Mixing spoofs from different genres into one movie can be a risky bet. Just look at the downhill trend of parody films from the mid 2000s. The poor amalgamation of pop culture references just became too much for audiences to bear. The Scary Movie franchise will seemingly always live on though. Making great returns at the box office, having above-average scores with the audiences and, let’s face it — new horror movies are being made — which this line of movies can constantly make jokes from. There’s even a reboot in the making! But, let’s run it back twenty-five years for a second — the very first entry in the Scary Movie franchise just happened to overshadow another horror film comedy that deserved a moment in the spotlight.
It was July 2000 when Scary Movie made its premiere in theaters. Directed by Keenen Ivory Williams (a member of the Wayans family), this hilarious slasher spoof not only broke records when it came to R-rated features but was also the ninth highest grossing film of the year. The breakthrough of a title like Scary Movie is naturally going to create some twins in the industry — and one of those came in the form of Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th. If you don’t remember it, it’s not your fault. This was a direct-to-DVD release that came out just seven months after the epitome of horror parodies, and it’s pretty much hated by both audiences and critics. Should Shriek really be ridiculed so much though?
This Horror Spoof Has Some Great Moments
Even though we see Tiffani Amber Thiessen (of Saved By The Bell fame) and Coolio (who has top billing) in the most known promotional imagery for Shriek, don’t let that fool you. Both of these cast members have more of a supporting role than anything else. Thiessen plays a news reporter (who acts as a more faux comedic commentator for the movie) and Coolio is the principal of the prominently featured high school — who only has a couple of scenes. For the most part, Shriek’s charm comes from its gags. Not all of them hit the mark, but when they do, they are funny enough to carry the movie over to the next scene.
Firstly, they have a live-action version of Chucky the doll roaming around the high school like it’s no big deal. The main characters are not bothered in the least. Then, the killer himself gets into some very peculiar situations when trying to slash his targets. The ghostface copycat ends up winning a track race just to get closer to his victim and also nonchalantly hides under a cafeteria table (where the main group of characters are sitting one day). In the climax of the movie, he’s revealed to be wearing many different (and ludicrous) masks when the teens try to find out his true identity. While that particular scene is in the trailer, it’s a nice creative spin on Ghostface’s usual outfit. Shriek is not afraid to put “the killer” in some very hilarious situations.
’Shriek’s Parodies All Over the Place
As per the norm when it comes to spoof movies, the jokes arrive in rapid fire succession in Shriek — even faster than Scary Movie. Some may like this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it technique that writers Sue Bailey and Joe Nelms brought to the screen, but admittedly, this proves to be the movie’s worst weakness too. This occurs especially in the second half of the movie when the group all decides to hunker down at one house for the night. The one (and isolated) setting doesn’t really do the thinly veiled humor (infantile and perverse at this point) any favors.
Shriek is definitely a hit-or-miss type of movie. As mentioned at the very beginning, parody movies tend to dip into every genre hoping that something they reference will be a hit with audiences — and this is no exception. Besides obviously ripping on Scream as well as I Know What You Did Last Summer (these are the same choices found within Scary Movie), Shriek also decides to stretch its cinematic references by giving nods to Grease, Dawson’s Creek, and a poor-performing movie from the prior year called Teaching Mrs. Tingle. For a parody to find proper footing, jokes should come from not only the most popular films but also those that connect with the target audience. Shriek’s greatest moments come from those moments where the laughs come from the movie’s own original gags or when the horror genre itself is picked at and dismantled (not other categories of film).
There are numerous people out there (especially on IMDb) that say Shriek is better than Scary Movie. In terms of violence, sexual themes, and language, this is true. Blanchard’s movie definitely gets to the same level of humor as the more popular franchise without hitting those low points. But as far as parodies go, the comedic moments that don’t hit actually drag the movie far past its already weakened copycat status. Since Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th is streaming for free on Tubi, you should give it a chance anyway.
- Release Date
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October 17, 2000
- Runtime
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86 minutes
- Director
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John Blanchard
- Writers
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Joe Nelms
- Producers
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Andrew Ooi, Harold Bronson, Kai Ephron, Richard Foos, Stephen Nemeth