Scary Movie 5 (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Trailer-Start-up Trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	82:22 (Case: 86)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Malcolm D. Lee
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Ashley Tisdale Simon Rex Erica Ash Molly Shannon Heather Locklear J.P. Manoux Jerry O'Connell Charlie Sheen Lindsay Lohan Darrell Hammond Snoop Dogg Mike Tyson
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$34.95	Music	James L. Venable

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     It's been seven, yes, seven years since the last Scary Movie. The sequels have been rehashed and recycled to the point that Scary Movie 5 should be considered a reboot of the series; albeit, a very bad one at that! Yes, folks, nothing here has changed since the Wayans brothers brought us the first two Scary Movies in 2000 and 2001; we have a flimsy storyline intermittently spoofing recent Hollywood horror and thriller films.

     There's an eclectic mix of parodied films here too. These include Paranormal Activity, Black Swan, Mama, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Sinister, Fifty Shades of Grey, Madea, Inception, Evil Dead, The Cabin in the Woods, Insidious and The Help. The Paranormal series is the main parodied target with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Black Swan, Inception and The Help less obvious choices one would or should choose to parody in a film like this one.

     This is the first sequel to not feature Anna Faris or Regina Hall. After viewing this, you'll agree that their agents made wise career choices for them. Instead, we get Ashley Tisdale playing Anna Faris' naïve and clueless lead character. The jokes are boring and predictable, although the opening scenes featuring Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan sending themselves up are funny. It's a pity we had to get Benny Hill music tied up into the prologue though.

     The basic, indeed very basic, plot sees happy parents Dan (Simon Rex) and Jody (Ashley Tisdale) haunted by sinister, paranormal activities — disrupting new mama Jody’s dancing aspirations in the Swan Lake ballet and threatening Dan’s rise as an ape researcher. Determined to expel the insidious force, they install security cameras and discover their family is being stalked by an evil dead demon!

     Apart from Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen in the pre-credits skit, other cameos feature Heather Locklear, Usher, Modern Families' Sarah Hyland, Snoop Dogg and Mike Tyson. They provide celebrity appeal but, sadly, their appearance in this film is a sad indictment on their career direction collectively.

     Scary Movie 5 was not advanced screened for critics and was universally panned. After viewing, you'll understand why!

Video

     The video transfer standard is excellent, having been shot with Arri Alexa cameras, using Panavision Primo Lenses.

     The aspect ratio is 1:85:1, 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions.

     The film comes on a 4.79 gb dual-layered DVD with an average bitrate of 7.46 m/b per sec, which is above average for DVD.

     The colour timing features enhanced, sharp contrast and vivid colours overall.

     Even through Scary Movie 5 parodies found footage films, the handheld camera shots are all presented in quality high-definition, without added effects. There is no film or video artefacts otherwise present in the visual transfer.

     Subtitles are available in English for the hard of hearing.

     The main feature is presented on the first layer of the DVD, therefore there is no RSDL change on this disc. The trailers are presented on the second layer of the DVD.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
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Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
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Audio

     Apart from the song Somewhere in This World, written by Barbara L. Jordan and William Peterkin, James L. Venable composed the soundtrack for the songs used in the film.

     The main audio track is a Dolby Digital English 5.1 track encoded at 448 kbps, with a secondary track in Dolby Digital 2.0 English stereo, encoded at 224 kbps. A descriptive audio track is also available in English for the hard of hearing in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, also encoded at 224 kbps.

     The dialogue is clear from the centre channel and the audio is synchronised.

     James L. Venable's soundtrack spoofs horror, thriller, punk, rock, classical and even hip-hop music!

     The 5.1 surround channel mix features good discrete effects and the 2.0 stereo track is just as dynamic.

     The subwoofer is used for eerie horror/thriller music and songs from the soundtrack and features throughout the film.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
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Start-up Trailers

    Start-up trailers for The Great Gatsby (2:37) and Mud (2:21) play sequentially before the opening menu.

    The Region 1 United States DVD is the theatrical version, with alternate and extended scenes as the only extra.

     The video and audio transfers are very good, but that alone doesn't justify this film in any way. Marlon Wayans couldn't be convinced to come back for this feature, but he did make A Haunted House for an eighth of the cost of Scary Movie 5 in 2013, and is getting a sequel for it, coming in 2014. Alas, I would say that this Scary Movie is probably the last in the series, even despite it turning a profit at the box office.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall