10 Fictional Movies Within Real Movies That Deserve To Be Real
Movies that feature snippets of fictional films in their in-world story aren’t exactly rare, but not all of these spoofs are intriguing enough to make viewers wish they could watch the whole thing. Some films merely mention or show posters of fictional films: Marty McFly is swallowed by a holographic shark advertising Jaws 19 in Back to the Future, Part II (1989), and a poster for Rocky XXXVIII (that’s 38 for anyone unfamiliar with Roman numerals) can be seen in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982).
But this list is going to focus on films that contain actual footage of their films set in the world. Sometimes these films play an integral role in the plot, and sometimes they are just for laughs. Either way, it’s a shame that these 10 films can’t be viewed in their entirety.
Related: 10 Fan Theories That Are Better Than The Actual Movies
10 The Night the Reindeer Died from Scrooged (1988)
by Richard Donner Scrooged stars Bill Murray as Frank Cross, a greedy executive of IBC Television. The film opens with a trailer for IBC’s Christmas lineup, including Robert Goulet’s Old Fashioned Cajun Christmas and a Father Loves Beaver Christmas special.
But the highlight is without a doubt the Christmas action film The Night the Reindeer Died. Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves are busy preparing for Christmas, when Santa’s workshop is suddenly besieged by ‘psychos’. Luckily, Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors (playing himself) shows up to save Santa, who tells the actor, “You’ve been a really good boy this year!”
Although intended as a joke, a few comedy action Christmas films in this vein have hit screens in recent years. Fat man (2020) stars Mel Gibson as a tough Santa Claus who takes on a hitman Violent night (2022) features David Harbor as a gun-wielding Santa Claus.[1]
9 The Stab franchise of the Scream franchise
(Spoilers ahead Scream franchise ahead.)
Stab comes in first Scream 2 (1997), the fictional film is based on The Woodsboro Murders, the book written by Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), which details the events of the first film. Stab is directed by Robert Rodriguez (not real) and stars Heather Graham as Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore in Scream), Tori Spelling as Sidney Prescott (originally Neve Campbell) and Luke Wilson as Billy Loomis (originally Skeet Ulrich).
Further footage from the Stab films can be seen in Scream 4 (2011), which begins with the murder of Sherrie (Lucy Hale) and Trudie (Shenae Grimes). It is then revealed that this is a scene from Stab 6, being watched by Rachel (Anna Paquin) and Chloe (Kristen Bell). Rachel complains that current horror films offer no surprise and are too meta, only to be stabbed by Chloe. This turns out to be one scene from Stab 7meaning Stab 6 is a film-within-a-film-within-a-film.
A very short clip from the 2021 Stab reboot, directed by Rian Johnson (again, not really), appears in Scream (2022). A chrome-masked Ghostface is seen wielding a flamethrower and shouting, “That sh*t’s lit.” This line was actually said by Matthew Lillard, one of the original Ghostfaces.[2]
8 Films by Rick Dalton in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)
In Quentin Tarantino’s Once upon a time… in Hollywoodwe get a glimpse into the filmography of fictional actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio). A few of these films are real, but have Dalton added to them, such as his performance as Virgil Hilts The great escape (1963), which was actually played by Steven McQueen.
But there are also a few movies that were made specifically for Dalton to star in, even though they are based on real movies. There is for example Operazione Dyn-o-Mitea James Bond-style Italian film using images of Sergio Corbucci Moving target (also known as Death on the run) (1967).
There’s also The 14 Fists of McCluskey, in which Dalton sets fire to a room full of Nazis with a flamethrower à la Tarantino’s unglorious bastards (2009), a film that also includes a fictional film: the Nazi propaganda film Stolz der Nation (Nation’s Pride).[3]
7 Pineapple Express 2: Blood Red from This Is the End (2013)
After the success of Pineapple Express (2008), Seth Rogen, the film’s co-writer and co-star, had plans for a sequel, but it was shot by Sony. In 2020, Rogen explained that “we probably wanted too much money.” Of Pineapple Express 2 After the idea for the sequel was scrapped, it was adapted as a film into the apocalyptic comedy film This is the end. Rogen and Pineapple Express co-star James Franco are stuck together in the same house (playing themselves) and end up shooting the sequel in home movie style.
Pineapple Express 2: Blood Red begins with Red (Danny McBride) as the ruling drug lord, but his business is threatened by Woody Harrelson (played by Jonah Hill) who wants to legalize weed. Dale (Rogen) and Saul (Franco) are forced to kill Harrelson or Red will kill them. The low production values (for example, toy cars are used for the chase scene) are what really makes the film.[4]
6 Chip ‘n Dale’s Batman vs. ET: Rescue Rangers (2022)
Chip and Dale: rescue guards is full of cameos, easter eggs, and background gags. While walking down the street in one scene, Chip sees posters for a variety of fake movies, including Mr. Doubtfire (starring Meryl Streep in the gender-flipped lead role), Fast & Furious Babies (this one may only be a matter of time), and Batman vs. ET, which he thinks “looks pretty good.”
He ends up looking up at this parody Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), which ends with ET dying in Batman’s arms, but saying, “ET forgive Bat,” to which the Dark Knight replies, “Good.” While the line delivery will probably get a laugh from most viewers, Chip sheds a tear for the dying alien and says, “Yeah, right, like that would happen.”[5]
5 Jump Street sequels of 22 Jump Street (2014)
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Sprongstraat 22 ends with Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) asking Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) to go undercover on another mission, but they refuse. But this ending did not satisfy the test audience. “All they want at that point in the movie is to think this goes on forever and ever,” Lord told Buzzfeed. “And then of course we figured out a way to do that.”
So the film’s opening credits offer a glimpse into some imaginary sequels while poking fun at franchises that go off the rails. Some of these sequels only get posters, such as 38 Jump Street: Dance Academy and 43 Jump Street: Mariachi School. For others, however, they filmed short clips, some of which included funny cameos. 27 Jump Street: Culinary School stars Bill Hader as the villain, while 29 Jump Street: Sunday School swaps Jonah Hill for Seth Rogen, with the assurance that no one will notice.[6]
4 Mant! from Matinee (1993)
Joe Dante’s is set in the early 1960s Matinee centers on Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman), a William Castle-like filmmaker, who is shooting his new film Mant! promotes. Considering the clips of Mant! would be played in the cinema throughout the entire film, Dante shot Mant! first, and it amounted to a full 15 minute short film.
Mant! is a love letter to 50s monster movies, inspired by films like Them! (1954) and The fly (1958). Although comical in tone, Dante said in a 2010 interview, “I didn’t want to joke about [those movies].” He says that “for the most part, the more expensive pictures for that period had pretty good effects,” so he told the effects team, “Don’t deliberately do cheap effects. Get effects that are pretty much the same as they were at the time.”[7]
3 Numerous Jay and Silent Bob Films Strike Back (2001)
Towards the end of Jay and Silent Bob strike back, the titular characters enter the Miramax studio lot and make their way through the shooting of various films. There’s the then-fictional Scream 4 (the actual film wasn’t released until 2011), starring Shannen Doherty and an orangutan as Ghostface. There is also Hunt of Goodwill 2: Hunting Seasonin which Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Scott William Winters (the ponytailed villain in the bar) reprise their roles Good Will Hunting (1997). After some verbal sparring, Will pulls out a shotgun this time and blows the guy away.
Then of course there’s the film adaptation of Bluntman and Chronic, based on the world’s comic books that use their likeness. Jay and Silent Bob are mistaken for stunt doubles and end up in the movie. They must face off against supervillain Cocknocker (played by Mark Hamill) in a Star Wars-like battle, with Hamill even declaring, “Don’t fuck with the Jedi Master, son.”[8]
2 Hamlet from Last Action Hero (1993)
Meta-comedy action movie Last action hero Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jack Slater, the protagonist of an action franchise loved by Danny Madigan (Austin O’Brien). The film opens at the climax of Jack Slater III, in which Slater hilariously makes his way through the scene and even stars Tina Turner in her last film role before she died. The film starts well when Danny goes to see Jack Slater IV in the cinema and does so sucked into the film-within-a-film during a car chase.
But one of the best scenes in the film takes place when Danny is watching Sir Lawrence Olivier in class Hamlet (1948), and Daydreams by Slater in the lead role. Rather than hesitate like Shakespeare’s version of the character, Slater shamelessly kills Claudius and anyone who gets in his way. “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, and Hamlet is taking out the trash,” the narrator says. A Schwarzenegger feature film like Hamlet certainly deserves to be made.[9]
1 Angels with Filthy Souls from Home Alone (1990)
If you grew up thinking that the black and white gangster movie in Home alone was real, then let me reassure you that you were not alone; even Macaulay Culkin thought it was a real movie! This film – featuring the iconic line ‘Keep the change, ya filthy animal’ – plays a crucial role in helping Kevin fight the Wet Bandits (and also makes a brief appearance in the 2019 film Detective Pikachu).
The film-within-a-film was shot in one day, just before principal photography began. At the time of shooting, the film was untitled, with art director Dan Webster explaining, “I believe the title was only chosen because we needed to create a label for the tape that Kevin puts in the VHS player.” The name they chose, Angels with Filthy Souls, is a nod to the crime noir film Angels with dirty faces (1938).
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) then necessitated a sequel to Angels with Filthy Souls, this time titled Angels with even dirtier souls– again with Ralph Foody as the murderous Johnny. Foody was originally cast to play Snakes in the first film, but he switched roles with Michael Guido because his recent knee replacement surgery meant he wouldn’t be able to fall if the character was shot.[10]