Parodies and Patches in Scary 2 - Movie Review Example

How Scary Movie 2 both Uses and Subverts the Horror Genre Conventions through the Parody and Patching of Other Film Texts Introduction Scary Movie 2, released in 2001, is an American parody film, part of the Scary Movie franchise, the first one released in 2000. The film is not entirely original. It is a parody; that is, a film that parodies other film texts and genres in the form of pastiches (Johnson 2009; Lee 2010). It parodies and ‘patches’ scenes from other film texts, including: The Exorcist, The Changeling, The Legend of Hell House, Hannibal, The Haunting, Hollow Man, What Lies Beneath, Poltergeist and The Amityville Horror. The film is generally considered as horror. In this regard, it is expected to abide by certain conventions of horror genre. Generally, these include character isolation, the use of high and low angles, the use of depth to create suspense, as well as sound (diegetic and non-diegetic), among others (Cohen 2000; Holman 2002; Dixon 2010; Hantke 2010). Indeed, through parody and patching, the film does use many of these conventions of horror genre conventions. However, at the same time, through parody and patching the film also subverts the conventions of the horror genre. In fact, in the end, far from the title, the movie becomes more of a comedy than horror because, despite parodying and patching scenes from known horror films (that is, films known to have kept to the conventions of horror films), the film becomes its own type of film, one that very much nearly makes a joke of the horror genre. This paper examines the specific ways in which Scary Movie 2 uses parody and patching of other film texts to become a horror film, but also manage to subvert the genre. Scary Movie 2 and the Horror Genre Like all film genres, the horror genre also has conventions by which it is identified. In other words, there are things expected in horror films, so that without them, the film may not be considered horror at all. Scary Movie 2, may have set out to break the conventions of the horror genre. But to do that, it had to be on the inside of the conventions. In other words, it had to possess certain elements of horror genre for it to even be considered a horror film- albeit one of a different kind. Generally, as already noted in the Introduction, there are certain elements that characterize horror films. Many of these are in this film. One of the most important elements in a horror film is the choice of location. Location is one of the things that make an audience start to suspect a film might be horror before anything horrific has happened. Location is used to create the sense of isolation. In this regard, the location where the character(s) is/are should create that sense of far-from-help, heightening tension. The idea is to isolate the character(s), to make the audience feel like the character(s) is/are alone in their situation. The characters are also supposed to know it, so that they are ‘truly’ helpless and afraid (Royer & Cooper 2005). The Wrong Turn franchise does this very well, the sense of a place far from civilization and, therefore, any help. To create this sense of isolation of place and character(s), Scary Movie 2 parodies The Haunting, particularly the Hell House. The house is haunted. It is, therefore, only natural that it is shunned by the people around the area. Whether they do this consciously or not is not clear. There is no dialogue among the population to tell the audience they even know the house is haunted. However, the way the house seems to stand alone makes the audience know that people would rather not go there. They avoid it. For this isolation, the audiences are afraid for the characters when they decide to join Professor Oldman and his assistant in their investigation of the haunted house. It is also because of the isolation of the house that the voices the direct Cindy to a secret room are suspect to the audience. Tragedy is another part of horror films. Many horror films have happy endings; that after the characters have gone through their ordeal, it all ends and, while many are dead, at least one survives and that there is more-or-less the end of the bad days. However, many horror films also have bad endings (to a scene or the entire movie). This film also uses tragedy. In the opening scene, for instance, a parody of The Exorcist, the teenager Megan Voorhees is possessed by the ghost of Hugh Kane (who owned the house previously). Father McFeely and Father Harris are two priest who come to exorcise that spirit from Megan. Indeed, this is a tragic scene. In comparison, perhaps it should be as tragic and scary as the scene where the character of Keanu Reeves in Constantine tries to exorcise a spirit from the Latino girl it has possessed. Everything in that scene makes the audience aware of the situation: the music, the terror in the faces of the tenants of the building where the girl leaves, the body language of the exorcist. The audiences know there is a major problem. But in this scene, Scary Movie 2 makes a joke of the whole ordeal. For example, McFeely goes to use the toilet. That he can go to the toilet in such a situation makes the audience wonder if the problem is that serious at all. But the joke comes in when, after many attempts and the exorcism has not gone as planned, McFeely shoots Megan dead just because of an insult towards his mother. Of course, insulting a person’s mother can lead to such tragedy. However, it would be expected that a priest would not respond as McFeely does, especially because he understands Megan has nothing to do with the abuse. The situation, plus the shooting should be the tragedy in this opening scene. Yet the impulsiveness of the Father McFeely, his ultimate solution to the problem becomes a joke. Another element that characterizes horror films is sound. Sound helps to build up suspense and heighten tension. Exaggerated diegetic sounds help to build tension in a scene. Fast loud music (that is, non diegetic sounds) are supposed to build tension in the audience, make them afraid (Cohen 2000).But as Holman (2002) notes, it is important to note and understand that the question of sound does not just refer to the presence of sound, but also the absence of it. Scary Movie 2 does not necessarily borrow sounds from the film texts it parodies. However, it still does use various sounds that are identified with horror films. For example, the night that the night that voices direct Cindy to a secret room is strangely quiet. The absence of sound makes the scene scary, especially considering that the house is isolated from the ‘rest of the world’. The absence of the sound is probably meant to help the audience hear the voice that calls to Cindy. However, when that voice appears amidst such silence, the audiences are suspicious. It seems to emerge from some vacuum. It sounds unnatural and creepy, so that when Cindy follows it, the audiences already fear for her. They (the audiences) may not yet know what is going on or what may transpire. But they suspect there is something wrong. That the voice does all this is helped by the silence that precedes it and even exist parallel to it as it calls. Cindy and Buddy then discover the treasure chest that contains the diary of Hugh Kane’s wife. As they open the chest, it makes a creaking sound, which is another creepy sound characteristic of horror films. In this case, the creaking sound may only be because the chest has stayed shut long and the hinges have taken u some rust. This is the common sense interpretation. However, the purpose of such a sound is to imply the unknown. It is a slow sound as the two, Cindy and Buddy, open the chest slowly. The slowness of that creak implies uncertainty, the risk of the unknown that other side of the door or lead. It is yet another sound that creates suspense (Zillmann 1980). However, if the parody of horror films was to make Scary Movie 2 a horror film, then the choice of soundtracks does kill that goal. To begin with, like the earlier movie, Scary Movie 2 does not have any official soundtrack. The songs are sung by the characters or are only used as background music. The most notable thing in this regard is the way that the songs used seem to, again, make a joke of the events as they unfold. For example, in the scene where Cindy, Brenda and Theo are fighting the possessed Hanson, The Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up is the song that plays. Just the title of the song alone is laughable considering what is happening in the screen. Other songs like Mystikal’s Shake Ya Ass, Casey Crown and J Dee’s So Erotic, Let Me Blow Your Mind by Eve and Gwen Stefani and Trace’s Givin’ My Dick Away –among others- are clearly out of place in a horror film. Movie-music choice is informed by the genre (Carroll 1999). These songs just do not fit. Conclusion This paper does not exhaust all the parodies and patches in Scary Movie 2. But that was not the goal. Instead, the plan was to show how the movie uses parody and patches to abide by but also subvert the conventions of the horror genre. In this case, although Scary Movie 2 is generally considered a horror film, it is actually a joke of it. Its parodies are more of an effort to make less of the original works, to dilute the tensions they aroused. Scary Movie 2 does this through certain twists in plot that bring out the joke in these scenes, but also through the use of music (out-of-place music like The Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up). In the end, although there are a few scary scenes, the ultimate plan seems to have been to make light of them. In fact, even the title ‘Scary Movie’ seems to have been meant as a joke. It might explain why the film, like all most- if not all- parodies are not taken seriously (Johnson 2009; Lee 2010). Bibliography Carroll, N1999, Film, emotion, and genre. In C. Plantinga & G.M. Smith (eds), Passionate views: film cognition, and emotion. The Johns Hopkins University Press Cohen, A 2000, Film music perspectives from cognitive psychology. In J. Buhler, C. Flinn & D Neumeyer (Eds.), Music and Cinema. Hanover NH: University Press of New England Dixon, WW 2010, A history of horror. Rutgers University Press Hantke, S (Ed.) 2010, American horror film; the genre at the turn of the millennium.. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi Holman, T 2002, Sound for film and television. Boston: Focal Press Johnson, A 2009, Spoof? Don’t make us laugh. The Independent, 30 Aug. Lee, A 2010, Surely you can’t be serious. The Los Angeles Times, 25 Dec. Royer, C & Cooper, BL 2005, The spectacle of isolation in horror films: dark parades (Popular culture series). Routledge Zillmann, D 1980, Anatomy of suspense. In P.H. Tannenbaum (Ed.), The Entertainment functions of television. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Read More