MALCOLM D. LEE

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  B.  

Alternate title:  Scary Movie 5

USA, 2013.  Dimension Films, DZE, Brad Grey Pictures.  Screenplay by David Zucker, Pat Proft.  Cinematography by Steven Douglas Smith.  Produced by Phil Dornfeld, David Zucker.  Music by James L. Venable.  Production Design by Clark Hunter.  Costume Design by Keith G. Lewis.  Film Editing by Sam Seig.

At this point it seems ridiculous to complain about the low quality of comedy in this series of spoofs, many of which have been made and all of which feature lowbrow humour lampooning contemporary trends in the genre of teen-oriented horror. This time there are shades of Paranormal Activity, Mama, Black Swan and Evil Dead being righteously taken down a peg as Ashley Tisdale and Simon Rex adopt his dead brother’s feral children and begin to suspect that their house is haunted. She also has to deal with competition at her ballet rehearsals for her performance as the black swan, and her rival is an exotic dancer who wows everyone with her groundbreaking moves. Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen make cameo appearances lampooning their images but, considering how tired and unfunny they are, only prove their notoriety to be justified (and are, quite frankly, a little bit sad).  Make no mistake, it’s worthless garbage, but if you need to babysit adult children it will pass the time.