History YMMV / ScaryMovie

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''Scary Movie 3'' was generally considered a great improvement on ''2'' (and for some, even "1"), with the gross-out humor being replaced by more straightforward humor reminiscent of ''Film/{{Airplane}}'', ''Film/TopSecret'', and ''Film/TheNakedGun'' trilogy. It helps that one of the three writer-directors of those projects (David Zucker) took over as director with Creator/LeslieNielsen making an appearance (having previously starred in Airplane! and The Naked Gun). Some even consider it the best of the series.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''Scary Movie 3'' was generally considered a great improvement on ''2'' (and for some, even "1"), with the gross-out humor being replaced by more straightforward humor reminiscent of ''Film/{{Airplane}}'', ''Film/TopSecret'', and ''Film/TheNakedGun'' trilogy. It helps that it has one of the writer/producer/directors of those projects (David Zucker) took over from Creator/KeenanIvoryWayans as director with Creator/LeslieNeilsen appearing (having previously starred in Airplane! and The Naked Gun). Some even consider it the best of the series.

* ContestedSequel: Different fans can easily find any given movie the worst or the best. Generally speaking, the biggest fan divide is between those who prefer the Wayans films (the first two) and those who prefer David Zucker and Craig Mazin's films (third and fourth). The fifth movie, on the other hand, everyone can agree is pretty terrible.

* HollywoodHomely: Very much played for laughs with Cindy Campbell who is played by the obviously attractive Creator/AnnaFaris yet is constantly criticized over her appearance (this joke is dropped in the Zucker/Mazin films which portray Cindy as more of a BrainlessBeauty type.)

* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: A fair number of fans feel this way about the Wayans Brothers, appreciating their cruder, more pop-culture savvy style over David Zucker and Craig Mazin's more general spoof style used in the latter films, although the latter films do have fans of their own.

* SpecialEffectFailure: From the first film's scene [[spoiler: where the teacher commits suicide by jumping off of the school]], it's an obvious dummy falling onto an obvious soft pad which is then quickly edited to look like he landed on the flat grass. This only [[RuleOfFunny adds to the humour]], though.
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''Scary Movie 3'' was generally considered a great improvement on ''2'', with the gross-out humor being replaced by more straightforward humor reminiscent of ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' and ''Film/TheNakedGun'' - helps that it has one of its stars (Creator/LeslieNielsen) and directors (David Zucker) of both. Some even consider it the best of the series.

* ContestedSequel: Different fans can easily find any given movie the worst or the best. Generally speaking, the biggest fan divide is between those who prefer the Wayans films (the first two) and those who prefer David Zucker's (third and fourth). The fifth movie, on the other hand, everyone can agree is pretty terrible.

* HollywoodHomely: Very much played for laughs with Cindy Campbell who is played by the obviously attractive Creator/AnnaFaris yet is constantly criticized over her appearance (this joke is dropped in the Zucker films which portray Cindy as more of a BrainlessBeauty type.)

* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: A fair number of fans feel this way about the Wayans Brothers, appreciating their cruder, more pop-culture savvy style over the more general spoof style used by David Zucker in the latter films, although the latter films do have fans of their own.

* ContestedSequel: Different fans can easily find any given movie the worst or the best. Generally speaking, the biggest fan divide is between those who prefer the Wayans films (the first two) and those who prefer the Zuckers (third and fourth). The fifth movie, on the other hand, everyone can agree is pretty terrible.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''Scary Movie 3'' was generally considered a great improvement on ''2'', with the gross-out humor being replaced by more straightforward humor reminiscent of ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' and ''Film/TheNakedGun'' - helps that it has one of its stars (Creator/LeslieNielsen) and directors (David Zucker) of both. Some even consider it the best of the series next to the first film.

** The (thankfully) brief, [[IncrediblyLamePun snotty]] scene in the first movie.

** Many people may be more familiar with Brenda's movie theater death in ''Scary Movie'' than Maureen's movie theater death in Film/Scream2, despite the latter inspiring the former. Aside from how [[BlackComedy over-the-top funny]] (and [[AssholeVictim much more deserving]]) the later scene was, a good reason may be because Regina Hall was one of the film's protagonists unlike Creator/JadaPinkett's AdvertisedExtra.

* ParanoiaFuel: Despite it being played for laughs, there is a bit of creepiness during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkJSq_m2rqc the scene]] in Scary Movie 3, where Tom sees the sheriff's hat gets bigger. Again, it is played for laughs but there it shows that Tom's mind might be slipping to the point where things don't seem real. The sheriff doesn't seem to notice so it could be in Tom's head.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''Scary Movie 3'' was generally considered a great improvement on ''2'', with the gross-out humor being replaced by more straightforward humor reminiscent of ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' and ''Film/TheNakedGun'' - helps that it has one of its stars (Creator/LeslieNielsen) and directors (David Zucker) of both.

** Officer Doofy in the first film. Although it was all a facade, the fact that his intellectual disabilities are played for laughs wouldn’t fly anymore well into TheNewTwenties.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: You wouldn't think so with this series, but ''Scary Movie 4'' featured a version of the infamous bathroom from the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise that not only was on point to how the original looked, but the makers of Film/SawIII were so impressed, they were able to use it (With some minor alterations) for that film while also saving money with the budget.

* FirstInstallmentWins: While the other films also have their fans, the first ''Scary Movie'' is the most popular and is commonly considered the best.

* ContestedSequel: Different fans can easily find any given movie the worst or the best. Generally speaking, the biggest fan divide is between those who prefer the Wayans films (the first two) and those who prefer the Zuckers (third and fourth).

** ''Scary Movie 4'' suffers from this to some extent, as a result of a lot of references to pop cultural things that are now mostly forgotten or considered outdated, such as Website/MySpace and the original iPod. Fortunately, most of the films being spoofed are still well-remembered and well-regarded (with the arguable exception of ''Film/TheVillage''), so the film doesn't feel quite as dated overall.

* FriendlyFandoms: The franchise, at least the first film, has a following among fans of the ''Franchise/Scream'' movies and some of said fans were introduced to ''Scream'' via the first ''Scary Movie''.