Scary Movie 4
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Scary Movie 4 is a sequel to Scary Movie 3 that is directed by David Zucker, written by Craig Mazin and Pat Proft, and produced by Robert K. Weiss. It is distributed by The Weinstein Company via its Dimension Films unit in the US, and internationally by Buena Vista Distribution (Miramax). It was released on April 14, 2006.
Contents
Plot
This movie officially spoofed Saw, Saw II, The Village, The Grudge, War of the Worlds, Million Dollar Baby, Brokeback Mountain, and a quick reference to Red Eye, The Simple Life, Cursed, Land of the Dead and Hustle & Flow. The opening sequence is a spoof of Saw, which featured Dr. Phil McGraw and Shaquille O'Neal.Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back as the loveable, dim-witted Cindy Campbell and her self-serving, sex-crazed pal Brenda Meeks respectively. They are joined this time around by Craig Bierko as the cute, but utterly clueless, Tom Ryan. Together, they battle to save the world from a ruthless alien invasion. Cindy moves in next to Tom because she's taking care of an old lady. She finds out the house is haunted by a little boy called Troy Reed and goes on a quest to find out who killed him and why. Also, Alien "tr-iPods" are invading the world and Cindy has to uncover the secret in order to stop them.
Story
- Shaq and Dr. Phil wake up chained in a bathroom. (spoofing Saw) Shaq has to make a free throw with a huge rock in order to get the saw down to cut off their legs. Shaq and Dr. Phil have only two minutes to free themselves of their leg braces before dying from the room's airborne nerve gas. Finally Shaq makes the basket and lowers the saws down. Dr. Phil ends up sawing off his foot but he picks the wrong one. Both then die from the gases being released in the room.
- Charlie Sheen's character, spoofing Bill Pullman's character from The Grudge, wakes up. He tries to kill himself by taking many sleeping pills but the pills turn out to be Viagra, resulting in a massive erection in his pants. Unaccustomed with the different mass distribution he tumbles over a balustrade, lands on his erect penis, and dies. Cindy Campbell goes to get a new job and plays as Sarah Michelle Gellar's character in The Grudge. She's been asked to be a caretaker for the creepy "Grudge House."
- Her next door neighbour, Tom Ryan (Craig Bierko), is a single father with quite a few screws loose spoofing War of the Worlds. During each scene with the Mrs. Norris (Cloris Leachman), she gets hit. Cindy sponge bathes her with her own urine on accident. Then Cindy finds a ghost boy in the house. They began talking in "Japanese" (actually Japanese brand names and "buzz words" such as Sony, Mitsubishi, and Fujitsu) She is told by the ghost boy that she can find the answer to the alien attack when she finds his father. Cindy and Tom start talking to each other. Cindy also meets Tom's daughter, Rachel (Conchita Campbell). She also gets hit a lot every scene she's in.
- Cindy asks if he has started dating again since his last relationship broke up and it shows three girls having a pillow fight. As their love blossoms, the world comes under attack by gigantic triPods (giant iPods) that destroy everything in their sight. Tom flees with his kids, leaving Cindy alone with her best friend, Brenda. Cindy has a flashback, a parody of Million Dollar Baby, and that's the only time we see George (Simon Rex), who is her trainer (just like Clint Eastwood was). At one point, Cindy gets punched so hard that she is sent spiraling backward, while dramatic music plays. While she is falling in slow motion, a hand appears and places a stool right in front of Cindy. The referee then runs across, and suddenly trips upon the stool. Following this, everyone begins to randomly fall one by one breaking their necks. During the commotion, the person that Cindy was fighting against (who seems to be Mike Tyson in drag), starts to bite the ears off of random people with everything dramatically falling in slow motion. This is the time we also see George die.
- Holly wants to have a foot race so the two of them ran and Holly ran into a tree and Ezekiel laughs but ran into a house. Then Brenda and Cindy and the village people are having a town/court session to determine their fate. Then walks in Holly, who thinks that this is her house. She strips off her clothes and takes a long and very loud dump in the back row of the courthouse while everyone looks at her. After that spoof is over, we see Tom, his family, Cindy, and Brenda hiding in Oliver's (Michael Madsen) house (as in the War of the Worlds). Everyone gets sucked up into a tripod and inside is the Saw bathroom/chamber. Saw II is spoofed with a key being behind one of the character's eyes.
- Cindy and Brenda are wearing the "Venus Fly Trap" and Tom Ryan is wearing a device that would shoot a large dildo up his butt. There is a monitor in the room which Jigsaw, the puppet, turns up. Jigsaw tells them they have some odd seconds to get the Venus Fly Trap off before they close. He shows an x-ray on the monitor that shows the key is behind Cindy's eyeball. It takes awhile to figure that out. A scalpel is provided for her to use. Cindy pops her eyeball out and gets the key and shows she has a glass eye. All of them used the key to unlock themselves. Brenda picks up the device that Tom was wearing, interested in using it herself. Then, Tom asks where his kids are. His kids come down from the ceiling and are about to be sliced into bits unless he holds onto a rope which happens to be between a coffin with spikes inside. He grabs onto the rope which leaves him open to another torture device called the Nut Cracker (We find out why it is called this when a boot comes out and smashes Tom Ryan's crotch) which gives him a purple nurple and a wet willie. His two kids tell him he can let go because he proved his daughter that he's a good father and because he taught his son how to be a man. But, he dosen't let go, and about 2 seconds before Tom's Death, Jigsaw stops the machine. Cindy finds a heart drawn on a toilet and in the toilet are pictures of Jigsaw, a women, and the ghost boy. He explains he's the ghost boy's step dad and that the ghost boy died at the wrestling match because everyone snapped their necks and a large man resembling Don King crushed him. He then says "It's easy to have a grudge, but it is hard to forgive", and it is in this time that Jigsaw comes into the spotlight.
- It turns out that Jigsaw is just Jigsaw. He's a real human puppet. He says sorry in a fast, non-meaningful way, and Cindy tells him to say it like he means it and he does. There are two Jigsaws that are twins. Brenda sleeps with one of the puppets. The lucky puppet (the one Brenda had sex with) sits next to the main puppet and scratches his crotch. The main puppet says, "You didn't catch anything did you?" and then the lucky puppet says, "No, it's ok, she said she was a virgin." Then the main puppet says, "We are so fucked." There is also a baby puppet because Brenda had sex with Jigsaw and gave him STDs.
- We are left to assume that the puppets were controlling the tr-iPods and Brenda's STD, which she gives to the puppet, destroys the tripods like the bacteria did to the tripods in War of the Worlds. After that, James Earl Jones gets hit by a bus while delivering Morgan Freeman's closing lines from War of the Worlds. Then the movie ends there.
- A 5 minute epilogue spoofs the couch incident: the Oprah Winfrey Show episode of Tom Cruise (Craig Bierko) jumping on a couch with Oprah played by look-a-like Debra Wilson, a former MADtv cast member who is very well known for her Oprah parodies. Also, Bierko's character runs around the studio and does backflips. Cindy Campbell walks in and gets thrown by Tom off the stage. Tom then breaks Oprah's hands and wrists, smashes a chair on her, and runs towards the camera lens, and the screen goes black.
Release Dates
- April 13, 2006: Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, Israel, UK (Northern Ireland), Russia
- April 14, 2006: Finland, UK (Great Britain), USA, Canada
- April 20, 2006: Germany, New Zealand, Portugal
- April 21, 2006: Brazil, Italy, Norway, Mexico, Poland
- April 27, 2006: Hungary
- April 28, 2006: Iceland
- May 4, 2006: Argentina
- May 24, 2006: France
- June 1, 2006: Thailand
- June 21, 2006: Philippines
- June 23, 2006: Spain, Taiwan
- June 28,2006: Belgium
- August 4, 2006: Turkey
Box Office
In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $40.2 million[link], the third best opening weekend of the Scary Movie franchise. It has the best Easter weekend opening weekend ever, beating Panic Room which made $30.1 million in its opening weekend and also the second best April opening, only $2 million behind Anger Management's record.As of June 21, 2006, the film has grossed a total of $89,237,620 at the United States box office and $156,769,597 worldwide.
Earning over $40 million above the 'breaking even' point of it's $45 million budget, and having a record-breaking opening, Scary Movie 4 is a bonafide success.
In the Netherlands, the film has grossed a total of € 1.582.283. [Boxoffice NL]
Ratings
- In the USA, the official MPAA rating is PG-13 for crude and sexual humor throughout, some comic violence and language.
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role
| |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Anderson | Mahalik spoofing Heath Ledger character from Brokeback Mountain | |
| Dave Attell | "Knifeman", trying to steal Fabolous's character's gun | |
| Link Baker | Zoltar | |
| Craig Bierko | Tom Ryan spoofing Tom Cruise (Ray) in War of the Worlds [link]
| |
| Amber Borycki | Dancer | |
| Beverley Breuer | Blonde Woman | |
| Conchita Campbell | Rachel Ryan, spoofing Dakota Fanning from War of the Worlds | |
| Dane Cook | Jigsaw | |
| DeRay Davis | Marvin | |
| Kathryn Dobbs | Schoolteacher | |
| Carmen Electra | Holly, the blind woman in The Village played by Bryce Dallas Howard [link] | |
| Chingy | He plays one of the prisoner aboard the alien ship | |
| Chris Elliot | Ezekiel spoofing (Noah Percy) Adrien Brody's troubled The Village role [link] | |
| Anna Faris | Cindy Campbell playing a caretaker for a catatonic old woman spoofing The Grudge | |
| Michelle Grigor | Spit Take Kid #4 | |
| Regina Hall | Brenda Meeks | |
| Kevin Hart | C.J. spoofing Jake Gyllenhall's character from Brokeback Mountain | |
| Lil' Jon | Himself, driving one of the last working cars. | |
| Fabolous | Himself trying to steal the van from Tom Ryan. | |
| James Earl Jones | Himself spoofing Morgan Freeman's line from War of the Worlds | |
| Don King | In a scene spoofing Million Dollar Baby | |
| Joanna Krupa | ||
| Cloris Leachman | Mrs. Norris spoofing "The Grudge" old lady | |
| Crystal Lowe | Pretty Girl #1 | |
| Michael Madsen | Oliver: A man who lead Tom and Rachel to a safe area and tells Tom about the Tr-iPods, a spoof on Tim Robbins's character | |
| Henry Mah | Mr. Koji | |
| Garrett Masuda | Ghost Boy | |
| Dr. Phil McGraw | Spoofs Saw in the opening scene with Shaq[link] | |
| Jessica McLeod | Little Girl Reading | |
| Beau Mirchoff | Spoofing Robbie Ferrier, played by Justin Chatwin, from War of the Worlds | |
| Jana Mitsoula | Running Woman | |
| Edward Moss | Michael Jackson in War of the Worlds spoof | |
| Angelique Naude | Waitress | |
| Leslie Nielsen | President Baxter Harris | |
| Patrice O'Neal | Rasheed | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | Himself spoofing Saw in the opening scene with Dr. Phil[link] | |
| Bill Pullman | Henry Hale spoofing William Hurt's character from The Village | |
| John Reardon -
| ||
| Hoodlum
| Simon Rex | George spoofing Clint Eastwood's character in Million Dollar Baby, playing Cindy's boxing trainer |
| Molly Shannon | Marilyn, Tom's (Craig Bierko) ex-wife spoofing Miranda Otto from War of the Worlds | |
| Charlie Sheen | Tom Logan spoofing Bill Pullman's character from The Grudge | |
| Kimani Ray Smith | Cut Man | |
| Rorelee Tio | Yoko | |
| Allison Warren | Polish Delegate | |
| Chris Williams | Marcus | |
| Debra Wilson | Reprises her role spoofing Oprah, as seen on MADtv, reenacting the infamous Tom Cruise appearance | |
| Dale Wolfe | Hang Gliding Man |
Trivia
- The rules Brenda is holding up, in the poster, says the following:
-II: Let the weepy dramas be seen, we will give them something to cry about.
-III: Let the romantic comedies beware, for we are coming.
- The trailer has been screened with Big Momma's House 2, Final Destination 3, Date Movie, Madea's Family Reunion, V for Vendetta, She's the Man, The Hills Have Eyes, , When a Stranger Calls, Tristan & Isolde, Hostel, Stay Alive, The Matador, The Libertine, The Ringer, and Inside Man. It could also be seen in the Derailed DVD.
- Scary Movie 4 did not spoof superhero movies. The parody of superhero movies is an upcoming Zucker film, Superhero!.
- War of the Worlds is parodied the most, along with The Grudge.
- This is the first time that Michael Madsen acted a strange character.
- The "Nuts" joke was supposed to involve Mahalik putting his hand over CJ and saying "I wanna eat some peanuts!". Hart can't stop laughing after saying that line because he kept on saying the word "penis" instead of "peanuts".
- Someone was crushed by a car at the end of the movie, like the previous movies.
- Most of the special effects in the film were in the parody of War of the Worlds, which were relatively well done and similar to those in War of the Worlds.
- This is the first in the Scary Movie franchise to be shot in high-definition video, specifically with the Panavision Genesis camera.
- Though intercut with a body double, at least one scene from behind of a naked Leslie Nielsen is that of Nielsen himself, doing a nude scene.
- Despite King Kong being in the poster, Craig Mazin confirms that the 2005 film will NOT be parodied in Scary Movie 4 :"I don't know why King Kong is on the poster. We do not spoof King Kong in the movie. Marketing trick, I guess." (King Kong was spoofed in Date Movie)
- The second movie of the franchise in which Regina Hall's "Brenda Meeks" character does NOT die (this is not counting the alternate ending for the second movie in which she is indeed killed).
- Anna Faris denied the rumors about Tyson playing Cindy's opponent in the boxing scene. She said it was a boxing trainer who quite resembles Tyson a lot.
- This is the third Scary Movie filmed in Vancouver. Others were 1 and 3.
- Mihalik & C.J. sings "Hello" by Lionel Richie, during the flashback scene.
- Bill Pullman, Anthony Anderson and Anna Faris appeared in films parodied by Scary Movie 4: Faris can be seen in Brokeback Mountain, Pullman appeared in The Grudge and Anderson appeared in Hustle & Flow.
- This is the first film in the Scary Movie franchise to feature Regina Hall on the film's poster.
- This film was supposed to spoof The Ring Two, but since audiences didn't respect it well, David Zucker decided to wait for War of the Worlds.
- Anna Faris and Regina Hall are still the only two people that have appeared on all of the Scary Movies.
Scary Movie 4 Unrated DVD Cover
- Release Date:
According to DavisDVD.com, the DVD will be released on August 15, 2006. This is available in a 91-minute "Unrated and Uncensored" version (available in both widescreen and fullscreen) and in a 83-minute PG-13 rated version (available in only fullscreen). The comedy spoof arrives with an anamorphic transfer, Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, an audio commentary with David Zucker, Bob Weiss and Craig Mazin, 15 deleted & extended scenes (including "Tom Ryan on Oprah - The Long Take"), "The Man Behind the Laugh" David Zucker, "Zany Spoof Humor-Zucker Style", "Interviewers Worst Nightmare", "The Visual Effects of Scary Movie 4", "The Youngbloodz", "Rappers and Actors" featurettes and an NBA Scary Movie 4 spot all retailing at $29.99. The bonus features are over 2 hours long.
- Deleted Scenes:
David Zucker has revealed some deleted scenes that might be on the DVD:
- “We had a thing where Michael Madsen is about to chop the probe with an axe, and the probe switches the mirror so that Madsen’s looking at himself in the mirror and then he’s trying to duke himself out in the mirror,” Zucker said. “We never tried it in front of an audience.”
- The film’s ending is the second one Zucker shot, and the original ending may appear on DVD.
“In the original ending, when Craig Bierko and Anna Faris bring the kids back to Molly Shannon, they kiss and look over and Brenda was so happy that she lived through the thing. Then we had the [crate] drop on her,” he said. “But it didn’t get a laugh.”
References and external links
- [Official Website]
- ["Nearly" Official Website with an Exclusive Interview]
- [Movies.com]
- [}}}] at Rotten Tomatoes
- [Scary Movie 4 Trailer]
| The Scary Movie Series
|
|---|
| Scary Movie | Scary Movie 2 | Scary Movie 3 | Scary Movie 4 |
| Key People |
| Anna Faris > Regina Hall | David Zucker | Keenen Ivory Wayans | Marlon Wayans | Shawn Wayans |
| See Also |
| Date Movie | Spoof | Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth |
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