Scary Movie 4

Herald rating: *

Scary Movie 4 is a spoof movie, a film that tries to elicit a laugh from you by taking scenes from well-known films, and throwing them together in a series of irreverent and pointless scenarios.

The two main victims whose stories intertwine in this fourth instalment are War of the Worlds, and The Grudge. Craig Bierko (Cinderella Man) plays Tom Ryan, and Anna Faris from previous Scary movies fame is back as ditsy Cindy Campbell taking on Sarah Michelle Gellar's The Grudge role.

With scenes stolen along the way from Brokeback Mountain (it was only a matter of time), Million Dollar Baby, Saw, and The Village, they must find a way of stopping an alien invasion.

But as hard as I tried, I just couldn't rally a laugh. Even with David Zucker, legendary comedic director of spoof films such as the Naked Gun franchise and Airplane!, Scary Movie 4 is dull and tired, and feels like a rehash of its predecessors.

It's like watching War of the Worlds and The Grudge again, but with soap opera stars.

You can keep yourself entertained by guessing the next movie to be parodied, but this wears thin after a while. Star cameo performances also help to ease the boredom, but aside from Bill Pullman, Carmen Electra and Charlie Sheen, these are on the slim side as well.

If you have enjoyed previous Scary movies, this will be right up your street. For others, once you've seen the trailer, you've seen the film.

CAST: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Leslie Nielsen, Carmen Electra
DIRECTOR: David Zucker
RUNNING TIME: 83 minutes
RATING: M - contains offensive language and sexual references
SCREENING: Village, Berkeley and Hoyts Cinemas