Allowances must be made for sketch comedy. Even brilliant shows, like Keenan Ivory Wayans' In Living Color, are hit and miss by nature, and it's a simple equation: if you get more hits than misses, you have a successful collection of sketch comedy. This is also true of spoofs, including Wayans' new theatrical release, Scary Movie. Unlike Color, however, the hits don't add up. 

Their first mistake is trying to spoof Scream, which was a spoof in the first place. So much so, in fact, that the original title was actually Scary Movie. Not only that, Scream was subtle, using surprising humor to deflect the tension inherent in the horror genre. In contrast, Scary Movie is comprised of flat, obvious gags that utterly fail to surprise the audience into laughter. 

Scary Movie succeeds on the rare occasions that it dares to be subtle: casting Squiggy as the high school principal (Henry "Fonz" Winkler in the original) for instance, or... um... well, I can't think of another example. There are some other funny moments, too: a movie theater patron who won't shut up, or a girl who grabs a banana from a lineup of weapons to use against the killer. 

However, for every good banana joke, there's a references to Kazaam and Prince. Plus, the trailer blows the movie's wad and takes the edges off any humor that might have been funny in spite of everything. And the film doesn't build on most of its jokes: the Matrix homage is funny, but the film's follow up (an Irish jig in mid-air) is as far removed from funny as it is possible to be.

Scary Movie's greatest asset is its star, Anna Farris. She commits herself to the role of Cindy Campbell and makes a great straight man as a result. The best running gag is sidekick Ray, who is in denial about his obvious gayness. Although telegraphed far in advance, the makeout scene in the car is funny, and I love the sequence where he makes his girlfriend put on a football uniform.

The biggest insult to the audience is the character of Doofy, who stands in for David Arquette's Deputy Dewey in the first film. The film miscalculates by making Doofy mentally retarded. Even the (extremely clever) ending doesn't erase the mean-spirited jokes throughout the film at Doofy's expense. Material such as the vacuum cleaner joke might have been funny, but in this context, it's merely embarrassing. 

All in all, Scary Movie is a disappointment. And as a huge In Living Color fan, I expected much more from the Wayans boys. Maybe they should go back to doing sketch comedy... I wonder if that Carrey fellow is still available?