Metascore
48 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 32
  2. Negative: 8 out of 32
  1. Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    80
    It's very funny and - at times - even witty in a crude, drunken frat-boy-with-an-epiphany kind of way.
  2. While undeniably silly and violent in a cartoon-like manner, is by and large a hilarious skewering of the clichés of teen pix.
  3. 75
    Is it funny? Yes, it is.
  4. The jokes are wild, raunchy, surreal and dead-on.
  5. The scary thing about this spoof of '90s teen horror movies is how funny it is.
  6. The whole thing wobbles, like the garish, trashy, sexy shoes the young folks are wearing this summer on their way (in droves) to movie theaters, intent on abandoning themselves to pleasurable mindlessness.
  7. Actually quite amusing, thanks mainly to a script that keeps the gags flying so fast that even though so many of them are bad, they're quickly followed by something new, and occasionally something good.
  8. Reviewed by: Joe Leydon
    70
    Manages an impressively huge score in the hit-or-miss gag ratio.
  9. 70
    Political incorrectness, gross-out humor, references for their own sake, and some real wit are distributed over the 85 minutes with an unusually consistent sense of timing and proportion, and the tone is just right.
  10. 68
    A raunchy, scattershot, but often hilarious spoof.
  11. 67
    Gross, sophomoric, offensive, nasty, cheap and mean -- and so funny again and again that you plumb near forget all that's reprehensible about it.
  12. 63
    Does serve up an inspired gag every once in a while.
  13. The gleeful teen-horror spoof that proves that the Farrelly brothers have no monopoly on outrageous, politically incorrect comedy.
  14. Its grossness knows no bounds, and you'd have to be dead not to laugh.
  15. Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    63
    The question facing the target audience for Scary Movie is whether the funny bits will be enough of a payoff for sitting through the tedious stuff between them.
  16. If you're amused by jokes involving male genitals, female pubic hair, flatulence and dismemberment, it should be a big hit.
  17. 55
    Offers, on a drop-by-drop basis, more semen than a Ron Jeremy flick.
  18. It's easy to be offensive in a movie; it's much harder to be funny. Which is why Scary Movie emerges as such a waste; when you're so good at the latter, why keep falling back on the former?
  19. 50
    Surprisingly cohesive.
  20. 50
    Would it be asking too much if the hit-and-miss jokes could maybe nudge an inch beyond the obvious?
  21. Reviewed by: Robert Horton
    50
    Destined to be remembered not for its laugh-per-minute ratio, but for breaking a barrier of crudeness in mainstream movies.
  22. 40
    Some of the funny stuff is actually funny, some of it is funny and yucky, but most of it is just stupid.
  23. A big, stupid bull with bodacious tits, but that's not to say it doesn't dish out some lite hardy-hars.
  24. Reviewed by: Marc Caro
    38
    Usually what you're laughing at is ugliness, and that leaves a foul taste long before the 85 minutes have expired.
  25. Might have been funnier if it had been put together with more care.
  26. Did I laugh? Yeah, I did, half a dozen times. Not a great percentage for a film with something close to 300 quote-unquote jokes.
  27. 30
    The only thing that's truly scary about the movie is the escalating vulgarity of the latest in a string of skanky comedies by filmmakers determined to out-gross the other.
  28. 25
    Maybe I'm just too old to appreciate the startling sight of a phallus jammed into someone's ear.
  29. Reviewed by: Other (Specify)
    25
    There are a number of funny and unexpected moments in the film, but they are ultimately swamped by the mean-spirited tone and increasingly over-the-top raunch and drug humor.
  30. 20
    I walked out of Scary Movie feeling as if I'd been whacked around with a two-by-four for an hour and a half.
  31. 0
    I'd rather have a testicular nail-gun mishap than sit through this migraine-inducing train wreck of a film one more time.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 75 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 40
  2. Negative: 8 out of 40
  1. I would say that this parody movie is the king of all parody movies. It's stupid and gross, yes, but people, it's a parody movie! And besides, this parody movie has decent story, fine character development and surprisingly good ending. For a parody movie, it's superb!! Anyway, I had tears in my eyes for laughing so hard on this film. Full Review »
  2. I admit that the gross out fusion comedy "Scary Movie" is terrible. However, giving its worst as its best was a bold, appropriate choice for the movie to present itself and earn credit. Full Review »
  3. patrickd.
    1
    Some funny parts, but mostly gross and offensive. There are so many things wrong with it: male nudity, sterotyping, and other offensive scenes. A horror spoof can be as bad as a horror re-make. Full Review »