Crap Parody Films

[pigamus]

Carry On Emmanuelle (1978) They were often brilliant at film parody but the franchise was in its final death throes at this point. Carry On films always had something to enjoy in them even if they're a bit crap (usually the performances, groaners and general nostalgia) but this one just stinks. The cast has that whiff of desperation as if they're resigned to the fact they simply can't compete with the Confessions films and rest of the British sex comedies that were popular at this time. Don't want to hear Kenny's ropey French accent (or see his arse), Larry Dann was no Jim Dale and wtf was Beryl Reid thinking?

TRAILER
Mildly NSFW (FH)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zo5YsXkjJo

The sheer seediness of Britain in the seventies is just endlessly fascinating, isn't it? All the horrible surface jolliness and all the depression and self-loathing underneath. I'm obsessed with it.

[Egyptian Feast]

I liked Flesh Gordon. Lovely production values. The belated sequel is absolutely hideous though. Possibly the shittiest film I've ever seen with '2' in the title and that's no mean feat.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

No fucking way. You could watch This Is Spinal Tap instead and still have enough time for most of Duck Soup.

Two and a quarter hours for a Western spoof starring Seth MacFarlane. What has the world come to? I blame Judd Apatow.

I was there for Liam Neeson. He's good in everything he's in.

The movie is that long because MacFarlane couldn't tell a coherent story. He's supposed to be this fish out of water who hates life in the West, which means he sits around making comments about how terrible the place is in that smug fucking Brian the dog voice. His girlfriend dumps him at the start of the film because he's crap at farming sheep and takes up with Neil Patrick Harris. We're supposed to hate her for this because how dare she choose NPH, a successful businessman who sells moustache products, over Seth Brian the dog Albert, a whiny useless waste. Well never fear because here comes Charlize Theron who thinks Albert is just great, and who agrees with him about how the West sucks, and who believes in him and teaches him to shoot so he can beat Neil Patrick Harris in a duel and win his old girlfriend back. Except she doesn't actually believe in him because she gives NPH a laxative to nobble him before the duel, all so we can have a hilarious scene where he shits in someone's hat. Twice. Followed by a closeup of the diarrhea-filled hat. But uh-oh here comes Liam Neeson to kill Albert for kissing Charlize. How will he get out of this one? OH HE CONVENIENTLY SPEAKS NATIVE AMERICAN AND THEY HELP HIM OUT WITH SOME DRUGS AND HE KILLS LIAM NEESON BY WINGING HIM WITH A VENOM-TIPPED BULLET AND THEN HE GETS EVEN MORE SHEEP EVEN THOUGH AT NO FUCKING TIME IN THE MOVIE DID HE IMPROVE HIS SHEEP-HERDING OR FENCE-BUILDING SKILLS. Charlize did have a sheepdog following her around for most of the movie so maybe that's the answer? they never fucking say.

Oh and there's this really icky subplot where Albert's best friend is engaged to this prostitute, except she won't sleep with him before they get married, lolololol imagine her making him wait when half the town has ridden her already, the literal whore.

[up_the_hampipe]

Not Another Teen Movie is not bad. Has some good stuff. And Captain America, her out off of The L Word, her out off of My Name Is Earl and a naked lass. And Molly Ringwald.

That's a good one, yeah. Extremely silly. The Janey's Got A Gun scene still makes me laugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN31J8s_OzQ

I think Chris Evans is ashamed of being in it though.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

That Kenneth Connor image at 1:12

Fucking hell

[Brundle-Fly]

The sheer seediness of Britain in the seventies is just endlessly fascinating, isn't it? All the horrible surface jolliness and all the depression and self-loathing underneath. I'm obsessed with it.

Ha! Me too.

[SavageHedgehog]

That 41 Year Old Virgin one is on Prime, and I watched the first 10 minutes of it. I kind of like the lead from other stuff I've seen him in, but it's as bad as you'd think, and it also (not through effective satire) reminded me of how burned out I got on that wave of Apatow movies, and that I don't miss them.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

What is the parody angle there? Struggling to picture it.

[checkoutgirl]

I think the most pointless parody I've seen is in a miserable waste of film called Meet the Spartans which was a takeoff of shit CGI-fest 300.

The narrator describes one character as being something like 'angry as Spider-Man in Spider-Man 3'. So suddenly she has the black Spider-Man costume on and does an acrobatic move before ripping the face mask open like in Spider-Man 3 (I suppose, I haven't seen it). And that's it.

It was just the lack of any attempt to justify it or attempt to be funny in anyway that made it stick in my mind.

Meet The Spartans is indeed terrible and mystifying. I would not advise watching unless seriously inebtiated.

There are bits where they just stop, turn to the camera and reference film reviewers and do rubbish jokes. I think it might have been the death knell for Sean Maguire's film career, 'im off Grange Hill.

If you enjoy truly awful films it's probably worth watching.

[SavageHedgehog]

What is the parody angle there? Struggling to picture it.

Based on the first ten minutes, none really. It's a bit like Bobby Davro effectively doing other comedians acts under the guise of an impression, but more obnoxious. They redo the virgin reveal scene from 40 Year Old Virgin but they make it grosser and more absurd; they figure it out from his laugh, he wears a T-Shirt that says virgin on it but says it means nothing etc. No kind of commentary intended on the movies they're parodying\copying as far as I could tell.

I do think you can parody comedy, one of the few things I sort of liked in any of the Setzer\Friedberg films was a jab at Snakes on a Plane, but it's rarely done well, and usually just amounts to poorly-xeroxed material.

[Shaky]

Of the Scary Movies, I have to agree that the 3rd was surprisingly good thanks to Zucker's involvement. Even on autopilot, it was like he'd sauntered on set to show the young bucks a thing or two about spoofs.

On the topic of shit parodies, though, has anyone seen his terrible, ultra-conservative "satire" An American Carol? Baffling and a bit sad.

[Jumblegraws]

That 41 Year Old Virgin one is on Prime, and I watched the first 10 minutes of it. I kind of like the lead from other stuff I've seen him in, but it's as bad as you'd think, and it also (not through effective satire) reminded me of how burned out I got on that wave of Apatow movies, and that I don't miss them.

Thanks for the heads up, I will find some time to scratch this rancid, suppurating itch this weekend.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

On the topic of shit parodies, though, has anyone seen his terrible, ultra-conservative "satire" An American Carol? Baffling and a bit sad.

I've seen that, got it on DVD in fact ( got it for about 25p, I was interested in seeing what a Republican spoof film would look like).
It's actually hilarious; Chris Farley's brother plays the lead of Michael Surnameveryclosetomoore with all the deftness, grace and subtlety of his late brother, who was easily the funniest cast member " Saturday Night Live " ever had , such incisive and thoughtful points as " All war is fucking brilliant, and if you don't fight in them, you're a big puff" ( one of the films more subtle scenes shows  the ghost of Kennedy informing Michael Notmoore of this, in a way that doesn't take his words out of context or twist them at all), Michael Moore likes eating 'cos He's a fat git, and he smells too, and documentaries are boring, why do you want to watch them, you big square?". Watching the likes of Kelsey Grammar and Dennis Hopper ( in his last film) parading their proto- Trump supporting Republican sympathies about was a sheer joy, as was watching Leslie Nielsen's doddering about in his extremely short scenes in the film, and wondering if he'd actually gone senile at that point.
Warmly recommended, almost as much as the Reservoir Nuns Doing The " Monkees" Opening Titles.

[dissolute ocelot]

I will defend Date Movie (2006) which despite some shit parodies gets by on Alyson Hannigan's sweetness and the fact that "lots of stupid random things happen to keep cute couple apart" is the standard rom-com plot, not actually a parody.

The Scary Movies can pass the time, with some talented people (Anna Faris) alongside some truly awful people, and generally more silliness than offensiveness. Whereas some of the later ZAZ films just seem wilfully bad, hating cast, audience, art, and life: I guess when David Zucker became a dick.

Although I love Sam and Cat's Silence of the Lambs parody and used to watch The Amanda Show, so what do I know? It's all just Spaced in America.

[Old Nehamkin]

My dad rented this out of Global Video when I was 6 or 7 and I think it was the first time I ever consciously thought "I am watching a bad film."

[cliggg]

I have seen loads of parody/spoof movies. Here they are with a very quick review because I am bored and have time to fill.

Airplane - Amongst the funniest movies of all time for me.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - I laughed a lot watching this about 15 years ago and it's due a rewatch.
Top Secret! - Some very funny stuff but arguably Abrahams & the Zucker's weakest effort overall.
The Naked Gun 1 & 2 - Amongst the funniest movies of all time for me.
The Naked Gun 3 - A patchy effort but not without laughs.
Hot Shots 1 & 2 - Proof that Charlie Sheen is a great comedic actor and very funny movies.
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 - I watched this again a few weeks ago and love it as much still as I did when I first saw it over twenty years ago. Very underrated spoof movie.
Fatal Instinct - Some very funny moments in it including my favourite visual joke of all time but a lot time goes by without laughing too.
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood - I like this a lot though haven't watched it in years. Another one due a rewatch and possibly the last of the Wayans Brothers movies to not feel the need to just shout all the dialogue.
Spy Hard - A poor effort starring Leslie Nielsen, directed by Rick Friedberg and written by him, his son Jason and Aaron Seltzer. That's right those Date Movie lads started here and this movie is shit. All downhill from there.
Wrongfully Accused - Another Leslie Nielsen movie and a slight improvement on Spy Hard but still not very good. Directed by Pat Proft who was a writer on many of the classic spoof movies but this is his only time directing.
Not Another Teen Movie - I love this movie despite it being a complete mess, so many funny scenes. It got bad reviews but it makes me laugh every time I watch it.
Scary Movie 1 & 2 - 1 is ok, 2 is crap.
Scary Movie 3 & 4 - 3 is a brilliant spoof movie and 4 is good.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - This got very good reviews and seems to be loved by many but I didn't like it. I thought it was boring and unfunny.
Black Dynamite - Some very funny stuff in this movie. A good, consistent effort overall.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Go to the Plump Fiction film on YouTube, then go to 52:03 for that Reservoir Nuns messing about to the Monkees Opening Titles bit. I've just watched it again, the bit with the hoofing and the canes is the best bit , the jubilant smile of the nun on the left absolutely cracks me up ( It's all very noticeably filmed in one area though due to the low budget, bit of a shame, that).

[SavageHedgehog]

American Carol has a baffling series of "gags" where they keep talking about how not-Moore's films don't matter because they're documentaries, nobody watches or likes documentaries, yes you have won an award but it doesn't really count you see because it's for a documentary. Which it they really believe all that makes the film a bit of an own goal because they're satirising something they believe nobody watches or takes seriously. It was released in the UK as Big Fat Important Movie as the distributor probably astutely assessed there wouldn't be much of a market in the UK for a comedy about the joys of voting Republican in the 2008 Presidential Elections. Not that there was much of a market for it in the US either; I have a horrible feeling if such a film came out in the Trump era it would have had a huge opening weekend.

The Projection Booth episode on American Carol is a good listen they break down why the film is so weird and interview one of the writers.

Date Movie did at least have a fun special feature where two critics give a commentary on the movie, including one of the few who gave it a positive review, although he doesn't seem to be able to say much about it other than something about it having a "point and click aesthetic" . Shame there was no tie-in DS game for him to enjoy.

I've spent my life well.

[Jumblegraws]

The most fanciful thing about American Carol is the bit where the Rosie O'Donnell parody is on the O'Reilly Factor ranting about radical Christianity (cos LOL obviously Christians would never be militant or hurt anyone ever) and O'Reilly reacts with calm bemusement instead of hollering or sexually harassing anyone.

[studpuppet]

I'm loathe to put it on here because I have a fondness out of all proportion with it's reputation, but The Big Bus is a crap parody of most 70s disaster movies. The performances in it are brilliant though from Larry Hagman, through to Stockard Channing and Murph from the Magictones ("We have a request!! *sings* Tangerine...."). I think it gets unfairly compared to ZAZ movies because of the disaster movie aspect, but it's a lot more gentle in its comedy.

[pupshaw]

I'm loathe to put it on here because I have a fondness out of all proportion with it's reputation, but The Big Bus is a crap parody of most 70s disaster movies. The performances in it are brilliant though from Larry Hagman, through to Stockard Channing and Murph from the Magictones ("We have a request!! *sings* Tangerine...."). I think it gets unfairly compared to ZAZ movies because of the disaster movie aspect, but it's a lot more gentle in its comedy.

You know why they call me shoulders?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6c3D-z_bvo

[Jockice]

I have seen loads of parody/spoof movies. Here they are with a very quick review because I am bored and have time to fill.

Airplane - Amongst the funniest movies of all time for me.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - I laughed a lot watching this about 15 years ago and it's due a rewatch.
Top Secret! - Some very funny stuff but arguably Abrahams & the Zucker's weakest effort overall.
The Naked Gun 1 & 2 - Amongst the funniest movies of all time for me.
The Naked Gun 3 - A patchy effort but not without laughs.
Hot Shots 1 & 2 - Proof that Charlie Sheen is a great comedic actor and very funny movies.
National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 - I watched this again a few weeks ago and love it as much still as I did when I first saw it over twenty years ago. Very underrated spoof movie.
Fatal Instinct - Some very funny moments in it including my favourite visual joke of all time but a lot time goes by without laughing too.
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood - I like this a lot though haven't watched it in years. Another one due a rewatch and possibly the last of the Wayans Brothers movies to not feel the need to just shout all the dialogue.
Spy Hard - A poor effort starring Leslie Nielsen, directed by Rick Friedberg and written by him, his son Jason and Aaron Seltzer. That's right those Date Movie lads started here and this movie is shit. All downhill from there.
Wrongfully Accused - Another Leslie Nielsen movie and a slight improvement on Spy Hard but still not very good. Directed by Pat Proft who was a writer on many of the classic spoof movies but this is his only time directing.
Not Another Teen Movie - I love this movie despite it being a complete mess, so many funny scenes. It got bad reviews but it makes me laugh every time I watch it.
Scary Movie 1 & 2 - 1 is ok, 2 is crap.
Scary Movie 3 & 4 - 3 is a brilliant spoof movie and 4 is good.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - This got very good reviews and seems to be loved by many but I didn't like it. I thought it was boring and unfunny.
Black Dynamite - Some very funny stuff in this movie. A good, consistent effort overall.

You haven't mentioned Airplane 2. Is that a good sign?

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Actually, I think I meant the nun on the right.
The whole " Reservoir Nuns" segment of that film actually isn't too bad, and even decently acted. " Plump Fiction" , being a Quarantino piss- take , also has loads of " fucks" and " motherfucker" s in the dialogue, something quite unique to parody films, I think ( not counting those porn parodies of  Scooby Doo, and what have you).

[Brundle-Fly]

Scary Movie 5 (2013) is only significant because it got away with a movie poster that depicts Charlie Sheen exposing his tumescent erect penis under a sheet. This sight gag must have initially gone under the radar because after a quick Google image search, I see the promo pic was later altered. Note how the actresses are sexed up and de-uglified (even Mama's face is blurred), Snoop Dogg is not exhaling weed smoke, cameras have been added and 'Evil' is now 'Supernatural'. A convicted ear-biting, rapist is deemed ok though.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I will defend Date Movie (2006) which despite some shit parodies gets by on Alyson Hannigan's sweetness and the fact that "lots of stupid random things happen to keep cute couple apart" is the standard rom-com plot, not actually a parody.

I strongly dislike Date Movie because of how fat phobic it is, some of the jokes in the opening ten minutes are truly abhorrent, and though the rest of the movie is relatively inoffensive it's still a movie I found painful to watch, and I'm normally fond of parody movies unless they're truly lazy shit.

[cliggg]

You haven't mentioned Airplane 2. Is that a good sign?

I forgot that one along with a few others but none of them are good anyway. Airplane 2 has it's moments but mostly it's bad.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

I think " Scary Movie 5" is famous for the way it outdoes the Police Academy films in having absolutely no original cast members whatsoever coming back for it, with even Anna Faris  saying " fuck that for a lark". I've watched the mildly amusing pre- credits sequence with Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan, then abandoned it thereafter, safe in the knowledge I was missing absolutely nothing of merit.

[Alberon]

I never go along with the bashing Airplane 2 gets. It's not as good as the first Aiplane (but then again what is), but it does have some really good stuff in it. Maybe it's partly because I'm a Sci-Fi nerd that I like it so much. It's got William Shatner following Leslie Nielson into comedy, the view screen thing is gold, and it has Ted Striker's record.





It's a good film.

[Jockice]

I forgot that one along with a few others but none of them are good anyway. Airplane 2 has it's moments but mostly it's bad.

I think the aforementioned 'is that a good sign?' It does the job' gag is a classic though.  Except that a couple of years ago I put a reference to it on a Facebook profile picture (an old photo of me sitting on the ground under a road sign with an arrow pointing straight up) and got loads of teary faces and references to how I was obviously chronicling my disability. I wasn't. It was a shit joke that's all. I thought at least one person who saw it would know the film and understand but it seems not.

[SavageHedgehog]

I remember thinking the "Bring Protection" tagline was a bit much to see on the Underground. It's also probably the result of someone hitting the last minute deadline after being hired to come up (oh er!) with a tagline with some kind of sex pun.

The poster for the fourth one had (I think) Craig Bierko wearing a T-Shirt which said "I did the research" which I assume was meant to be a joke but I never got it.