It is officially spooky season, and that holiday spirit is definitely reflected in people’s Netflix choices. The horror-comedy Scary Movie 4 has shot to the top of Netflix’s charts, reaching No. 7 in Netflix‘s movie top 10. Parodying horror films like The Village and Saw, Scary Movie 4 was another successful installment of the comedy franchise and brought back stars like Anna Faris and Regina Hall.
The Scary Movie franchise was hardly highbrow entertainment, and Scary Movie 4 was no different. The movie was released in 2006 and sits at 34% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 51% audience score. Despite the largely negative reviews, the franchise recognition was strong, helping Scary Movie 4 earn $178 million worldwide at the box office on a $45 million budget.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Faris became a household name due to the Scary Movie series, and she told MovieWeb in 2006 that she felt a real kinship with her character Cindy. “I think Cindy is a small slice of who I am; I think because she’s really uncomplicated, there really isn’t too much depth to her,” Faris explained. “She’s very sincere, sweet, and naive, and breathy, and really doesn’t have a sense of humor at all. Not that she’s grumpy or moody, but she doesn’t really understand humor; she doesn’t get that. She’s someone who I can easily slip right into and as a result, there’s other things about making these movies that are more creatively filling, like doing the gags and doing the stunts, not necessarily playing Cindy Campbell; there’s not a lot for me to actually do.”
Hall’s hilarious performances in the Scary Movie franchise are consistently praised as the funniest, and the Black Monday actress spoke to The A.V. Club in 2020 about where her character Brenda might be today. “Brenda has definitely become her own little,” Hall mused. “It’s so funny because I saw Marlon [Wayans] and I said, ‘Wow, this would be their 20-year high school reunion. Where do you think they are now? Where are they though?’ Brenda got locked up for something. I know she did some time in jail.”
