48 Fun Facts About Spooky Movie

Who directed the first film in the "Scary Movie" franchise?

Keenen Ivory Wayans directed the first Scary Movie from a script co-written by his younger brothers Shawn and Marlon, following his 1988 blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.

The plot of the original "Scary Movie" primarily spoofs which two popular 1990s horror films?

The first "Scary Movie" film heavily satirized the slasher genre, with its main parodies being *Scream* and *I Know What You Did Last Summer*.

Who plays Cindy Campbell in the first four Scary Movie films?

Anna Faris played Cindy Campbell in the first four Scary Movie films; the role launched the comedy career that led to The House Bunny and the sitcom Mom.

Which character in the first "Scary Movie" is secretly the killer, having faked a disability?

Doofy, the seemingly dim-witted police officer, drops the act in the final scene and drives off with the TV reporter, a takeoff of the ending of The Usual Suspects.

What year was the first "Scary Movie" film released?

Scary Movie opened on July 7, 2000, and went on to gross about $278 million worldwide, the most of any film in the franchise through 2013.

The chain of stoned friends yelling 'Whassup?' down the phone in the first Scary Movie spoofs an ad campaign for which beer?

Budweiser's Whassup? commercials were a late-1990s phenomenon, and the film joins in with a phone chain of its own.

In 'Scary Movie 2', what is the name of the haunted mansion the characters are tricked into visiting?

The name nods to The Legend of Hell House (1973), one of the many haunted-house films the sequel borrows from.

Which film is the primary target of parody in "Scary Movie 2"?

The Haunting (1999), Jan de Bont's remake with Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones, supplies the haunted-mansion plot and the professor's sleep-study pretext for gathering the students.

Who played Brenda Meeks, known for her dramatic reactions, in the Scary Movie franchise?

Regina Hall plays Brenda Meeks, Cindy's best friend, whose over-the-top reactions became a running joke; she is killed off in several films and keeps coming back.

In "Scary Movie 2," what distinctive physical feature does Hanson, the mansion's creepy caretaker, have?

Chris Elliott's Hanson has a malformed hand, tiny and withered, and his habit of handling the dinner food with it ruins everyone's appetite.

Which actor joined Scary Movie 3 as the clueless President Baxter Harris?

Leslie Nielsen joined the franchise in its third instalment alongside Charlie Sheen, Kevin Hart and Queen Latifah.

Which director took over the "Scary Movie" franchise starting with the third film?

David Zucker, known for his work on parody films like "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun," began directing the "Scary Movie" series with the third installment.

Which M. Night Shyamalan film is a main parody target of Scary Movie 3?

Signs supplies the Logan family farm, the visiting aliens and the half-drunk glasses of water left around the house, a lift from Bo's habit in Shyamalan's film.

Which popular rapper makes an appearance in "Scary Movie 3" in a rap battle scene?

Fat Joe appears as himself at the rap battle where aspiring white rapper George Logan tries to launch a hip-hop career.

In Scary Movie 4, Cindy's caretaker job in a house haunted by a ghostly boy spoofs which film?

The Grudge is the target: Cindy, like Sarah Michelle Gellar's care worker, tends an old woman in a house haunted by the ghostly boy Toshio, here played for laughs.

Which two celebrities wake up chained in a bathroom in the opening of 'Scary Movie 4'?

The opening scene of "Scary Movie 4" parodies the *Saw* franchise, featuring Shaquille O'Neal and Dr. Phil McGraw chained in a bathroom.

The alien invasion plot of Scary Movie 4 parodies which science-fiction film?

War of the Worlds is the target: its tripods become 'Tr-iPods', and Craig Bierko's Tom Ryan stands in for Tom Cruise's Ray Ferrier.

Which film featuring a secluded community with a shocking secret is parodied in "Scary Movie 4"?

The Village is spoofed when Cindy and Brenda reach a 19th-century-style community, with Bill Pullman's Henry Hale as its elder and Carmen Electra as the blind Holly.

Which 'High School Musical' alum plays adoptive mother Jody Sanders in 'Scary Movie 5'?

Ashley Tisdale plays Jody Sanders in Scary Movie 5; she and Erica Ash took over the lead roles from the two actresses who headlined the first four films.

Which found-footage franchise is the central target of Scary Movie 5's satire?

Paranormal Activity is the spine of Scary Movie 5: Dan and Jody may adopt the children only if they move into a camera-rigged house that records every haunting.

Which celebrity duo appears in the sex-tape opening scene of Scary Movie 5?

The film opens with a scene featuring Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan making a sex tape before being subjected to paranormal attacks.

Who directed "Scary Movie 5"?

Malcolm D. Lee directed Scary Movie 5 and later disowned it, calling it 'just a bad movie' and telling people not to bother seeing or renting it.

Jody's ballet audition in 'Scary Movie 5' parodies which psychological thriller?

Jody's ballet audition and performance are a clear parody of Darren Aronofsky's psychological thriller *Black Swan*.

Which Wayans brother plays stoner Shorty in the first two Scary Movie films?

Marlon Wayans plays Shorty Meeks, Brenda's stoner brother, in the first two films, while Shawn Wayans plays Ray Wilkins.

How many "Scary Movie" films had been released by the end of 2025?

Five Scary Movie films were released between the original and 2013's Scary Movie 5; a Wayans-led revival titled simply Scary Movie was scheduled for June 2026.

Which character is the pushy TV news reporter in the first Scary Movie?

Cheri Oteri's Gail Hailstorm is the pushy TV reporter chasing the killings in the first Scary Movie; the film ends with the unmasked killer driving off with her.

The six "Scary Movie" films have collectively grossed roughly how much at the worldwide box office?

The first five films alone took roughly $900 million worldwide, putting the series at about $1 billion; the original led with $278 million and 2013's Scary Movie 5 trailed at under $80 million.

Which film did Drew Decker call her favorite horror movie in the first 'Scary Movie'?

Asked her favorite scary movie by the killer, Carmen Electra's Drew Decker answers 'Kazaam', the 1996 genie comedy starring a basketball star.

Who is the sinister academic who lures the students to the haunted mansion in 'Scary Movie 2'?

Tim Curry's Professor Oldman recruits Cindy and her friends as sleep-study subjects for the mansion and is eventually lured to his death by the ghost of its former mistress.

Scary Movie 2 opens with two priests, projectile vomiting and a possessed girl named Megan, parodying which horror classic?

The Exorcist's possession scene gets the treatment: Fathers McFeely and Harris fail to exorcise Megan, and McFeely pulls a gun and shoots her.

Which "Scary Movie 2" character is the paraplegic assistant to the haunted-house professor?

David Cross's Dwight Hartman, the professor's wheelchair-using assistant, regroups with the students at the end and helps set the trap that destroys the mansion's ghost.

In 'Scary Movie 3', George Logan's bid to become a rapper parodies which semi-autobiographical film?

George Logan's storyline as an aspiring white rapper, including a rap battle, is a parody of Eminem's film *8 Mile*.

Which character in "Scary Movie 3" has precognitive abilities and often sees glimpses of future events?

Cindy's young nephew Cody displays precognitive abilities and eventually watches the cursed tape himself, putting him in the entity's sights.

Scary Movie 3's killer girl Tabitha, who crawls out of a television after a cursed videotape, parodies which horror film?

The Ring's Samara Morgan is the target; Tabitha emerges from a cursed tape and a TV set to kill Brenda.

Which children's book does President Harris refuse to stop reading in Scary Movie 4?

President Harris keeps reading 'My Pet Duck' to a classroom after being told of the attack, spoofing footage of George W. Bush continuing 'The Pet Goat' on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Which romance film is parodied in Scary Movie 4 by the characters Mahalik and C.J.?

Anthony Anderson's Mahalik and Kevin Hart's C.J. share a tent in a flashback spoofing Brokeback Mountain, one of the film's non-horror targets.

Cindy's boxing match in Scary Movie 4 spoofs which boxing drama?

Cindy's bout spoofs Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood's 2004 Best Picture winner with Hilary Swank as boxer Maggie Fitzgerald.

Which famously deep-voiced actor narrates the epilogue of "Scary Movie 4" before being hit by a bus?

James Earl Jones, in his famous bass, narrates the epilogue and is promptly hit by a bus; the same coda has Tom wreck Oprah's set in a Tom Cruise couch-jumping spoof.

The three feral children adopted by Dan and Jody Sanders in 'Scary Movie 5' parody which horror film?

Mama, the 2013 Guillermo del Toro-produced film about two feral girls found in a cabin, is spoofed through the Sanders' three wild children.

Which film does Scary Movie 5 spoof when a lab accidentally releases its primates?

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is spoofed through Dan's primate research lab, whose chimps escape and join the haunted-house finale.

Which actor played George Logan in Scary Movie 3 and 4, then returned as Dan Sanders in Scary Movie 5?

Simon Rex, who played George Logan in the third and fourth films, returned as Dan Sanders, the primate-lab worker, in Scary Movie 5.

A Scary Movie 5 scene with a demonic book in a cabin parodies which horror film?

The scene where characters discover and read from the "Book of the Evil" in a cabin is a direct spoof of the 2013 remake of *Evil Dead*.

The overall runtime of the first "Scary Movie" film is approximately how many minutes?

Scary Movie runs 88 minutes; the sequel was even shorter at 83 minutes.

Which "Scary Movie" entry was the first rated PG-13 rather than R?

The switch to PG-13 came with the change of directors, and the second film remains the last entry in the series to carry an R rating.

Which 'Dawson's Creek' star cameos as their own TV character in the first Scary Movie?

James Van Der Beek turns up uncredited as Dawson Leery, one of a string of pop-culture nods that also take in Candid Camera and Big Momma's House.

Stoner Shorty's line 'I see dead people' in the first Scary Movie spoofs which film?

The Sixth Sense gave Haley Joel Osment the line, and Shorty drops it into the spoof.

The scene in "Scary Movie 2" where a possessed Cindy tries to seduce the professor parodies which film?

The seduction spoofs What Lies Beneath, the Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford thriller in which a possessed wife comes on to her husband; Cindy snaps back with no memory of it.

Which Scary Movie 2 antagonist possesses Megan Voorhees in the opening scene?

Hugh Kane, the mansion's cruel former owner, possesses Megan in the prologue and later Cindy and the caretaker before the group finally traps his ghost.