#VOGUEFROMHOME
7 highly entertaining parody films on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to stream this weekend
You hate to love them, but you'll definitely want to watch them
While a few of them make for great humorous takes on a genre, others serve to be so questionable that they're definitely worth a watch and a few laughs, but all of them are are chucklesome no-brainers that we didn't know we needed. You may hate to love the popular parody films like Scary Movie (and its subsequent parts), Fifty Shades of Black, Spaceballs, Vampires Suck, and more, but you know you'd like more in a similar space when action thrillers and real-life documentaries fail to cut it. To make the hunt easier for you, we've list seven highly entertaining spoofs that you can binge right away.
Meet the Spartans (2008)
Meet the Spartans parodies the 2006 war-action movie 300, Spider-Man 3 (2007), Casino Royale (2006) and more, apart from several shows and events relevant at the time of its release. The American parody film became a box office hit right after it came to theatres. With well-timed punch-lines and celebrity lookalikes, it revolves around the evil god king of Persia, the Spartan king and their massive armies fighting against each other. Before they came up with this knockout work, directors and writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer had also been involved in some of the most entertaining movies of the genre, including Scary Movie and Epic Movie.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Having received two nominations at the BAFTA Film Awards, Shaun of the Dead also received critical and commercial acclaim upon its release. It features two Londoners, Shaun and Ed, caught in a zombie apocalypse and trying to find refuge in a nearby pub. Instead of parodying a specific work or event, the movie—also categorised as comedy-horror—spoofs the genre of horror in general.
Available to buy on Amazon Prime Video
Johnny English (2003-18)
Starring Rowan Atkinson (also known as Mr Bean), the Johnny English series mainly parodies the spy action movie franchise, James Bond. An MI7 employee, who is portrayed as a highly confident, yet unskilled detective, is on international missions—chasing assassins and investigating extensive cyber-attacks.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Disaster Movie (2008)
The Friedberg-Seltzer parody film was panned by critics and nominated six times for the 29th Golden Raspberry Awards—a ceremony held in honour of the worst films of the industry. The highly entertaining no-brainer parodies multiple films and TV shows of the last decade, including High School Musical, The Chronicles of Narnia, Step Up, Iron Man and The Dark Knight among others. It also presents a comical take on real-life celebrities Kanye West, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and the Jonas brothers.
Streaming on YouTube and available to buy on Amazon Prime Video
Young Frankenstein (1974)
A direct parody of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein, and one on the classic horror genre, the film centres around a medical lecturer who has inherited his grandfather’s estate. Much like the original work, but packed with sufficient humour, he moves there, experiments, even creates his own monster and invites complications.
Streaming on DIRECTV
Airplane! (1980-82)
A spoof on the ’70s disaster film genre, Airplane! (alternately known as Flying High) was a critical as well as commercial success. Having received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Comedy and nominated for Golden Globes, it ranks high up on the parody film charts. The plot features a set of in-flight crew and passengers affected by food poisoning, and a rash pilot with a drinking problem trying to manage the situation and his girlfriend-turned-stewardess at the same time.
Available to buy on Amazon Prime Video
Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
The goofy parody targets every teen movie ever made—think Pretty in Pink, She’s All That, Varsity Blues—and presents a stereotypical and humorous take on them. Skewering the clichés of the high school and teen life genre, the film involves an aspiring artist, wearing glasses (and of course, outcast by the ‘cool kids’); a football star in school who makes a bet (which has a lot to do with their prom night); and complicated, twisted anecdotes from classic American teen life portrayal.
Streaming on Netflix
Also read:
7 shows you can finish watching overnight on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar
