If you close your eyes and think about the year 2000, you probably hear the crackle of a dial-up modem or the sound of someone yelling "Wassup!" into a chunky Nokia. But for horror fans, that year was defined by a single, blonde, slow-motion run down a high school hallway. I'm talking about the opening of Scary Movie and the character who started it all: Drew Decker.
Played by Carmen Electra, Drew wasn't just a throwaway victim. She was a cultural reset for the parody genre. Honestly, it’s wild to think about how much that five-minute sequence influenced comedy for the next decade. While Scream (1996) revitalized the slasher by being meta and smart, Scary Movie took those same tropes and smashed them against a wall of slapstick absurdity.
The DNA of a Satire Icon
The name itself is a dead giveaway. Drew Decker is a blatant, hilarious mashup of Drew Barrymore (who played Casey Becker in Scream). It wasn't subtle. It wasn't trying to be. The Wayans brothers—who directed and wrote the film—knew exactly what they were doing. They took the most "important" scene in modern horror and turned it into a series of unfortunate, ridiculous events.
Most people forget that Carmen Electra wasn't the first choice for the role, but she ended up being the perfect fit because she could play the "hot girl" trope with zero ego. She leaned into the physical comedy. Getting hit by a car? Funny. Getting stabbed through a silicon breast implant? Gross, but iconic for the time.
The pacing of the Scary Movie Drew Decker scene is a masterclass in escalating stakes. It starts with the classic "anonymous caller" trope. You know the one. The voice is deep, menacing, and asks about her favorite scary movie. But then it pivots. Suddenly, she’s being chased through sprinklers that are seemingly timed for maximum dramatic effect.
Why the Scary Movie Drew Decker Scene Worked
It worked because it was relentless.
In the original Scream, Casey Becker's death is genuinely traumatic. It’s high-tension. In Scary Movie, Drew's "ordeal" is a comedy of errors. When she tries to run away, she’s hampered by everything from her own wardrobe to the sheer incompetence of her pursuer. The Ghostface parody (Doofy, technically, though the killer's identity in the first film is its own messy rabbit hole) is just as clumsy as she is.
Think about the specific beats:
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- The accidental "showing" of her lingerie while running.
- The "banana peel" level of slapstick when she’s hit by her own father's car.
- The reveal that her "death" is witnessed by a crowd of people who think it’s a performance.
That last bit? That’s actually a pretty sharp bite of social commentary for a movie that also features a joke about a killer vacuum cleaner later on. It tapped into that early 2000s obsession with celebrity and the idea that even our tragedies are just content for someone else to consume.
The Carmen Electra Effect
We have to talk about Carmen. Seriously.
At the time, Electra was a massive tabloid fixture. Putting her in the opening slot was a power move. It signaled that the movie was going to be "of the moment." If you look back at the casting of the Scary Movie franchise, they always tried to snag people who were currently in the zeitgeist.
Electra’s performance as Drew Decker set the tone for the entire franchise. It told the audience: "Nothing is sacred." Not the scream queens, not the final girls, and certainly not the serious tone of Wes Craven’s masterpiece. She played it straight, which is the golden rule of parody. If the actor thinks it’s funny, it’s not. If the actor plays it like a Shakespearean tragedy while falling over a hedge, it’s gold.
Legacy and the Slasher Parody Boom
After Scary Movie Drew Decker became a household name (or at least a recognizable face on every Blockbuster shelf), the floodgates opened. We got Not Another Teen Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie—the list of increasingly mediocre "Movie" movies goes on.
But none of them captured the specific lightning in a bottle that Drew’s opening scene did. Why? Because the first Scary Movie actually liked horror. You can tell. To parody something that effectively, you have to understand the mechanics of the original. The Wayans brothers understood the "Final Girl" mythos. They understood why we find blonde girls running in the dark both terrifying and, eventually, a bit of a cliché.
Drew Decker was the sacrificial lamb that allowed the rest of the movie to go completely off the rails. Without her, you don’t get Cindy Campbell. You don’t get Brenda Meeks (the true GOAT of the franchise, let’s be real). Drew was the bridge between the 90s serious slasher and the 2000s "everything is a joke" era.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Character
Some critics at the time dismissed Drew as just a "sex symbol in a costume." That's a lazy take.
If you actually watch the physical timing Carmen Electra employs, it’s impressive. Comedy is harder than drama. Getting hit by a car, reacting to a killer in a mask, and maintaining a specific "bimbo" persona while the world collapses around you takes actual skill.
Also, there’s a common misconception that Drew Decker was supposed to be a direct parody of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character in I Know What You Did Last Summer. While there are nods to that—especially the hair and the pageant-y vibe—she is 90% Casey Becker. The movie is a love letter (or maybe a prank letter) to Scream first and foremost.
How to Revisit the Scary Movie Era
If you’re planning a rewatch, don’t just look for the fart jokes. Look at the background. Look at the way the camera mimics the sweeping shots of 90s cinematography only to ruin it with a sight gag.
The Scary Movie Drew Decker sequence is actually quite short. It’s under ten minutes. Yet, it’s the part everyone remembers. It’s the "Citizen Kane" of low-brow parody openings.
To truly appreciate it today, you have to watch it back-to-back with the opening of the 1996 Scream. The way they mirror the lighting, the cordless phone (so retro now!), and the dialogue is almost surgical. It’s a reminder that before the franchise turned into a cameo-heavy mess in the later sequels, it was a sharp, focused lampoon of a very specific cultural moment.
Moving Beyond the Mask
When we look at horror today, we’re in the era of "Elevated Horror." Think Hereditary, The Witch, or Smile. It makes you wonder what a modern-day Drew Decker would look like.
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Would she be an influencer trying to livestream her own murder? Would she be arguing with the killer about his "problematic" choice of mask?
Actually, the Scream 2022 and Scream VI films kind of did this themselves, reclaiming the meta-commentary. But they never quite reach the level of pure, unadulterated chaos that Drew Decker brought to the screen. There was a fearlessness in 2000. No joke was too cheap. No stunt was too dangerous for a laugh.
Actionable Takeaways for Horror Fans
If you want to dive deeper into the history of slasher parodies or just want to win your next trivia night, keep these points in mind:
- Study the Source Material: Watch Scream (1996) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) before rewatching Scary Movie. The jokes land 100% better when the original shots are fresh in your mind.
- Track the Tropes: Look for the "false jump scares" in Drew's scene. It’s a direct critique of how directors use sound to trick audiences.
- Appreciate the Practical Stunts: Most of what happens to Drew was done with practical effects and clever editing, not heavy CGI. It gives the comedy a "weight" that modern digital parodies lack.
- Check the Cameos: See if you can spot the various pop culture references hidden in her bedroom and the school hallways—they are a time capsule of the TRL era.
Drew Decker died so that the parody genre could live (and eventually, arguably, overstay its welcome). But for those few minutes on screen, she was the perfect avatar for a generation that was ready to laugh at the things that scared them. She turned the "victim" into a comedic hero, even if she didn't make it past the first act.
The next time you see a blonde girl running in slow motion in a movie, you won't just think of the danger. You'll think of Drew, the sprinkler system, and the car that definitely should have stopped.
Next Steps for Your Movie Night:
Start by queuing up the original Scream and then immediately follow it with Scary Movie. Pay close attention to the kitchen scenes in both. You'll notice that the parody isn't just about the dialogue; it's about the physical space. Once you've done that, look up the behind-the-scenes interviews with the Wayans brothers regarding the "Ghostface" mask rights—it's a fascinating legal rabbit hole involving the Fun World costume company that explains why the mask looks slightly "off" in the parody compared to the original.