Scary Movie 4 - DVD review

16 August 2006 9:23 GMT / By Dan Hall

The “Scary Movie” team, led by David “Airplane!” Zucker, return for the fourth and final chapter of the trilogy [Shouldn't that be fourilogy? - Ed].

Following their extra terrestrial battles in episode three Cindy (Faris) and Brenda (Hall) are soon at it again here after a “War of the Worlds” style attack from alien “Tr-iPods”.

Over the next 90 minutes “The Grudge”, “The Village”, and “Dark Water” get the usual “Scary Movie” treatment, as do the strictly non-frightening “Million Dollar Baby” and “Brokeback Mountain” – suggesting that the creators may finally be running out of ideas.

It’s appropriate though that the film starts and finishes in Saw’s underground bathroom as at least half of the humour on display is strictly of the lavatorial variety.

Admittedly, the plot is virtually non existent and the gags miss as often as they hit but inspired moments like the “Brokeback” man love scene or the Tom Cruise sofa hopping sequence make the fourth Scary outing a guilty pleasure.

In “Scary Truth: A Conversation With The Filmmakers”, director David Zucker, producer Robert Weiss and writer Craig Mazin explain that they had to chop nearly 3 minutes of the original running time after US censors refused to give them a PG-13 rating with so many bouncing chests on show.

Zucker then fondly recalls sitting through countless topless auditions with Playboy bunnies until he found exactly the right pair of breasts for the job. Thankfully, these bouncing beauties are restored in a half hour sequence of deleted and mainly extended scenes - the best of which is the uncut version of Craig Bierko’s Tom Cruise's sofa hopping parody.

Elsewhere we have a few bloopers with the usual trips and lines slips, and an arse kissing tribute to Zucker in “The Man Behind The Laugh” from stars such as Leslie Nielsen and Anna Faris.

Verdict

If you like seeing old ladies bathing in urine, Carmen Electra getting diarrhoea in the middle of a church service, or hearing lines like “I’ve taken balls to face before” then you’ll love this.

On the negative side, Nielsen’s 9/11 parody borders on the tasteless (as does some strictly non PC Japanese mockery) and the disappearance of Charlie “Hotshots” Sheen after only 2 minutes is a waste of their strongest comic talent.

Rating: 12A
Staring: Anna Faris, Carmen Electra, Leslie Nielsen, Shaquille O’Neal, Craig Bierko, Regina Hall, Simon Rex, Charlie Sheen, Bill Pullman, Michael Madsen
Directed by: David Zucker
Extras: Audio commentary from director David Zucker, producer Robert Weiss and writer Craig Mazin, Deleted and extended scenes with optional audio commentary from David Zucker, Robert Weiss and Craig Mazin, Bloopers, 'The Man Behind The Laugh (David Zucker)' featurette, 'Zany Spoof Humour - Zucker Style' featurette, Visual FX of Scary Movie 4, 'The Youngbloodz' featurette, An interviewer's worst nightmare, 'Rappers....Actors' featurette, NBA/Scary Movie 4 spot, Theatrical trailer

Score

Review Recap

Price as reviewed: £20
The good: Plenty of great references to other movies from Wars of the Worlds to Brokeback Mountain
The bad: Gags are starting to run dry, not everyone's cup of tea
Quick verdict: If you like seeing old ladies bathing in urine or Carmen Electra getting diarrhoea in the middle of a church service then you’ll love this
Score