Why Horror Movie Parodies Were So Popular In The Early 2000s – Screen Rant

Keenen Ivory Wayans' 2000 horror parody film Scary Movie popularized the subgenre in the early 2000s by confronting the formulaic nature of the genre.

During the 2000s, horror parody movies such as Keenen Ivory Wayans Scary Movie franchise peaked in popularity for examining the formulaic nature of the genres most iconic slashers, hauntings, and paranormal phenomena. The most popular franchise to come from the new sub-genre was Scary Movie and it set the precedent for subsequent parodies that followed its release. Not only did it create an entirely new category, the films showcased the various ways that typical horror had grown stale and predictable while calling for directors to be more unique and innovative.

The first installment arrived in 2000 and parodied Wes Cravens Scream (1996) and Jim Gillespies I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). These two films in particular were popular 90s teenage slasher flicks that already presented a self-awareness regarding the predictability of the sub-genre. Scary Movie took it a step further due to the fact that the franchises those films produced ultimately fell victim to the same patterns they tried to break. The original film introduces Cindy Campbell (Ana Faris), who is also the central character of each sequel. Her role directly reflects Neve Campbells Sidney Prescott, hence the name Cindy Campbell.

Related:Scary Movie: How The Franchise Changed Horror Comedies

As the franchise progresses, Cindy finds herself in the midst of other popular horror films. Scary Movie 2 (2001) parodies The Exorcist (1973), The Haunting (1999), Poltergeist (1982), and several others. Instead of slashers, Scary Movie 2took on the task of analyzing the predictability of hauntings and possessions. Scary Movie 3 parodiedThe Ring (2002) as its main story line. Later installments also parodied War Of The Worlds (2005), the Saw franchise, and Paranormal Activity (2007). While they were popular in the 2000s, they have found little success in the 2010s. During their rise to fame, they were entirely unmatched and changed what it meant to bring comedy into a horror setting.

While most horror parodies did not receive critical acclaim, they were popular amongst fans of horror, sci-fi, comedy, and beyond. They were typically marketed towards teens and young adults due to their vulgarity and focused attention on horror films, which their desired audience was interested in. At their core, horror parodies became popular because of their ability to confront the predictability of every beloved sub-genre and franchise. Slashers were growing stale, had an overabundance of poorly written and underperforming sequels and, as a result, Scary Movie took on the task of confronting them.

When the late-2000s and early-2010s was bombarded with found footage films, Scary Movie 5 (2013) deconstructed the sub-genre in a comedic way. Horror comedies were and still are fairly popular today, as referenced byTucker And Dale Vs. Evil (2011) and Little Monsters (2019). They are an entirely separate genre from horror parodies. Instead of parodying multiple films, horror comedies parody a specific genre. Scary Movie parodies an array of films within multiple sub-genres all within a singular story line. Furthermore, horror comedies rarely spawn franchises due to the lack of original source material, whereas horror parodies seemingly never run out of it.

The Wayans Brothers have been at the core of the horror parody market since its boom in popularity with Scary Movie in 2000. They have even added two new, modern movies to this sub-genre,A Haunted House(2013) and A Haunted House 2 (2014). Regardless of new additions to horror parody movies, the 2000s are still unmatched in popularity, and the Scary Movie franchise reigns supreme in comparison.

More:Every Horror Movie Reference In Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil

Watch TV From The 70s, 80s, & 90s On This Cool Retro Website

Marian Phillips is a writer, reader, and horror movie fan based out in Yonkers, New York. She is a dedicated historian, researcher, and content creator, and now works as a Horror Movie Features Writer for Valnet, Inc at ScreenRant. A graduate of the University of Kansas (BA) and Sarah Lawrence College (MA), she has worked diligently on crafting up-to-date and informative projects covering anything from horror films to punk musicians. Phillips travels throughout the United States presenting her research and learning more about the 21st century's "Horror Renaissance." Her hobbies include writing music, painting, reading comics, and hanging out with her cat Hero.

Go here to see the original:
Why Horror Movie Parodies Were So Popular In The Early 2000s - Screen Rant

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero