The comedy spoof has fallen out of favor in the past 15 years or so, thanks to the declining quality of the "Scary Movie" films, their equally bad spin-offs, and because of the rise of DIY parodies and satires that are freely available on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Anyone can make their own instant spoof of anything, and you can find some quality stuff online that rivals whatever we got with "Date Movie" and "Epic Movie."

But still, there are super funny hidden gems out there, and if you didn't see them when they came out, well, now is the perfect time for some belly laughs. The following films are clever send-ups of spy thrillers, musical biopics, meet-cute romcoms, kung fu films and historical war epics.

'Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar' (2021)

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, the accomplished, Academy Award-nominated writers and comedians, wrote "Bridesmaids" for crying out loud, so what exactly in the hell is the fever dream known as "Barb and Star" doing on their filmography? Well, as it turns out, this is an inane and totally bonkers vacation comedy that's filled with as many left turns in its humor as celebrity cameos (which is to say, a lot). It starts off slow, but once it gets to the titular Vista Del Mar, things take off and you'll like where the movie decides to take you.

'Kung Pow! Enter the Fist' (2002)

Making fun of the slow-mo bullet dodge in "The Matrix" was all the rage back in the early 2000s, but once you get past that cliché, "Kung Pow!" is idiosyncratic in every sense. It takes clips from a 1976 Hong Kong martial arts movie called "Tiger & Crane Fists," but dubs them with new dialogue and audio, also adding in new footage to make a parody of dubbed kung fu films. There's a real cult following for this one, because of its incredibly wacky lines and memorable moments. You have to see this to believe it was ever approved by a studio and released into theaters.

'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' (2007)

Another cult classic, "Walk Hard" satirizes the musical biopics "Walk the Line" and "Ray" (as well as many others) that released a few years prior, which all show what happens when a man transcends into a music icon. This is a Judd Apatow production through and through, so you're going to see a lot of familiar faces pop up in it (Kristen Wiig, Tim Meadows, Chris Parnell, Jonah Hill, Harold Ramis, Martin Starr, Jane Lynch, Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Jack McBrayer, to name a few). John C. Reilly doesn't always get to star in a movie, but when he does, it's worth watching and celebrating.

'Top Secret!' (1984)

The directorial trio of Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker made "Airplane!" and "Police Squad." You will never find a funnier movie or TV show, so how did they follow up such revered comedies? They got Val Kilmer to star in a World War II spoof where he sings parody rock songs while being a secret spy. It's not as well known as "Airplane!," but it's still a funny movie that's worth seeing — especially for the Beach Boys covers and "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard.

'Spy' (2015)

This modern spy thriller spoof, from comedy duo Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy, sees an ordinary desk employee at the CIA thrown into spy work out in the field — and is among the best films that Paul Feig has ever been involved with. The best part of the movie? When Jason Statham describes all of the things he's had to do in his life as a spy. It's comedy gold.

[Image: YouTube]