Most definitely not to be confused with the popular 2000s horror parody, and its four sequels. Scary Movie is an early 90’s Halloween haunt set film, which is more of a thriller with subtle comedy moments and light horror tropes. It’s a USA regionally made low-budget film, which nicely keeps you guessing/ in suspense throughout most of its runtime, with a nice edge of creepiness.  Here, as part of 101 Films UK's reissue of the AGFA cult film library- is a region B blu ray release of the film- with the disc taking in a commentary track, and a selection of early shorts from the same director.

Scary Movie was made in the year 1991 and was filmed in and around Driftwood, Texas.  It was written & directed by Austin-based Daniel Erickson, who I wondered if he was related to troubled singer/ songwriter Roky Erickson(13th Floor Elevators, and solo), as one of his tracks is used in the film.  Anyway in all Daniel has one other feature-length to his name Eve’s Necklace (2010) which is rather bizarrely an all-mannequin cast thriller. And two shorts- Little Hero (1985), and Mr Pumkin (1986).

The film is set on Halloween night, and finds Warren(John Hawkes)- a very highly strung and preppy-dressed geek going to the local town haunt. He’s joined by his happy-go-lucky mulleted pal Brad( Jason Russel Walller), and two female dates- the more gothy-looking big-haired one seemingly has the hots for Warren.

Much of the film's first forty or so minutes take place in the queue line waiting to get into the haunt, as Warren gets more and more twitchy/ freaked out. This is all increased when he finds out that a mental patient has just escaped from a local asylum.  In the film's second half we, Warren and his friends go inside the haunt, and here Erickson’s script and direction has you wondering if the escaped patient is praying on the punters, or if it’s all in Warren's head.

The whole atmosphere of the film moves between creepily playful, unbalancing and nightmarish, to more generally troubling/ distributing. Yes, the pacing is a little off in places, and I think it may have run better as a short- but Scary Movie is certainly an interesting/ original take on a Halloween set film.

Hawkes acting as the tightly buttoned, ironed chinos, and constantly on edge/ amusingly bumbling Warren- both sells the film, and keeps you locked in to find out what is really going on. And the rest of the cast is good to passable, and we also get some distinctive-looking local talent to pop up throughout the film.

The haunt itself looks like a genuine cheap ‘n’ cheerful small town built affair- with the tone within the haunt shifting from cheesy and camp, to rather creepy and tense. I’d say your best going into Scary Movie expecting more of a creepy-lined thriller, with cringe-bound comedy elements, and effective use of horror tropes.

Moving onto this region B blu ray, and we get a bright ‘n’ bold 2k scan of the picture- this nicely enhances the dream-like quality of the film. On the extras front, we get a commentary with director Daniel Erickson and AGFA's Joseph A. Ziemba, and this is excellent, been a very informative and interesting track.  They begin by discussing how the film very much bucked the trend for more campy horror films in the 90s. We get talk about references to other films though-out Scary Movie, and how the production was lent bone chairs used in Texas Chainsaw Massacre II.  We find out the haunted house front was a facade- with each room built individually on the soundstage behind the facade- so you couldn’t walk through the whole house. We find out how the lead actor got the role, and how he went on to become an academy award-winning actor in Hollywood. They discuss the influences on the lead character, and how the actor brought these into his acting. Later on, they discuss how each room in the haunt was created, and that the film was influenced by The Shining. We get to discuss the film's premiere & how it went onto play for two weeks in Austin. Otherwise, we get a few early shorts by Daniel Erickson- Little Hero( 6.55) which is set in the 1930s and finds a young boy sneaking into the pictures. And Mr Pumkin(11.27) which was set in the 80s, and finds a little boy unable to sleep after trick or treating- so his dad tells him of Mr Pumkin, a creature who attacks children who won’t sleep on Halloween night. There’s also a behind-the-scenes gallery, and a trailer.

Scary Movie is certainly a distinctive and original take on Halloween-based genre film- with a great central lead, and a very rewarding creepy- slightly- dreamy feel to the whole picture.  Certainly not an all-out horror feast, but an effective slow burn- with a neat twist in its tail.