Carmen Electra in Scary Movie: Drew Decker and the 2000s Spoof-Comedy Run

In Scary Movie (2000), Carmen Electra played Drew Decker, the victim in the film’s opening scene, a parody of Drew Barrymore’s Casey Becker in the opening of Scream (1996). The film was a large box-office success, and it led to a run of spoof comedies through the 2000s: she returned to the franchise in Scary Movie 4 (2006) and appeared in four parodies made by two of the original film’s writers, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. This guide covers the role, the film and that wider spoof era.

Factual sections are sourced at the end. Paragraphs marked “Editor’s note” are our commentary.

Scary Movie (2000) at a glance

• Released: July 7, 2000 (US), by Dimension Films. Rated R.
• Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans.
• Writers: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.
• Main cast: Anna Faris, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Regina Hall, Shannon Elizabeth, Cheri Oteri and Carmen Electra, among others.
• Budget: about $19 million.
• Box office: about $278 million worldwide, the highest of the series.

The Drew Decker role

Drew Decker appears only in the opening sequence. The scene follows the structure of the opening of Scream, in which Drew Barrymore’s character, Casey Becker, is menaced by phone and then attacked by the masked killer. Scary Movie exaggerates each beat for slapstick.

In a 2000 interview with the French film site AlloCiné, Electra described her part as a short appearance at the very start of the film in a key scene, and characterised the film as a parody of several horror and thriller hits at once.

Editor’s note: The character’s first name looks like a nod to Barrymore, and casting a well-known TV face as the first victim mirrors what Scream did with Barrymore, which is part of the joke. A short role with high visibility suited a performer best known at the time for Baywatch and MTV.

What Scary Movie parodied

The main targets were Scream (1996) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), the two films that drove the late-90s teen slasher revival. The film also borrows from other popular films of the period. Vulture has published a detailed list of every film spoofed across the franchise.

How it performed

Box office

According to Box Office Mojo figures cited by Wikipedia, Scary Movie earned about $157 million in the US and Canada and about $121 million elsewhere. It set a record at the time for the biggest opening weekend by an R-rated film, and it was the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2000 in the US.

Critics

Reviews were mixed. Rotten Tomatoes reports 52% approval from 122 reviews, and Metacritic gives a score of 48 out of 100 from 32 critics, “mixed or average”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a B−.

Scary Movie 4 (2006)

Electra returned to the series in Scary Movie 4, released in the US on April 14, 2006. It was directed by David Zucker, and she played Holly. The film grossed about $178.7 million worldwide on a $40 million budget.

The 2000s spoof-comedy run

After Scary Movie, its co-writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer began directing their own parody films. Electra appeared in four of them:

• Date Movie (2006), as Anne.
• Epic Movie (2007), as Mystique.
• Meet the Spartans (2008), as Queen Margo.
• Disaster Movie (2008), as the Beautiful Assassin.

These were received far less warmly than Scary Movie. Rotten Tomatoes scores listed by Wikipedia are 7% for Date Movie, 2% for Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans, and 1% for Disaster Movie. Electra won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress at the 27th Razzie Awards in February 2007, for Date Movie and Scary Movie 4.

Not every 2000s comedy was a spoof

The same decade included mainstream studio comedies: Starsky & Hutch (2004), in which she played Stacey Haack a role that won an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005), as Serena Murtaugh. See our filmography for the full list.

A recent return

She returned to the franchise for a cameo in the 2026 Scary Movie, playing a bartender in the film’s opening scene. It is her third appearance in the series.

Why the run matters

Editor’s note: Whatever you think of the later parodies, the decade made Electra one of the most recognisable faces of the 2000s spoof cycle. The first Scary Movie holds up best with critics, and it is the one most viewers mean when they remember her film work. Our career timeline shows where this period sits in her wider career.

Where to watch

Streaming rights change frequently, so check a current listings service. The films have been widely released on DVD and Blu-ray; if you are buying second-hand, see our DVD guide for what to check.

This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure.

• Search Amazon for Scary Movie (2000)
• Search Amazon for Scary Movie 4

Sources

1. Wikipedia, “Scary Movie” (release, director, writers, cast, budget, box office, reception, targets). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scary_Movie
2. Box Office Mojo, “Scary Movie (2000)”. boxofficemojo.com
3. Rotten Tomatoes, “Scary Movie (2000)”. rottentomatoes.com
4. Metacritic, “Scary Movie”. metacritic.com
5. Adam K. Raymond, “Every Movie ‘Spoofed’ in the Scary Movie Franchise”, Vulture, April 15, 2013. vulture.com
6. AlloCiné, “Parole de Star” interview with Carmen Electra (2000, in French). allocine.fr
7. Wikipedia, “Scary Movie 4” (release, director, role, box office, Razzie). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scary_Movie_4
8. Wikipedia, “Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer” (filmography, Rotten Tomatoes scores). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Friedberg_and_Aaron_Seltzer
9. Wikipedia, “Carmen Electra” (roles, awards). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Electra
10. Wikipedia, “Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress” (27th Razzie Awards, 2007). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Raspberry_Award_for_Worst_Supporting_Actress
11. Variety, “Carmen Electra on Returning to Scary Movie 6” (2026 cameo as a bartender). variety.com
12. Wikipedia, “Scream (1996 film)” (opening scene). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_(1996_film)