This week on Friday Night Frightfest, we’re trading pure terror for some classic meta-commentary and a whole lot of “Wazzup!” In anticipation of the Scary Movie reboot coming out this year, we are going back to the duo that started the parody phenomenon. We’re comparing the original slasher-skewering Scary Movie (2000) with its supernatural-themed sequel Scary Movie 2 (2001). Grab your popcorn and watch out for the killer—if he isn’t too busy getting high!

Scary Movie (2000)
Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, the first Scary Movie took the late-90s horror resurgence and turned it on its head. Primarily lampooning the meta-horror of Scream and the “guilty secret” trope of I Know What You Did Last Summer, the film follows Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) and her group of deeply dim-witted friends as they are stalked by a masked killer. From the opening Drew Barrymore parody with Carmen Electra to the “Shorty” (Marlon Wayans) stoner gags, it’s a relentless barrage of slapstick and gross-out humor that somehow manages to perfectly capture the aesthetic of the films it’s making fun of.

Scary Movie 2 (2001)
The sequel, released just a year later, pivots away from slashers and dives into the world of supernatural and haunted house horror. Taking its main plot from the 1999 remake of The Haunting, the film sees our survivors (joined by new faces like Tori Spelling) invited to “Hell House” by a perverted professor (Tim Curry) for a sleep study. The parodies here are legendary: the Exorcist opening with James Woods, the Poltergeist clown fight, and the infamous “Hanson” (Chris Elliott) and his “strong hand.” It’s a chaotic, live-action cartoon that pushed the franchise into even weirder, more supernatural territory.

Join us as we break down why these films were such massive cultural touchpoints at the turn of the millennium. We’ll discuss which parodies hit the mark and which jokes… well, haven’t exactly aged like fine wine.

Spoilers start around 5:40.