In 2008 (when these episodes aired), Tracy Morgan of SNL fame was hosting the show and he does a pretty good job. I've always thought Tracy was pretty funny and his style definitely works for Scare Tactics. While I enjoyed at least one prank every episode (there are 4 per episode), some were much better than others. Among the funniest were "Satan's Baby" (and "Satan's Baby 2") where a little person dressed in red paint and horns appears to shoot out of a pregnant woman and proceeds to attack the doctor, scaring the crap out of the unsuspecting receptionist who is called in to assist. "Crisis Hot Line" was hysterical and found a young psych student trying to do good, but ending up on the receiving line of an underwear-clad stalker's affections. Topics include everything from a creepy doll collector, to eerie funeral homes, to labs that appear to be cloning humans, to even killer cyborgs! Some of the stuff is pretty far-fetched, but I guess if you are caught up in the heat of the moment, it can seem really realistic.
What tended to take me out of the moment while watching was the fact that one girl, Holly, appeared numerous times as an Accomplice (pranking a friend) and once as a Victim, much later than the times she was an Accomplice. Now, I'm sure that they are not necessarily shown in the order that they are filmed, but when you are watching them back to back and you see the same girl over and over (like 4 times, for crying out loud - on Disc 1 alone!), then you tend to start disbelieving in the whole deal. I mean really, if Holly had pranked one or two friends on Scare Tactics, do you honestly think all her other friends would continue to fall for this stuff? I know I would be on guard. So once Holly and her crew were up on my radar, I started paying more attention. It's never good to watch these shows with a computer handy, let me tell you, because when a prank came on taking place in Louisiana, I got really interested since I live there. Especially since it takes place in a town called Babadeux, LA. Uh, no such town exists. So then I started Googling several of the towns that came up and surprise! They don't exist either. Now, Las Vegas obviously is real, but I don't understand the need to use fictional towns. Also, the fact that "Holly" shows up for pranks in numerous and varied states makes me doubt the authenticity of the show. And yes, that really takes away from the overall experience. Well, it did for me anyway. It made me start analyzing everyone, wondering if it was all completely fake. Were the frightened "victims" just good actors or were they truly frightened. Personally, I think it is a mix. There were a couple of people that really seemed genuinely scared and/or acting on impulse, such as the big dude who physically attacked the guy he perceived was beating up a woman, or the girl who was willing to drink a poisoned glass of liquid to save the life of a little girl whose parents and preacher were convinced was possessed and needed to make the ultimate sacrifice. Those seemed real. The most real was "Blood Bath" where an unsuspecting girl was working in an exclusive "spa" where vampires come to bathe in the blood of young girls. Tears were running down her face and she seems scared for her life. I don't blame her, really. That was a pretty bad one. But you know, I don't think I would have fallen for that prank. An "exclusive" and expensive spa that has a crappy filing cabinet in the reception area and a nasty old rug on the floor? I don't think so.
For what it is, the show is amusing. Some of the pranks are cruel, some are downright stupid, but most are smile-inducing and a few are truly hysterical. I was surprised at the amount of foul language and nudity in the show, however, since this did air on TV. There must have been black bars and bleeps aplenty. This version truly is unrated and you'll be shelled by constant F-bombs, although I'd probably be dropping them left and right if the same was done to me. Also surprising was a fair amount of toplessness, although you are warned in the episode guide by a "Flesh Flash" notation. If you watch the Deleted Scenes, they are nothing more than booby zoom-ins and extended/gratuitous shots of what you briefly saw in the episodes themselves. There's also a Blooper reel of Tracy Morgan doing his intro shtick and screwing up, which is worth watching. If shows like Punk'd are your thing, but you like a little more fear in the mix, you should check out Scare Tactics: Season 3 - Part One. But if you watch them back to back like I did, you may start to notice some of the same things that I did and it may take away from your overall experience.
