Scary Movie MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +3 Content: -4

In recent years, the popularity of teen slasher movies has really taken off with such films as the SCREAM and I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER series. Written and directed by the Wayans brothers, SCARY MOVIE attempts the comic spoof of those type movies. Based primarily around the SCREAM story, the main plot has teenager Cindy (Anna Faris) stalked by someone wearing a mask and using various sharp instruments as weapons of dispatch. One by one, Cindys friends fall to the killer in a variety of odd and often hilarious ways. Of course, in the midst of the mayhem, the Wayans find time to add scenes spoofing other popular films such as THE MATRIX, SIXTH SENSE, and THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. In the end, SCARY MOVIE piles joke upon joke for 90 minutes straight. And while often done in funny and clever ways, the films extreme sexual content could turn off a significant segment of viewers.

Sexual content is one of the primary reasons for a strong negative rating. Full male frontal nudity is used as comic relief three times. The nudity is not particularly sexual in nature, but all three are sure to shock audiences. There are also numerous, explicit references to all kinds of sexual acts, conventional and unconventional. Of course, all the jokes are done in traditional over the top fashion as is common with spoofs, but some of the phrases seem lifted straight from a hard-core pornographic movie. And even as a spoof on slasher films, violence is often graphic with gory stabbings, shootings, and similar acts. The dialogue also spews out over 50 obscenities along with 36 moderate crudities and several strong profanities. Unfortunately, what starts with some clever ideas to spoof some current popular films turns into a forum for way over the top sexual humor, vulgar language, and violence.

Preview Reviewer: John Adair
Distributor: Dimension Films(Miramax), 375 Greenwich, NY, NY 10013