50 Best Movie Spoof Moments

Hot Fuzz (2007)

The Moment: Angel (Simon Pegg) takes things to an extreme when he rides into the village of Sandford on a white horse, decked out in weaponry.

What’s It Spoofing: Action movies and Westerns.

Why It’s Great: It’s Arnie taken to the nth degree.

The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

The Moment : “I remember the day the girls came over for bridge club; I was so embarrassed because of lingering odours,” gripes Marcy Goldman.

In a quick flashback we see her friends arriving and complaining about the stench.

What’s It Spoofing: Every advert ever for stink-eradicating products.

Why It’s Great:
“Christ, did a cow shit in here?” is the punchline, and it’s a corker.

Team America: World Police (2004)

The Moment: A eye-bulgingly graphic throwdown between Gary (Trey Parker) and Lisa (Kristen Miller).

Who just happen to be puppets.

What’s It Spoofing: Every movie sex scene ever.

Why It’s Great: It’s puppets… doing it!

Galaxy Quest (1999)

The Moment: Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver’s lost-in-space actors attempt to make their way through the bowels of the ship, only to discover ridiculous obstacles in their way.

What’s It Spoofing: Star Trek , obviously.

Why It’s Great: Weaver’s rant: “What is this thing? I mean, it serves no useful purpose for there to be a bunch of chompy, crushy things in the middle of a hallway. No, I mean we shouldn't have to do this, it makes no logical sense, why is it here?”

Scream (1996)

The Moment: Drew Barrymore doesn’t make it past the first scene as she’s butchered by a Ghostface killer who specialises in horror movie trivia.

What’s It Spoofing: Black Christmas, When A Stranger Calls, Halloween, Friday The 13th , plus every horror movie in which a blonde bimbo does all the wrong things and ends up dead.

Why It’s Great:
It’s easy to forget that Scream was, itself, a spoof (albeit a scary one) in the wake of Scary Movie (which even stole its original title). But Scream proved you could be a clever parody while also being really scary.

Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975)

The Moment: “It’s just a flesh wound!”

The Black Knight (John Cleese) insists on continuing his fight with King Arthur (Graham Chapman) even though he’s quickly running out of limbs.

What’s It Spoofing: Any battle scene in which a fighter clearly doesn’t know he’s beaten.

Why It’s Great: It’s Monty Python…

Im Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)

The Moment: Keenan Ivory Wayans goes into a coffee shop, where he’s beset by jewellery-festooned goons.

Things look up, though, when his ‘mother’ enters frame and kicks their asses.

What’s It Spoofing: Super Fly and The Mack.

Why It’s Great: Wayans gets the loving digs in perfectly as his mother is replaced by a moustachioed stuntman in a wig.

The Great Race (1965)

The Moment: The pie fight scene, as Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) trips into a giant cake, and incites a pie fight that involved 4,000 pies.

Watch it here .

What’s It Spoofing: Laurel and Hardy.

Why It’s Great : It’s the biggest pie fight scene ever filmed, lasting four minutes. The pastries alone set the production back $18,000.

Bill & Teds Bogus Journey (1991)

The Moment: Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) play a game of chess with Death (William Sadler).

What’s It Spoofing: The Seventh Seal.

Why It’s Great: It’s just the beginning of a series of challenges set by Death that also involves playing Twister, Battleship and Clue.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

The Moment: “This piece is called ‘Lick My Love Pump’.”

Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) reveals the title of the track he’s been playing on the piano.

What’s It Spoofing: Well, anything in the key of ‘rock’.

Why It’s Great: Until Tufnel drops that title like a bomb, we’re swept up in the romanticism of his earnest tinkling.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.