Scary Movie 4

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By Todd Karella
April 14, 2006

Rated PG-13

~ Running out of ideas ~

As soon as the credits finish rolling, the film turns back to the star of the first three films, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris). She has moved on with her life and has taken on the duties of a health care nurse for a woman who lives next door to Tom Ryan (Craig Bierko). Within moments the world is under attack and the young ghost living in her charge’s home tells Cindy that she must search for the answer that will stop the alien invasion.

The latest installment of the Scary Movie franchise has hit the theatres with the same general feel as the previous film. While most people would like to compare all four films, it’s not quite the same since the first two were done by the Wayans Brothers who no longer appear in the sequels and is now directed by David Zucker.
Even so, the basic premise is the same. Taking a plot of a popular film, they follow the plot much too closely and scatter it with random jokes.

This one is even less comprehensive as it doesn’t even follow the plot of a horror film, which it claims to be spoofing. Instead it replicates the recent Tom Cruise hit War of the Worlds, which was a science fiction film. Maybe they’ve just run out of ideas involving horror films.
Granted, there are a few smatterings of Saw and The Grudge sprinkled in, but it’s hardly a horror spoof. Maybe it should have been called Sci-Fi Movie instead.
The funniest moment of the film occurs in the opening scene where Dr. Phil and Shaquille O’Neal are shackled in a room where Shaq must make free throws in order to save their lives. You know they're in trouble with Shaq's free throw ability.

There’s not much more to the plot as it sticks way to close to War of the

Worlds, and is one of the huge weaknesses of this franchise. An original plot interlaced with the comedy would make for much better entertainment.