Scary Movie 4 (2006)

This one revolves around spoofs that include Saw, War of the Worlds, The Village and Ju-On/The Grudge. Except so little of it organically fits together. This one is easily the worst of the franchise. It feels like all the humor has been sucked out of this series. How did it fall so far from such great heights?

1 Viagra boner out of 5

Scary Movie 3 (2003)

The third in the series loses the secret weapon of the Wayans and installs the director of The Naked Gun, while lowering the rating from R to PG-13. It gets dumb in a hurry, with most of the humor coming from broad physical gags and people getting hurt. I was always disappointed how quickly it devolves into lowest common denominator humor, but watching it with fresh eyes, it has a lot going for it. As long as you don't directly compare this to the two films that preceded it, it's rather enjoyable in a way. Parodies include The Ring and Signs.

2½ cursed tapes out of 5

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Mel Brooks's final directorial effort will undoubtedly draw comparisons to the spoof classic Young Frankenstein, but this is a very different beast. Ravaged upon release, I can't help but look back kindly on it for all the raw talent and silliness it contains. If you compare it to Brooks's earlier work, it's lacking, but it's very funny on its own merits, and Leslie Nielsen remains in impeccable form. It has an old fashioned appeal that harkens back to the golden age.

3 csárdás out of 5

Wrongfully Accused (1998)

Leslie Nielsen is the Lord of the Violin, aka Ryan Harrison, on the run from the law after being wrongfully accused of murder in this parody on The Fugitive, which also lampoons everything from Mission: Impossible, The Usual Suspects, North by Northwest, Braveheart, Titanic and even Baywatch. At a certain point, these movies just become about cramming in as many references as possible, which isn't funny in of itself; it's only when finding subversive ways around it that the humor really lands. Like with Spy Hard, this is pretty dumb common denominator stuff, and you have to be attuned to this kind of humor, although it pales in comparison to the great spoofs of years past. But Nielsen is having fun with it and that type of silliness is contagious under the right conditions.

There are plenty more parodies to go, but I'm too spoofed out at the moment.

2½ one-armed, one-eyed, one-legged men out of 5

Spy Hard (1996)

A spoof of the spy genre (particularly James Bond/007), which also jam-packs other popular films of the time, like Speed, Sister Act, Home Alone, Rambo, etc. Leslie Nielsen portrays Special Agent Dick Steele, aka WD-40, while Nicollette Sheridan does a serviceable job as second banana Agent 3.14. Directed by Rick Friedberg, and written by nepo baby Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer, who are credited with the demise of the spoof genre and gave them a bad name during the 2000s stretch of parody films. The movie was famously meddled with by Disney, who dumbed it down for audiences to try and (poorly) imitate the ZAZ style and hacked it apart by about 20 minutes. The latter half suffers for it and we're denied a proper denouement, but you can tell the potential is there and there are a lot of fun visual gags that are still memorable to me 30 years later. As usual, Nielsen carries the entire thing on his shoulders. I still enjoy it more than all the other films Friedberg & Seltzer became associated with later on.

2½ unlucky joggers out of 5

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994)

Frank Drebin is retiring from Police Squad and planning to start a family with Jane. Directed by first-time director Peter Segal, it lacks the same finesse and tightening of jokes that David Zucker brought to it, despite penning the script. There is a delicate balance to this art of smart/dumb comedy which can be ruined if it leans too heavily to one side or acknowledges its own absurdity. Some of these chords are hit a little too hard and lacks more of the "subtlety" found in the previous entries. This is one of those films I always like better in retrospect, even though it never quite lives up to my memory of it.

2¾ specimen cups out of 5

Note: "Fun" bit of trivia: O.J. Simpson was arrested on murder charges three months after the release of this film. This certainly exists as a time capsule.

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)

Police Lieutenant Frank Drebin is back, where he investigates a bombing and stumbles into a criminal conspiracy involving Big Oil. As always, the plot of these movies is secondary to the succession of rapid-fire jokes and sight gags that are hidden in every scene. Admittedly, there is a big drop off in quality, but Leslie Nielsen is so effortlessly brilliant in the role, even when the jokes don't land, he still pulls it off with style and ease. It's top-loaded with enough irreverence and slapstick humor to put a smirk on your face if you're into this brand of over-the-top comedy. Just adjust your expectations accordingly, turn your brain to the "off" position and strap in for stupidity and big laughs.

3¼ Black Russians out of 5

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

What began as a low-rated six-episode spoof of M Squad and other police procedurals of the day became a highly popular film franchise starring the inimitable Leslie Nielsen as the bumbling Lt. Frank Drebin of Police Squad. Following the trademark irreverent humor of ZAZ, it features slapstick, sight gags, wordplay, non sequiturs, sexual innuendo and laugh out loud absurdity. The reason these movies succeed and continue to persist is because of the brilliance and comic timing of Leslie Nielsen, who always plays it straight and never acknowledges the ridiculousness of the situation. In terms of laughs per minute, you're getting your money's worth here. This is a movie you can watch multiple times and catch something new each time. This review might as well extend to the entirety of Police Squad!, which was chock-full of subversive humor and ingenuity. These films remain at the top of the comedy lovers' pile.

4½ stuffed beavers out of 5

Note: The original series, Police Squad! (1982), gets 5 sirens out of 5 from me.

Airplane! (1980)

From the brainchild of ZAZ (Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker) comes a spoof classic that is so immensely quotable and laugh-a-minute funny, it belongs on the pantheon of great comedy movies. What began as a humorous send-up of disaster films such as Zero Hour! (1957) and the Airport series ended up as the blueprint for every parody movie to come. It comes at a time when serious actors like Peter Graves and Lloyd Bridges weren't afraid to take the piss out of themselves. Of these, Leslie Nielsen (known for dramatic roles at the time) made his transition to deadpan comedy icon. Packed to the brim with slapstick, sight gags, puns, one-liners and clever wordplay, it's a relentless barrage of lowbrow silliness that is still considered one of the funniest films of all time.

5 Shirleys out of 5

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Revellers on board the luxury liner Poseidon enjoy their New Year's Eve party oblivious to the giant wave that's thundering toward them... until it hits!
Produced by master of disaster flicks Irwin Allen, Poseidon is a thoroughly enjoyable but admittedly pretty awful journey from the bowels of hell to the light of day for a small and varied collection of individuals who realise that they must band together if they're to have any hope of escape.
With plenty of rationalising and moralising along the way the ensemble cast do their best with the material, and by the end we know exactly why each character was included and what basic emotion they were required to appeal to, a task that most of them do rather well, I'm happy to say. I know that it's basically trash given the big screen treatment, but damn me, I love it.

3½ tables turned (literally) out of 5

Forbidden Planet (1956)

If you've any interest in the history and evolution of science fiction on film then Forbidden Planet is a must-see. Its influence on the genre is HUGE.
The FX are amazing. The electronic score (by Bebe and Louis Barron) and sound effects exist as one and is literally years ahead of its time.
It has themes and characters analogous to The Tempest (c.1610–11): the remote island is changed for a distant planet; Prospero the magician replaced by Morbius the philologist with parlour tricks that astound; the servile Caliban role filled by Robby the Robot, surely the second most iconic mechanical biped in early sci-fi, denied top spot by Maria from Lang's Metropolis (1927). The threat, because every good story needs an antagonist, isn't any old 50s go-to creature (so no giant ants or big-brained aliens with tin foil hats), it's a powerful entity rooted in themes found in Jungian philosophy. Beneath the sheen FP is sci-fi that has something real to say about the human condition.

5 human impulses out of 5

Repossessed (1990)

A spoof of The Exorcist (1973) staring Leslie Nielson as the priest and Linda Blair as a possessed housewife.
It's filled with weak gags and an overpowering sense of desperation. I watched as much as I could to see how bad it could get, but then came to my senses and moved onto something better.

0½ shit given out of 5

Prom Night (1980)

Scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis follows up her successful Halloween and The Fog run with... this piece of shit. I'm sure it was pitched by the studio execs as Halloween meets Carrie, although it fails miserably on both counts. A group of kids accidentally (?) murder one of their own and years later, a mysterious killer comes back to off the remaining kids. Featuring Leslie Nielsen during his serious years, this is easily one of the worst horror movies ever made (how this warranted an even worse remake is beyond me). So why did I watch it, you ask? Well...

1 corny corsage out of 5

Surf Ninjas (1993)

Wow. I... Holy shit. Where do I start?
Released during the ninja craze of the early '90s (following the popularity of TMNT), this cheesy, harmless family film is geared mainly for the kids. There are bad dubs, stereotypes galore, and an almost non-existant plotline. Rob Schneider (who was 30 when this movie was made) actually plays a high-schooler and provides minimal comic relief. Leslie Nielsen is mostly wasted. Like it or not, I grew up in this era, so these types of movies hold a kind of "fond" memory for me. For everyone else, I can realize why this is considered trash.

1.5 ridiculously ripped "kids" out of 5