The Wayans Brothers are officially back in the Scary Movie franchise, and that’s a reason to celebrate. Because despite David Zucker taking over the series and making it considerably more like Airplane!, things clearly went off the rails from what people liked. What started as a parody of Scream and ghost movies became a mishmash of pop culture references that were hard to keep up with. With Scary Movie 4, the film sets its sights on War of the Worlds, The Grudge, The Village, and Saw. So yeah, we’re clearly pulling from the biggest titles of the decade.
Back in the mid-2000s, after the success of Scary Movie 3, Miramax gave the green light to a fourth entry. Director David Zucker returned, alongside writers Craig Mazin and Pat Proft. They were also joined by Jim Abrahams, known for Airplane!, Top Secret!, The Naked Gun, and the Hot Shots! films. On paper, everything was in place to top the third film.
Scary Movie 4 was even intended to be the final entry, so producers made sure to bring back key players, even if their roles were reduced or altered.
Anna Faris returns as Cindy Campbell, though she reportedly didn’t want to come back at first… until a $1 million paycheck changed her mind.
Despite their major roles in the previous film, Charlie Sheen and Simon Rex are reduced to brief cameo appearances. An odd choice, especially since Cindy and George ended up together in Scary Movie 3. But continuity has never been this franchise’s strong suit.
Brenda is also back, despite dying in the previous film. Again, consistency isn’t the priority here.
With George gone, Craig Bierko steps in as Cindy’s new love interest. Meanwhile, Kevin Hart and Anthony Anderson return with expanded roles, including a Brokeback Mountain parody subplot. Leslie Nielsen also returns as the President, though without Ja Rule this time. Instead, comedian Alonzo Bodden steps in.
Nielsen doesn’t hit quite as hard here, but the bizarre subplot involving him and a duck is so random it circles back to being funny.
The film primarily spoofs:
Other planned parodies (House of Wax, Red Eye, and Cursed) were scrapped before filming. It’s a shame, especially since Paris Hilton and Elisha Cuthbert were expected to return. This is also the point where the franchise fully leans into non-movie pop culture:
The jokes aren’t limited to cinema anymore.
Like the other films, you’ll get more out of Scary Movie 4 if you’ve seen the movies it’s parodying. Otherwise, many of the jokes don’t land. The humor often falls into two categories:
The film opens with a Saw parody featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Dr. Phil. It eventually ties back into the main story, but feels disconnected. Interestingly, the production design was so accurate that the Saw 3 team reused the bathroom set.
When we catch up with Cindy:
Cindy now resembles Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character from The Grudge, living in a haunted house. She meets her new neighbor, also named Tom (Craig Bierko), because apparently there aren’t enough names to go around.
Of all the parodies, War of the Worlds serves as the main throughline.
We get:
It functions similarly to how Scream anchored the first film.
The film also leans into M. Night Shyamalan territory with The Village. We get surprise returns from:
They play characters inspired by Bryce Dallas Howard and Adrien Brody. The story is rushed through quickly; it could’ve easily been just a one-off gag.
Later, the film revisits War of the Worlds with a basement sequence featuring Michael Madsen as a parody of Tim Robbins’ character. Then it swings back to Saw again, recreating traps like the Venus flytrap from Saw II.
Eventually, it’s revealed that the alien invasion is connected to the puppet from the opening scene, tying everything together.
Fun fact: the puppet’s voice is provided by Craig Mazin, who also created The Last of Us.
The alien invasion ends abruptly, and most characters get a happy ending. Except Brenda, who sleeps with the puppet’s brother and becomes pregnant.
That’s the note the movie ends on.
The biggest issue with Scary Movie 4 is how hollow much of the humor feels. Earlier films had crude jokes, but they were backed by sharper parody. Here, a lot of the comedy leans into:
That said, a few moments still land and get a laugh, but they’re scattered.
Scary Movie 4 was released on April 14, 2006.
Critics weren’t kind:
The general consensus: a few laughs, but too much recycled material.
Despite being intended as the final entry, the franchise continued. A fifth film was released in 2013, without Anna Faris. And… it makes this one look much better by comparison.
Scary Movie 4 shows what happens when parody loses focus. Instead of sharpening its targets, it throws everything at the wall:
Some of it sticks, but most of it doesn’t.
Where does Scary Movie 4 rank for you? Should the series have ended here? Let us know.
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