The joke remains on the spoofs

The creative team behind Vampires Suck,which takes its inspiration from the global popularity of the Twilight movies and the current obsession with vampires generally,is seasoned with the newest,21st century-style of spoof movie. Writer-directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer have had a hand in Spy Hard,Scary Movie,Date Movie,Epic Movie,Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie that last one proved far too true to its name.

Almost all are concept-driven projects that don8217;t hold to any real story line and are nothing more than grab bags meant to survey the year in pop culture. In the days before its release,Suck is tracking best among young women again,the Twilight connection and might at best gross in the high-teen millions during its first five days.

In all but the rarest cases,spoofs make money,which is why studios and producers seem ever ready to produce another one 8211; creative integrity be damned. The vaunted history of the genre might derive from the inspired creative lunacy of Mel Brooks,the David Zucker-Jim Abrahams-Jerry Zucker troika and the Wayans clan,but the new iterations are more mercenary affairs.

The most successful releases in the genre caught the zeitgeist organically. Mike Myers and New Line Cinema8217;s Austin Powers trilogy grossed hundreds of millions worldwide on budgets that never were more than 63 million.

Dimension and Keenen Ivory Wayans Scary Movie scared up 278 million worldwide in 2000 with a budget in the 20 million range. Although budgets for sequel installments eventually climbed to 60 million,grosses for Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4 still landed above 130 million worldwide. The Leslie Nielsen Naked Gun franchise doubled or tripled its investments.

But even the most craven attempts to cash in on the spoof gravy train 8211; Not Another Date Movie,Epic Movie,etc. 8211; are strong bets. As long as budgets remain small,like 15 million to 30 million,these movies are not much of a gamble. Here is why: Among all variations of American comedy,this is the only one that translates overseas. Half of the Scary Movie money comes from the international arena. The 1991 Top Gun spoof Hot Shots made nearly twice its 70 million domestic haul overseas. The more recent crop averages about a 50-50 split between U.S. and foreign audiences,so even a seeming stinker like Meet the Spartans 8211; a goof on 300 can gross 84.6 million worldwide,with more than half of that total coming from foreign audiences.

Mazin chalks this up to two key elements of the spoof: It is mostly physical comedy,which knows no borders,and the types of movies lampooned always are big Hollywood products that play around the world.

Other common parameters of the genre are hugely beneficial to the way the movies play. For one thing,they are impervious to 8211; and even can benefit from low production values,so a large budget is not necessary. Mazin called this the cheap-is-better factor. He explained this as the whole point of a spoof is to take the piss out of Hollywood excess 8211; they tend to be funnier when they look cheaper.

Spoofs also are built for young audiences that typically are less discerning; they don8217;t require major stars; and often they are extremely short,running 80-90 minutes,meaning theaters can get away with more showtimes. Vampire Sucks clocks in at 77 minutes. As a corollary,spoofs play well in ancillary markets like DVD because their silly,mindless content makes for easy repeat viewing and doesn8217;t call out for the theatrical experience.

Mazin said 8211; You don8217;t need to see a spoof movie on the big screen. It is not Avatar. You could watch it on your iPod and pretty much get the point. In that regard,they8217;re also pretty robust entertainment; they can live anywhere.

As a result,flops are rare. They do happen 8211; Dance Flick,Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,An American Carol 8211; but they are the exceptions that prove the rule.

Then again,the profit margin appears to be shrinking. Which is why the creative part actually matters. Although the instinct to throw no-brainer visual jokes about Lady Gaga and the Jersey Shore cast ensures the up-the-minute recognition factor,audiences respond with more enthusiasm when presented with the actual spine of a story.

Mazin concludes It is supposed to be dumb on some level But there is smart-dumb and dumb-dumb.