Basic Provisions
-
«Scary Movie» is back, and no horror film of the last 25 years will be left out.
-
Reuniting creators, co-writers, and stars Shawn and Marlon Wayans with franchise leads Anna Faris and Regina Hall, the sixth installment satirizes everything from «Sinners» to «"Smiles и scream"» .
-
Stars and creators film "Scary Movie"« spoke to EW about their new hyperactive comedy, which goes beyond horror and includes films like «"Michael"» и «The Wicked Witch» .
This story contains major spoilers for the film "Scary Movie"« .
The season has come again «Scary Movie» . Hide your favorites.
No film—big or small, popular or unpopular, even horror or non-horror—is immune to the triumphant return of a beloved parody franchise to the big screen. It's been 13 years since the last installment of the franchise.« "Scary Movie"» , 20 years since Anna Faris and Regina Hall's last dance, and 25 years since Shawn and Marlon Wayans joined the original films in creating and writing them.
But the combined impact of the COVID-19 shutdown, the collapse of the Weinstein regime (the first few films were released by Miramax subsidiary Dimension Films, which unceremoniously terminated its contract with the Wayans after «Scary Movie 2 »") and decades of unwavering fan support led to a big family reunion in the sixth installment, «Scary Movie» , which hit theaters on Friday. This was revealed by Marlon, who, along with his brother Faris, Hall, and director Michael Tiddes, analyzed the action-packed new film for an article in the magazine. Entertainment Weekly , dedicated to «Scary Movie» .
During the conversation, the stars and their on-set director delved into the countless references, variations, parodies, and jabs at the past two and a half decades of horror history that this standalone sequel to the film "Scary Movie"« 2000 unites into a single whole. From «Sinners» to «"Scream и smiles"» and further, to hilarious parodies of non-genre films, such as «"Michael"» и «The Wicked Witch» , here are the victims of the last «Scary Movie» .
Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, Sydney Park, Benny Silke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Olivia Rose Keegan, and Dave Sheridan in "Scary Movie." Photo: Quantrell Colbert/Paramount
Because «Scary Movie» bypasses the franchise's origins, it again borrows its parodic structure from the series «"Scream"» . The film contains passing jokes about recent horror hits such as «"Away"» и «"Weapon"» , but the new "Very "Scary Movie"» always returns to the meta-slasher genre dreamed up by the late master Wes Craven.
«"The main films that they parodied, the kind of heart of the film, are «Scream 5 »" And "« Scream 6"» , explains Tiddes. - In «"Scream »"They did a very similar thing: they took the old lineup and assembled a new one to modernize the material from the original «"Scream"» . This is exactly what "Very" does. scary movie »", unleashing the Ghostface-masked killer on the battlefield with the descendants of Cindy Campbell (Faris) and Brenda Meeks (Hall), a new quartet of leading actors (Olivia Rose Keegan, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park and Gregg Wayans) to rival the four leads of the recent films "« Scream"» (Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding and Jasmine Savoy Brown).
Marlon explains how he, Shawn, and co-writers Keenen Ivory Wayans (director of the first two films in the franchise), Craig Wayans, and Rick Alvarez approached making Cindy and Brenda the subjects of new horrors. Having found their "new generation," the Wayans asked themselves, "Who are these kids going to connect with? Brenda is their mother. But what kind of mother is she? She's the one who wants to stay cool. She throws parties. It was perfect because who is Mother ?
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates and viewing recommendations with our EW Dispatch newsletters .
Hall says she "didn't think Brenda would wear her hair like that" at mom's , or that she's become so old-fashioned." Brenda's look and approach to life inspired the wild villain Octavia Spencer in the 2019 cult film. "Brenda has lost all her style, but I thought it was really funny. That happens, right? There was something really wonderful about that," Hall adds. "I knew she wouldn't be the perfect mother.".
Indeed, Hall laughs as she recalls Brenda joking about "sailing to Epstein Island," turning a blind eye when her daughter learned from Kanye West's new school history textbook that "slavery was a choice," and handing out marijuana-laced candy to children on Halloween from her brother, Shorty (Marlon). Under the influence of drugs, these children then, in style film "Weapon"« , They stretched out their arms and ran straight under the cars.
As for Cindy, the trauma of surviving the 2000 massacre drives her to retreat into the wilderness, where she creates a massive house-sized trap to prevent Ghostface's return. Her style veers between that of a deranged MAGA supporter living far from civilization and one of the film's most iconic survivors. «Halloween» — Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) from the Halloween reboot. "I pitched the MAGA joke to Marlon in our first phone call," Faris says. "Cindy should have gone all-in on QAnon.".
Her daughter, Tuesday (Nassif, in Gothic style to make Wednesday) Shorty (an even simpler riff) becomes the first victim of a mysterious new killer in the Ghostface mask. But the threat is short-lived for Shorty and Ray, who reappears at the Southern church for a slapstick-style confession. «"Sinners »" Ray's sermon about his "conversion" from homosexuality is reminiscent of the memorable scene from Ryan Coogler's horror blockbuster, in which Miles Caton's Sam enters a desolate church after a terrifying night.
This is not the only case where over "Sinners" »" joke around. At Brenda's party, jokes about "« Sinners »" intertwined with unexpected sarcasm addressed to "« Wicked witches" and a surprisingly energetic parody of «John Wick» , which, according to Faris, resulted in «I have five drafts of a letter to Keanu Reeves saved on my phone.».
Also at Brenda's, Shorty meets Ghostface, who plays Catherine Keener in in the film "Get Out"« (just moments after the fleeting reference to the film «"It follows you »"), which plunges him into a trance until he descends into the Drowned Place. However, instead of a howling void, Shorty finds himself involved in a parody of K-Pop "Demon Hunters"« , THC-infused, that has to be seen to be believed.« K-Pop "Demon Hunters"« came out a little later, and we saw this as an opportunity because K-pop is very popular and is just starting to become part of pop culture, which The film "Scary Movie" is inextricably linked »"," Tiddes says.
A still from the Scary Movie-style parody of "Guns." Photo: Paramount Pictures.
It was not easy for the director to fit all this «rainbow of horror films» into one coherent film. «How to combine« Away"» , «"Terrifying"» и «"I know what you did last summer."» »And make them feel like they’re part of the same universe?” he asked.
Final trailer «Scary Movie» begins with a suitably grotesque parody of «"Terrifying"» , an ultra-gory, low-budget clown slasher that achieved cult status. It also features Gale Hailstorm, played by Cheri Oteri, returning as the reporter from «"Scream"» Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers in a perfect parody of a high-concept horror film «"Substance"» . Somehow this scene intertwines, revealing a joke about one of the Wayans brothers' past hits, «White Chicks» .
«"We were looking for something outside the horror genre," explains Marlon, "because you don't want to linger there. Horror is a dark place. Every now and then you want to get out and relax." It was for this reason that Kenan Thompson was cast as the comically awkward Jermaine Jackson in a standalone parody of the biopic about Michael , filmed in the style of a jukebox. "We were doing reshoots, additional filming, and saw the trailer «Michael's» , and we thought, 'This is it. This is perfect, and this is how we're going to do it,'" Marlon recalls.
Chris Elliott in a parody of Longlegs in Scary Movie. Photo: Paramount Pictures
Replacing Michael Thompson gave the Wayans access to talent from Saturday Night Live , and they cast Heidi Gardner in a parody of Osgood Perkins' surreal serial killer thriller,« Leggy"» . "We just thought Heidi was so funny... we were thinking about that character—it's always about the character. And this character is psychic, but pretending to be stupid, but still very funny," he says. Gardner appears in a post-credits scene as Maika Monroe's reserved Lee Harker, and Chris Elliott returns to his famous role. from "Scary Movie 2"« , to play Longshanks himself in a film within a film called "Transcript.".
After the credits «Nosferatu »Robert Eggers also has a very compelling short film coming out called «Brosferatu» , which is ready for its own production. "I could probably shoot six or eight more scenes," says Marlon. So every time they finished a skit that didn't fit with the rest, "we'd think, 'Let's make an Easter egg out of this.'".
Anna Faris in a Halloween parody in Scary Movie. Photo: Quantrell Colbert/Paramount Pictures
Three notable final horror movie parodies include a take on the instantly meme-worthy Parker Finn episode «"Smile"» . Star «Scary Movie» Jon Abrahams returns to threaten his ex-girlfriend Cindy, grinning at her like a maniac in a mental institution. Then Shorty accidentally summons an otherworldly force. Candyman , when I just wanted to call my dealer. Early trailer «Scary Movie» began with a reference to the oft-imitated but never-repeated dance scene from M3GAN .
It sounds impressive, but that's only half the story. «Scary Movie» also touches on political topics like Fox News, cultural phenomena like livestreaming, and historical events like the COVID pandemic. Audiences might perceive the film as an attempt to catch up on the past 25 years of horror, but Marlon expands the scope much further. "If you look at the Wayans brand over time, if you include Keenan's career, we've been around for 50 years. But if you include the careers of Damon, Shawn, myself, and Kim, that's about 200 years of comedy," he says. "We've always strived to fill that page with as many jokes as possible... and that's what we're doing here.".
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.