“Scary Movie 4” is the latest in the parody franchise’s seemingly never-ending string of films, and the second David Zucker has directed. Featuring plenty of crude humor, it uses the trick of parodying several recent scary movies to attempt to assemble a plot.

The film follows Tom Ryan, a spoof of Tom Cruise’s “War of the Worlds” character, as he attempts to rid the world of invading aliens while trying to reunite himself with his newfound love, Cindy Campbell. Campbell, a returning character in the series, moves into the house next to Ryan’s, but she has her own scary movie stories to deal with while helping battle the aliens.

Jill Blackledge: My first thoughts were that this was a movie that definitely didn’t need to be made. The series just seems never-ending, and I was appalled when I saw that a fourth “Scary Movie” was coming out. It seemed to be like every other parody film of this set, only with newer movies. It seems superfluous that it even attempts to have a plot because the filmmakers and the audience know that all “Scary Movie 4” will amount to is another string of jokes based on other movies.

Andrew Schmeisser: Once again, the “Scary Movie” franchise tried to awaken, and once again, it failed to make a very quality product. Coupled with pop culture and – obviously – recent scary movies, the spoofs in this film were overdone. I felt that the makers of this film were banking on the original idea of making a funny movie in which no thought was required, allowing viewers to enjoy a mindless afternoon. Unfortunately, that idea worked, and they made exactly the same movie as the other three.

JB: I don’t think that this film ever had high expectations for itself. It’s the type of movie that people know won’t have a plot, and it won’t take itself too seriously. In that respect, “Scary Movie 4” accomplished exactly what it set out to do. People got crude humor and they laughed at it, but that didn’t make it a good movie. The jokes were old. It’s the same slapstick sort of comedy that has been seen before. The cameos weren’t new, and Carmen Electra’s and Charlie Sheen’s appearances did nothing for the movie.

AS: Anna Faris leads the cast of “Scary Movie 4” with the highest quality acting the film has to offer. However, that is like saying one got the highest grade in the class and it was a “D.” Unlike most sequels, “Scary Movie 4” doesn’t show any character growth. If it did, then Faris and the others didn’t do anything with that growth. Faris and Regina Hall delivered exactly the same performances they had in the previous three movies. I feel that change is most necessary at this point, but it isn’t there.

JB: The whole movie wasn’t necessary, so I guess it fits the bill that the acting was worthless. I find it hard to believe that actors who appeared in this film will have serious future careers in the business, as this movie required no talent whatsoever. Granted, the movie pelts the audience with spoofs, so it’s fitting that the acting should be farcical, as well, but the whole package is just awful. The spoofs become almost tiring to watch. It’s forced and it’s overdone.

AS: Filled with gratuitous sexual references and jokes, the spoofing was just as appalling as it could be. The only new twist on the spoofing is now it focuses heavily on pop culture references – such as a certain infamous scientologist – and blatant on recent controversial movies. With very obvious jabs at “Million Dollar Baby,” “Brokeback Mountain” and many others, “Scary Movie 4” has left me not caring if they make a new one or not, especially if they keep up with the pop culture bashing.

JB: I thought the pop culture references were the funniest of all, but that’s not saying much. Leslie Nielsen had some funny moments as an exaggerated caricature of President Bush, and the ending jab at Cruise’s infamous couch-jumping incident on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will make those laugh who believe his recent behavior has rendered him insane. I think the movie worked its best – which is still pretty bad – when it understood the superfluousness of pop culture and made fun of itself. However, those moments were few and far between, and they definitely weren’t enough to justify the rest of the film. The scariest thing is how bad it is, and the fact that it’s the fourth in the franchise.

AS: Despite its apparent intention to spoof many films, “Scary Movie 4” didn’t solely attack scary movies. It overdid the nonscary references way too much. Keeping at the rate they’re going, the cast of “Scary Movie 4” is doomed to be in horrifically stupid movies until the end of their days. The “Scary Movie” franchise is now playing and replaying an already exhausted venue. One can only make so many jokes and references to a scary movie without ruining the horror venue. Outside of tired jokes, exaggerated references, “C”-at-best actors and repeated lack of plot, “Scary Movie 4” is dead in its tracks.