Publication Date: 06-02-2026

Scary Movie 2 (2001) review

Dir. Keenen Ivory Wayans

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

When writing my review of Scary Movie earlier today, I was surprised how difficult it was. I didn’t have very much to say. It’s hard enough to review a film that was a part of your childhood in such an inextricably nostalgic manner, but it’s even tougher when that film is predicated on being silly and superfluous. That being said, my relationship with the first Scary Movie was nothing close to my relationship with its sequel.

Growing up an only child with a dad who insisted we have DirecTV was a privileged experience. One of my favorite activities was skimming the Pay-Per-View channels and watching the five-minute preview of each movie before the screen went black and my TV demanded payment to see the rest. I watched the opening scene of Scary Movie 2 probably a dozen times; the cut-off point was about when the priests started vomiting onto the possessed teen girl, a sentence that’s as sane as it sounds. I finally watched it in its entirety when it came to the premium cable channels we had, and it became staple viewing for me.

I prefer Scary Movie 2 to the original in a similar way that I prefer Scream 2 to Scream. I find it to be a more complete movie thanks in large part to the strength of the foundation that was laid. Where Scary Movie was essentially a full-fledged parody of Scream, Scary Movie 2 takes the plot of The Haunting and spins a much greater web to include remnants of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Poltergeist, and The Exorcist. Sure, you have tidbits that blatantly parody Charlie’s Angels and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but it all adds up to a more cohesive haunted house movie populated by stronger characters than the original.

Returning from the first movie are Cindy (Anna Faris), Brenda (Regina Hall), Shorty (Marlon Wayans), and Ray (Shawn Wayans), who are recruited by Professor Oldman (Tim Curry) and his assistant, Dwight (David Cross), to spend a night at a stately manner believed to be haunted by its previous owner. Also under surveillance in the house are Cindy’s boyfriend, Buddy (Chris Masterson), the seductive Theo (Kathleen Robertson), and Alex (Tori Spelling), who, let’s just say, develops a connection with the spirit early into her stay.

Similar to how Rat Race introduced me to a gaggle of actors at a young age, Scary Movie 2 put me on to a variety of comic stylings around the same time. For starters, you have veteran actors like Curry and James Woods as a priest, who make deft use of their comparatively minimal screentime. David Cross employs his effective deadpan wit as a paraplegic paranormal investigator, while Chris Elliott turns Hanson into a freak-show butler more memorable than side-characters in actual horror movies.

It would’ve been understandable to see Shawn and Marlon Wayans — working with five credited writers, including their nephew, Craig — make this sequel more focused on their characters, Ray and Shorty. They were the two funniest souls in the first film. Instead, they democratized the material to include more talent and, in turn, produced some of the most memorable scenes of the entire series. There’s a vulgar bird; hilariously friction between Elliott and Cross; a great montage parody of the once-ubiquitous Nike Freestyle ads; the dinner scene; Brenda and Cindy fighting a skeleton; and Shorty getting rolled into a joint while giddily reacting to a TV commercial for a CD featuring “hood” Christmas classics.

A parody movie is only as good as the fun of its parts. Scary Movie 2 is less beholden to a singular work, so it operates more as a pastiche than its predecessor. More surprising is the sequel was greenlit, written, shot, edited, and released into theaters three days shy of a year after Scary Movie. A sequel this rushed into production has no right to be superior to the original. But the Wayans have long established their unwillingness to follow the rules.

My review of Scary Movie (2000)
My review of Scary Movie 3
My review of Scary Movie 4
My review of Scary Movie 5
My review of Scary Movie (2026)

Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Chris Masterson, Kathleen Robertson, David Cross, Tori Spelling, Chris Elliott, Tim Curry, James Woods, Andy Richter, Veronica Cartwright, James DeBello, Natasha Lyonne, and Beetlejuice. Directed by: Keenen Ivory Wayans.