Forgotten Sequels: Scary Movie 2 (2001)

 Has time been kind to this Sequel?  All signs point to 'no.'

This is Scary Movie 2, the Film that discards the tagline of the last Film.  The original Film had a 'No Sequel' line on the Poster.

It made too much money and was too much fun to make, so future releases- like my DVD Set- have it crossed through.
We currently sit at 5 Sequels, although only 2 were done by the Wayans Brothers.

This Film ditches the Slasher Parody to be about Ghost Stories and Haunted Houses.  I'm sure that parodies of House on Haunted Hill and The Haunting...'s Remakes will age well.
That and a tacked-on Exorcist Parody (since The Version You've Never Seen cut was released in 2000).

For better or worse, this Sequel also fully began the 'And Everything Else' Strategy of Parody that would define the Wayans-less Sequels.
Commercials?  Sure.  Charlie's Angels?  Why not?  Hannibal?  Go for it!

Clocking it at under 80 minutes, why does this still feel stretched thin?

To find out, read on...

The Film begins with a way-too-long Exorcist Parody involving James Woods and Andy Richter (who would make up for this by being in Obsession).

It ends quite abruptly, but not before Andy sings the N-word as part of a 'gag' where the White Actors sing a Rap Song.

Afterwards, we get a confusing 'One Year Later' tag on-screen.
One Year Later from that Scene (which is clearly in the '70s) or One Year Later from the last Film?

Regardless, Cindy isn't dead, Tori Spelling is (sometimes) here and Brenda isn't dead.

A Doctor- Tim Curry (damn!)- and his Assistant- David Cross- plan to try and awaken some ghosts at a Haunted (Hell) House by way of pretending to do a Sleep Study.

This is right from the Remake's Plot (mentioned in the Intro).
I guess Curry saying that he also wants to get laid is a new addition?

* A Deleted Scene explains that Ray is not dead- since it's the Sequel- but there's conflict between him and Brenda.  They didn't follow up on that AT ALL in the Film- they're a Couple again- so they cut the explanation *

They all meet up at the House- including the Masterson Brother not in Prison and a girl named Theo- and the Caretaker (Chris Elliot) is all sorts of gross.

That's the joke.

A whole bunch of this Movie is just a Parody of Poltergeist (whose last Film was released in 1988) too.

The Caretaker and Cross (this Sunday on ABC!) also don't get along.

Remember that bit in Wild Wild West where Jim and Loveless make jokes about their missing legs and being black (respectively)?

Here it is again.

A direct reference to The Changeling (which came out in 1980!) leads to...an extended Parody of a Nike Commercial (I think)?

Was this joke even current a year after this came out (let alone 25)?!?

It turns out that the culprit behind the whole thing is the last Owner, who is now a mean ghost in the form of Richard Moll.

* A Deleted Scene sets this up better, but they actively cut MOST of Tim Curry's Scenes *

After nearly killing Cross, he possesses the Caretaker (who was last seen 30 minutes earlier) to do the aforementioned Hannibal Parody and then this Charlie's Angels bit.

It's one of the few bits I remember (even if it sucks), so fair play...I guess.

I took this Shot before the Fountain makes it look like they're peeing

After lots of filler, they capture the ghost and everyone leaves...except for Tori Spelling.

She has 3 Scenes where she falls for the Ghost and then dies from a chandelier.  Only her and Curry die (and his is off-screen).

We end like the last one with Cindy being scared...but the car hits the Caretaker instead.
Are we done?

The End.

A Buffet of Comedy...that has been left out all day.  Time to change out the trays!

This one tries to do too much and also not enough.
They barely give out Arcs for the Characters, cut a bunch of content and then did lots of prolonged schtick to fill out the runtime.

Have I mentioned that the Film is not even 80 minutes long?

The attempt to do something other than just make fun of Slasher Films is appreciated.  It's just a shame that the solution they came up is 'Um, everything...I guess?' 

This is a Film where we go from Hannibal to Charlie's Angels to The Haunting.  It's erratic, at best.
The riffs on the source materials are either kind of dumb, uninspired or a bit offensive.

Many funny people- like Curry, Cross, Richter and Elliot- try to make it work.  Others just say their lines and hope for the best.

I'm not sure why we needed FOUR more after this, especially after a criminal waste of Natasha Lyonne!

Next up, let's return to Bond and Roger Moore.  This one is more grounded and features a quite iconic Theme to boot!  Stay tuned...