Bitch Up" is heard during Cindy, Brenda and Theo's fight against the possessed Hanson. "Ride wit Me" is the first song featured during the end credits, followed by "So Erotic" and "When It's Dark".

  1. "Hello Dolly" – Jerry Herman
  2. "Shake Ya Ass" – Mystikal
  3. "Tubular Bells" – Mike Oldfield
  4. "Smack My Bitch Up" – The Prodigy
  5. "Graduation (Friends Forever)" – Vitamin C
  6. "U Know What's Up" – Donell Jones
  7. "So Erotic" – Casey Crown featuring J Dee
  8. "Ride wit Me" – Nelly featuring City Spud
  9. "Insane in the Brain" – Cypress Hill
  10. "Evel Knieval" – Deadly Avenger

Other songs in the film:

Parodies

This film parodies and references many other films of the horror, thriller, and mystery genres.

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  • The film's central parody is The Haunting.
  • The opening scene is modeled after The Exorcist.
  • The walking scene on campus with Cindy and Brenda references the 1990s film Clueless.
  • The thermal goggles which the characters use to see ghosts and the weapons they use references Thir13en Ghosts.
  • Hollow Man – The equipment which the group employs to fight an invisible enemy (thermal goggles, smoke, and so on) and use of a defibrilator to escape from a freezer room.
  • House on Haunted Hill – The labyrinthian basement, weapons with limited ammo, and Professor Oldman being lured to his death.
  • Charmed – Hugh Kane's vanquishing is the same as many of the vanquishings the sisters do on the show.
  • Brenda's reaction to the walking skeleton could be taken as commentary on the film's use of imagery no longer considered scary today.
  • In the scene in which Hanson removes the top of Shorty's head and he then said "Hello Cindy", is similar to a scene in Hannibal.
  • The scene where Ray and his friend read their back tattoos to each other repeatedly references a scene of Dude, Where's My Car?.
  • What Lies Beneath is parodied in a scene where Cindy seduces the professor in the kitchen, and then Ray suddenly appears in the same dress.
  • The scene in which a clown hides under Ray's bed and then pulls him underneath, the marijuana plant growing large and coming to life and Alex being dragged across the walls of the bedroom are all parodies of scenes from Poltergeist.
  • In the sequence where an invisible ghostly presence penetrates Alex and then has sex with her, heavily references Dracula and The Entity.
  • Poltergeist II – Hanson sings "God is in his holy temple" and the use of Kane as the name of the evil spirit.
  • Stephen King's It is referenced in a scene in which gardening tools form the letters "IT" across a wall in the room where Shorty hides in the third act of the movie. Tim Curry, who plays Professor Oldman, also played the role of Pennywise the Clown in the film adaptation of It.
  • The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Hanson is a parody of the character, Riff Raff. Tim Curry played the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
  • Cindy, Brenda and Theo fighting Hanson in the style of Charlie's Angels. Furthermore, Tori Spelling's character is named after Lucy Liu's character (Alex Munday) from the same film, in which also Tim Curry co-starred.
  • Save the Last Dance – Shorty teaches Cindy how to be "black".
  • Mission: Impossible II – The wheelchair duel between Dwight and Kane parodies the motorcycle sequence between Ethan and Sean.
  • MacGyver – Cindy uses everyday items to build a mini-bulldozer and escape the refrigerator.
  • Paulie – A foul-mouthed blue-crowned parrot named Polly appears throughout the movie .
  • The Amityville Horror – Reverend McFeely tries to bless the house and ends up with flies all over him, only for the scene to change and reveal he is actually sitting and straining into a toilet, resulting in explosive diarrhea. The two red eyes in the dark looking through the window from the movie also appear in the scene.
  • Buddy hands Cindy a book titled "Harry PotHead", a clear reference to Harry Potter.
  • A scene where a basketball falls down the stairs is similar to The Changeling until the scene switches over to a parody of a Nike commercial.[3]
  • Dawn of the Dead – Ray has on a suit similar to Peter's SWAT team suit.
  • The dialogue between Cindy and Buddy in the freezer, when she is giving him a handjob has been taken from Titanic.
  • The use of the quote "do you feel lucky, punk?" from Dwight is a parody of Dirty Harry.
  • Twister – When Cindy is fighting Hanson and creates the tornado, which has various objects and even a cow blowing around inside it.
  • Scanners – Hanson's head explodes.
  • Rocky – Cindy's fight with the cat (editing style, blows, unseen cameras flashing and the cat's triumphant raising of its "fists").
  • Weakest Link – When the parrot says "You are the weakest link. Goodbye" after Alex gets knocked out by the chandelier.
  • The skeleton chasing Cindy sequence is based on Wishmaster.
  • The scene with Cindy singing badly along to the radio in the car then getting told to "shut up" by the radio could be a parody of Urban Legend because the opening featured a woman singing along to the radio badly.
  • The scene where Dwight and Hanson are trading insults about each other's disability is based on the scene from Wild Wild West where Jim West and Arliss Loveless trade insults on West's race and Loveless's disability.
  • The scene when Cindy is fighting with the cat and the name of the house is from the film The Legend of Hell House.
  • Ray carrying the paraplegic Dwight on his back is reminiscent of Chewbacca attaching the destroyed C-3PO to a harness on his back in The Empire Strikes Back.
  • Cindy having flashbacks while reading the diary and learning about the dead wife is a parody of the 1988 film Night Screams.
  • Charlie's Angels - where Cindy, Brenda and Theo fighting against Hanson, just like Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore) & Alex (Lucy Liu) against the thin man (Crispin Glover).
  • Final Destination two people died by bus.

Reception

Box office

In North America, the film grossed $71,308,997. Worldwide, it grossed $141,220,678. Although it was a hit, out of the first four Scary Movie films, this was the least successful to date – until the fifth film was released twelve years later.[2][4]

Critical response

Despite its box office success, the film received mostly negative reviews. Achieving a rotten 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes[5] and a score of 29% on Metacritic.[6]

See also

References

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External links