10 Film Satire That Achieve Dual Effects

      There’s nothing we enjoy more than a film that humorously critiques a genre while also excelling in that genre itself — like a parody of action thrillers that is also an expertly crafted action thriller, or a horror film that satirizes horror tropes while delivering genuine scares.

      Here are 12 movie parodies that successfully achieve both.

      **Kentucky Fried Movie**

      **United Film Distribution Company**

      Kentucky Fried Movie is the beginning of it all for Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker, the creators of Airplane and The Naked Gun series. The film features a collection of sharp movie parodies, poking fun at every popular genre of the 1970s.

      The most outrageous segment is a spoof of adult films titled “Catholic High School Girls in Trouble,” which, at the age we saw it, was likely the raciest thing we’d encountered. It showcases various shocking twists and is quite explicit. While it’s definitely humorous, it’s also quite scandalous.

      It still leaves us a bit bewildered.

      **Robocop (1987)**

      **Orion Pictures – Credit: C/O**

      Paul Verhoeven is a maestro of films that excel in duality. The Dutch director made his way to America in the '80s and quickly sought to surpass the rampant sex and violence he observed on U.S. screens.

      Robocop stands as a brilliant satire — it caters to the audience's desire for tough-on-crime narratives while also suggesting that corporate, mechanized crime-fighting could be more hazardous than crime itself.

      The film foresaw potential issues with AI-driven law enforcement — does anyone genuinely want to be pulled over by a drone? — and perhaps even predicted the emergence of the for-profit prison system.

      At the same time, it’s a delightfully absurd story about a half-man, half-robot endeavoring to clean up the streets of New Detroit. It remains one of our all-time favorites.

      **Starship Troopers**

      **TriStar Pictures**

      Starship Troopers, another creation from Verhoeven, executed its satire so well that some critics failed to recognize it as a satire.

      For instance, The New York Times' Janet Maslin nonchalantly remarked, “Where exactly are the hordes of moviegoers who will exclaim: ‘Great idea! Let’s go see the one about the cute young co-ed army and the big bugs from space.’”

      Indeed, Starship Troopers is the ultimate film regarding a charming co-ed army and gigantic space insects. However, it also relentlessly mocks jingoistic false patriotism and our tendency to dehumanize those we don’t agree with.

      **Scream**

      **Drew Barrymore in Scream. Dimension Films – Credit: C/O**

      Crafted by Kevin Williamson and directed by horror legend Wes Craven, Scream deconstructs slasher films while offering expertly crafted thrills and kills.

      It transformed the horror genre forever, making it nearly impossible to produce an unironic slasher film after Scream established the need for at least one character to acknowledge genre tropes that they should avoid.

      Even films that take a straightforward approach are now in a tacit agreement with audiences: We all recognize these clichés. Now, here’s how this film will subvert them.

      **Slumber Party Massacre (1982)**

      **New World Pictures – Credit: C/O**

      While Scream was the definitive slasher film satire, Slumber Party Massacre got there first. This initial entry in the franchise (which includes two sequels and a reboot) was penned by lesbian feminist author Rita Mae Brown, intending to satirize slasher films rather than glorify them.

      Under the astute direction of Amy Holden Jones, Slumber Party Massacre emerged as one of the best slasher films ever created, while cleverly satirizing popular films of the time, such as Friday the 13th.

      It also vividly represents early '80s Southern California — where we grew up sneaking peeks at movies we weren’t meant to see.

      The subsequent film, Slumber Party II, pushes the satire further with a villain (Atanas Ilitch) who dances like a combination of Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson while wielding a drill-shaped red electric guitar.

      **American Psycho (2000)**

      **Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Lionsgate – Credit: Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, Lionsgate**

      Another one of our favorites, American Psycho is a biting satire of '80s yuppie culture that simultaneously makes it seem… rather glamorous, in fact. Aside from all the chainsaw murders, of course.

      Christian Bale portrayed Wall Street serial killer Patrick Bateman as anything but composed — “We viewed him as an alien who landed in the unabashedly capitalist New York of the '80s, observing and asking, ‘How do I succeed as a male in this environment?’” Bale once remarked to