Scary Movie 4
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: April 14, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
11
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
About five times as funny as "Scary Movie 3." Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyTim Grierson
The sort of movie you like in spite of yourself, Scary Movie 4 is obvious and dumb, but it possesses such a giddy, good-hearted spirit that even its terrible jokes (and there are tons) get by on something resembling charm. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
This a rapid-fire romp through "War of the Worlds," "Saw," "The Grudge" and "The Village," cut up into skits and pieced back together in some mutant jigsaw puzzle with a few pieces missing, delivers a barrage of low-minded gags with high-spirited energy. Read full review
67
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Anna Faris, her deadpan comic timing still a joy to watch, returns as Cindy Campbell, one of two main holdovers from the first three movies. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
There are plenty of chuckles at the expense of Dr. Phil, Shaquille O'Neal, Carmen Electra, Charlie Sheen and series stalwart Leslie Nielsen. But with no comic carryover from one skit to the next, true belly laughs are few and far between. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
Writing, casting and pacing are vital. Scary Movie 4 doesn't let any gag get stale. It's rapid-fire, hit-and-miss and hit-and-strike comedy. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
And as ever, the jokes are a jumble of the gross, the baggy, the raunchy, the mistimed, and - every once in a while - the refreshingly incorrect. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The humor emphasizes quantity over quality, but the batting average isn't too bad. And where else can you witness Leslie Nielsen do a nude scene? Read full review
50
The New York TimesNathan Lee
The fun of Scary Movie 4 is that it isn't a movie at all. Organized on the principle of parody, not plot, driven by gags and cultural feedback, it's an exercise in lowbrow postmodernism, a movie-movie contraption more nuts than Charlie Kaufman's gnarliest fever dream. It's cleverly stupid. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Shaquille O'Neal and Dr. Phil open Scary Movie 4 with an achingly unfunny couple of minutes of severed limbs and errant hoop shots. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
But for those jonesing for a loosely connected string of comedy sketches, heavy on the scatological humor, this is the fix. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
To go with the good, there's plenty of bad, and it comes in the form of countless gags that misfire, far too much flatulence and urine, and (God help us) a buck naked Leslie Nielsen. Admittedly, that scene certainly puts the "scary" in Scary Movie 4. Read full review
50
Village VoiceLuke Y. Thompson
The jokes miss more than they hit, but there are a lot of them, and when they work, it's gold. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The best parts come in the rare moments when the film decides to break from formula, as when old Zucker-team warhorse Leslie Nielsen returns as the U.S. President. Read full review
40
VarietyDennis Harvey
Scary Movie 4 finds horror parody overshadowed by ho-hum groin blows, C-list celebrity cameos, slapstick child abuse, soon-to-be-forgotten hip-hop personalities, plus scatalogical and gay jokes; real laughs are few. Read full review
40
Film ThreatClint Morris
The series has turned into the cinematic equivalent of a flat bicycle tyre – it starts off with lots of air in it, but can quickly go flat when punctured. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The fourth installment in the horror-parody franchise combines plot elements from "The Grudge," "The Village," and "War of the Worlds," with abbreviated spoofs of "Saw," "Brokeback Mountain," and "Million Dollar Baby." The amount of screen time allotted to each movie is roughly proportional to its box office take, suggesting that the first draft of the screenplay was written on a calculator. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesJan Stuart
Isn't it amazing to see just how low some people will stoop if you pay them enough? Read full review
30
SlateBen Wasserstein
Jokes from Scary Movie 3 are recycled ad nauseam. Read full review
25
New York PostLou Lumenick
Scary Movie 4 concludes by satirizing Cruise's couch-jumping orgy on "Oprah." Funny, but nowhere near as hilarious as the real thing. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Part sketch-comedy cartoon, part Cracked magazine spoof, installment four is the most scornfully made yet. Read full review
20
EmpireKim Newman
Worse than Scary Movies 1 through 3… And they were terrible. Read full review
0
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
So lazy it's downright boring, something not even a naked Leslie Nielson (!) can salvage. Read full review
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