Scary Movie 4 (2006) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)
The general consensus is that this one is the third best in the series, a hair below the previous one. Our four main indicators are in complete agreement on the rank order: 1, 3, 4, 2.

 

  IMDB RT % Metacritic Box Office ($m)
Scary Movie 5.7 52 48 157
Scary Movie 2 4.3 11 29 71
Scary Movie 3 5.3 39 48 110
Scary Movie 4 5.2 36 40 90

I agree with that ranking in general, or at least I think I do. Maybe I liked this one better than #3, but to tell you the truth I really don't remember #3 well enough to distinguish between them. Frankly, the two run together in my head.  #1 was an outstanding piece of comedy writing, combining genre parody with zany cultural references. The sequels have been more like name-dropping than actual parody, kind of a "spot the reference" game, and I haven't really been enthusiastic about any of them. They seem like pale reflections of the original.

This one, like the previous one, does provide sporadic laughs, enough to get me through it without the fast-forward button. The films being "spoofed" (or at least "referenced") in the latest go-round are Saw, War of the Worlds, The Grudge, Brokeback Mountain, and The Village, although the silliest and most energetic material comes from a completely naked Leslie Nielsen as the American president speaking at the U.N., and a wild exaggeration of Tom Cruise's famous couch-jumping appearance on Oprah. How does that all of that diverse material make sense in the context of a plot? Well, it doesn't really. Do you care?

Three last points:

  • It did well enough at the box office to ensure that there will be a Scary Movie 5.

  • The DVD is rich with bonus material

  • The unrated cut even includes an unexpectedly large quantity of nudity for a PG-13 movie, although way too much of it comes from octogenarian Leslie Nielsen and his body double.
 

DVD INFO

  • Commentary by the filmmakers
  • 15 deleted and extended scenes with commentary
  • Bloopers
  • "The Man Behind the Laughs" featurette with director David Zucker
  • "Zany Spoof Humor - Zucker Style" featurette
  • "Interviewer's Worst Nightmare" - a look at what happens when interviews go terribly awry on the set
  • "The Youngbloodz" featurette
  • "Rappers & Actors" interview featurette
  • "The Visual Effects of Scary Movie 4" featurette

NUDITY REPORT

Male: Leslie Nielsen's body double shows his bum.

Female: Kendra Wilkinson has a nipple-slip during the pillow fight. Another woman has a nipple-slip during the nude U.N. scene. Three female U.N. delegates are completely topless, but VERY far from the camera, and seen only in a fast pan across the room. You would never know without the pause button.

The Critics Vote ...

  • British consensus: one and a half stars out of four. Mail 2/10, Telegraph 6/10,  Guardian 2/10, Times 4/10, Sun 6/10, Mirror 4/10, BBC 2/5.

 

The People Vote ...

  • Box Office Mojo. A moderate hit. It was budgeted at $45 million for production. It grossed $90m in the USA and a similar amount overseas.
The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

Our own guideline:

  • A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre.
  • B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. In order to rate at least a B-, a film should be both a critical and commercial success. Exceptions: (1) We will occasionally rate a film B- with good popular acceptance and bad reviews, if we believe the critics have severely underrated a film. (2) We may also assign a B- or better to a well-reviewed film which did not do well at the box office if we feel that the fault lay in the marketing of the film, and that the film might have been a hit if people had known about it. (Like, for example, The Waterdance.)
  • C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by people who enjoy this kind of movie. If this is your kind of movie, a C+ and an A are indistinguishable to you.
  • C means it is competent, but uninspired genre fare. People who like this kind of movie will think it satisfactory. Others probably will not.
  • C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie, but genre addicts find it watchable. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film, but films with this rating should be approached with caution by mainstream audiences, who may find them incompetent or repulsive or both. If this is NOT your kind of movie, a C- and an E are indistinguishable to you.
  • D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-. Films rated below C- generally have both bad reviews and poor popular acceptance.
  • E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre.
  • F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

 

Based on this description, this film is a C-. It offers enough laughs to be a decent time-killer, and the DVD has plenty of bonuses.

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