Dir.
David Zucker, 2003, USA, Comedy/Horror, 90 mins
Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Charlie Sheen, Anna Faris, Queen Latifah, Pamela Anderson, Simon Rex
With their everlasting formula satirising Hollywood 's latest chillers and thrillers, the Scary Movie franchise seems destined to be with us for all eternity. Now in its third outing, the crazy gang's latest escapade is a very funny, if not absurd, laugh-on-cue caper that won't disappoint its loyal fans already used to the strict diet of fart jokes and cleavage close-ups.
This time directed by veteran satirist David Zucker (responsible for such seminal satire as Airplane! and the Naked Gun series), Scary Movie 3 admirably manages to concoct a neatly woven story combining, amongst others, The Matrix Reloaded, Signs, 8 Mile and The Ring.
TV reporter Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris - Scary Movie 1 and 2, Lost in Translation) uncovers a strange plot to invade the earth using a mysterious video tape that kills the watcher a week later. Helping Cindy to fight the aliens are country folk Tom (Charlie Sheen) and George (newcomer Simon Rex) who discover an interesting crop circle. Meanwhile George is trying to make it big in the world of underground rap, as the great white no-hoper. The tapestry is completed by Leslie Nielsen who plays a bungling US President in a nice touch take-off of The West Wing (where his role is played by Martin Sheen, Charlie's dad).
However, with Zucker at the helm the ghosts of Airplane! and Naked Gun are bold apparitions. For example, watching school girl Kate (Jenny McCarthy - Scream 3) lying on the bed as her leg bends back impossibly far to scratch her ear or Leslie Nielsen strangling an old lady, it is easy to get confused as to which franchise you're watching.
As with Airplane! and Naked Gun the humour is easy and quick, from the basic farting chair to George's freestyle rap lines extolling the virtues of Martha Stewart. The literally laugh-a-minute gags can get exhausting and are stomach churning at times, but the film makes no apology for this and part of its freshness is it happily ridicules those that take themselves too seriously and tackles the no-go areas that normally hide behind taboo. If playing for laughs comes too easy for Scary Movie 3 by ripping off what many would consider are fine, well made films, it should be given credit for making running over children and defiling dead bodies funny.
High among the list of plus points for Scary Movie 3 is its attention to detail. The recreation of The Ring's black and white video sequences are spot on and the take on 8 Mile's rap battle includes a set and extras that make it hard to distinguish from the real thing. The films that come under the Scary Movie knife are instantly recognisable and it therefore rises above clumsy signposting in the script and plot.
Adding to the well-played out mimicry are an array of cameos including Pamela Anderson who successfully sends up both The Ring and herself, an inspired comeuppance doled out to Pop Idol's Simon Cowell and a sinister Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) creeping through the White House. In fact it is a shame Pammy is about 20 years too late for what would have been a promising career as a very convincing busty high school babysitter in an eighties slasher.
Whilst Scary Movie 3 is careful in the material it chooses and third time around has gone for a less horror dominated menu (previous victims have been teen horror flicks like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer), it must be said that no one does mockery better than the genre itself. Horror films are already very good at laughing at themselves, and can be genuinely very scary whilst containing some clever self-parodies. Wes Craven is master of this with his Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream series, making subtle references both to the genre as well as to previous episodes. This is a popular trick for hardened fans and film buffs who can pick up on these references first and sometimes exclusively. So whilst the Scary Movie franchise admirably shoulders the burden of Hollywood horror satire, we should note that its hapless victims got there first.
Ultimately Scary Movie 3 is a hugely enjoyable send up of a litany of films sometimes so quickly parodied you can't even remember why you're laughing, and even if you didn't see any films last year it creates the perfect backdrop for some great ticklers about bodily emissions.
Rebecca Kemp
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