Image via Complex Original
While Saturday Night Live has been the staple of sketch comedy for over four decades, you can't talk about cutting edge sketch comedy without talking about Keenan Ivory Wayans' In Living Color. While the show was a perfect launch pad for '90s comedy stars in Hollywood, it was also rich in parodying the hell out of popular culture. From music videos to the stories that ruled the newswire, the Wayans were on point with their social commentary. Although by the time In Living Color premiered on Fox in 1990, Keenan was in the game for a bit, and his 1988 comedy I'm Gonna Git You Sucka was the debut of a parody film with a real black voice.
Since '88, the Wayans family–which includes Damon, Shawn, Marlon, and Damon Jr.–have put their spin on pop culture with a host of films that took a Naked Gun approach to everything from Menace II Society to Save the Last Dance. There aren't too many big budget films that looked at this kind of comedy in a black voice, and this week, Marlon Wayans' latest spoof, Fifty Shades of Black, is keeping the Wayans dynasty alive with a wild new take on the S&M franchise Fifty Shades of Grey.
This new film caps off over two decades of Wayans parodies, so it's high time we take a look back at the cinematic wins (and losses) from the Wayans family.
8. 'A Haunted House 2'
A Haunted House 2 is one of those films you have to come in prepared for. One has to make sure that you know that a) it'll continue on the wacky path of the first film, but b) won't be nearly as funny as the first Haunted House. Trouble stays following Marlon's Malcolm, but really, there's no rhyme or reason for anything happening in this film. Most of the jokes turn into "something's scary, let's have sex with it."
It's absurd for the sake of being absurd; some of the better parts of the film would make decent Vines or short web videos, but 86 minutes of this? Nah, we're good.
7. 'Dance Flick'
Dance Flick, like many of the Wayans parody films in history, found the new breed in the family—Damien Dante Wayans directing a film starring Damon Wayans, Jr.—linking up with Keenan, Shawn, Marlon, and Kim in a film that dances circles around the dance film genre.
It's not particularly great, but it gave some hope about the future of the Wayans parody films.
6. 'Scary Movie 2'
Scary Movie 2 felt a bit too ambitious; the first film grossed $278 million on a $19 million budget. With a new budget of $45 million, Shawn and Marlon linked with Keenan to have another go at the horror movie genre, but it just feels like it's doing too much. Exorcisms, "hell houses," and parodies of everything from Rocky to Rocky Horror Picture Show felt like the family knew this would be their last Scary Movie (which it was; while the series has had five installments, the last three were without any of the Wayans).
5. 'A Haunted House'
While most of the Wayans clan is MIA when it comes to parody films, it's dope to see Marlon carrying the torch in Hollywood. 2013's A Haunted House was about as funny as you'd expect a parody of "found footage' horror flicks like Paranomal Activity would be. (Not that hilarious!)
Kudos for trying to make a film where both members of a married couple smoke weed (and have sex) with the ghost that's haunting them, but it feels like without his family, Marlon's humor ends up being pretty one note.
4. 'Scary Movie'
The first Scary Movie film found Keenan directing a script written by Shawn and Marlon that drew major inspiration from Wes Craven's wildly popular Scream, and felt like a throwback to the Don't Be a Menace/I'm Gonna Git You Sucka films, taking the new(er) school horror films to task.
Where Scream had one of the most amazing opening scenes in a horror film ever with Drew Barrymore being threatened and killed by Ghostface, Scary Movie finds Carmen Electra having one of her breast implants ripped out. You have to respect them taking it there, and even throwing in gags about black people being loud in theaters AND a joke about how The Wayans Bros. got canceled.
3. 'Blankman'
Blankman is a weird one. While not as sight gag-heavy as much of the Wayans signature parody work, it's more of a flip of Batman as a poor, nerdy black manchild growing up in the hood. Instead of going in on superhero movies, we just got one man who grew up on comic books and superheroes and truly believed he could be one as well. He had J-5, his trusty assistant, and uses an old subway station as a secret hideout.
It was more of a vehicle to show a softer side of Damon's while also being a hero for the bookworm-y inventors out there. Proving that you too can get the girl.
2. 'Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood'
Don't Be a Menace hit at the perfect time: in 1996, it had a number of coming-of-age hood films to spoof, including Juice, South Central, Menace II Society, and Boyz In the Hood, and it featured Shawn and Marlon's first time penning a film (they were coming off the first year of their TV show The Wayans Bros.). Loc Dog was the most colorful character, the kind of guy who's G was certified af, to the point where he could roll through the hood with pink bunny slippers on while packing a missile launcher in the back of a mail truck.
You had pot-smoking, break-dancing grandmothers, daddy issues, baby mama issues, and more, all while trying to get up out the hood. The most brilliant part? Keenan walking through during particularly poignant moments as a mailman, shouting "MESSAGE!" Hell, this film was so ill, it's soundtrack was chock full of bangers (including Ghostface Killah's "Winter Warz," which has a memorable, show-stealing verse from Cappadonna, almost ten months before the release of Ironman).
1. 'I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'
You can't front on Keenan Ivory Wayans' masterpiece of a send-up of blaxploitation films. It literally had everything: Chris Rock's infamous "ribs" bit, ridiculous gags about PMS and how fake some women can be, and a gang of classic black men (including Isaac Hayes, Jim Brown, and Antonio Fargas). It was the first true Wayans parody film, and without a doubt their best.
Where else can you see people being killed by overdosing on gold chains? Or seeing the one guy who can never have enough guns? You could tell that, while they roasted the hell out of the genre, Keenan really held an affinity to the blaxploitation craze. It's not like he went out like a true punk; he made sure to get Boogie Down Productions to travel with him as his theme music.
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka was the ultimate blend of homage and tomfoolery, and the epitome of a quality Wayans parody.
