Scary Movie Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Scary Movie Blu-ray Movie Review

Scary Movie is a comedy with some laughs that is well past its prime

Reviewed by Brandon A. DuHamel October 30, 2007

Scary Movie, the Wayans brothers’ spoof of 1990’s teen horror flicks such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer is an over the top and in your face farce that has some laughs, but this comedy has not aged well. The gags are all too boorish, too obvious, and too “in the know”, to really stand the test of time, in my opinion, and this is coming from someone who thought this was funny – way back in 2000.

The now iconic image of the serial killer from Scary Movie

Watching Scary Movie again for the purposes of this review (a movie I have not watched in several years) I realized just how weighted down to a specific moment in time the comedy of Scary Movie actually is. For example, from the very opening scene with Carmen Elektra – if one is not familiar with Carmen Elektra’s ties to Prince and Dennis Rodman, the whole scene becomes pretty meaningless, and frankly, not funny at all.

With that said, the movie does have its better moments and is good for some mindless entertainment, if that’s what one is seeking – just, please, skip those bloody Marlon Wayans scenes, because he is as annoying as a hammer to the head.

Scary Movie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in high definition 1080p in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and encoded in the AVC/MPEG-4 video codec for this Blu-ray Disc release by Disney/Buena Vista, Scary Movie looks pleasing enough for this sort of film, and certainly far better than any DVD release, but it is not without its flaws.

Flesh tones are less than accurate, and throughout the presentation there are places that show some evidence of edge enhancement. There are some slow motion grain compression artifacts that show up on flat background images such as walls, and more so on metallic images, such as the scene in the kitchen when Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) is on the telephone whilst the killer is in her house – the stainless steel refrigerator in the background shows some obvious artifacts. There are also some spots where shadow details get just a little bit lost. On the plus side, foreground details are brilliant, particularly in the many well-lit daytime scenes.

Scary Movie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are four audio options available for this release; English 5.1 uncompressed PCM (48kHz/16- bit), English, French Dolby Digital 5.1, and Spanish Dolby 2.0.

Listening to the 5.1 uncompressed PCM soundtrack, all dialogue is clear, and sounds are well placed, but the overall mix is stagnant, with not much in the way of discrete information placed in the surrounds. Ambience is kept to a minimum giving the soundtrack a rather dry, almost claustrophobic presentation.

Scary Movie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The extras for this release do not amount to much and are nothing really to speak of. There are three trailers, all in high definition,

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
The Invisible

six additional scenes (standard definition; 4:3; window-boxed), and the original theatrical trailer for Scary Movie (standard definition; 4:3). There is also a Behind the Scenes featurette in which they speak to the cast and all three of the Wayans brothers about the making of Scary Movie that doesn't really add any insight or value to watching the film. None of these extras will need to be viewed more than once.

Scary Movie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

With only slightly above average picture and sound quality, and jokes that were humorous once upon a time, I can recommend this Blu-ray disc release from Disney/Buena Vista for those desperately seeking some mindless entertainment as a rental only.