The easiest way to sum it up is thusly: The third installment of this popular horror spoof franchise isn’t as funny as the original, but it’s a major step up from the lowly first sequel. The storylines of two recent blockbusters — “The Ring” and “Signs” — merge to give “Scary Movie 3” a hook upon which to hang several laugh-out-loud gags, along with a fair share of duds. There are even a few pot-shots taken at such non-horror fare as “The Matrix: Reloaded,” “8 Mile” and “American Idol.” (On second thought, maybe “Idol” does qualify as horror.) The list of stars who make cameos is a multifarious one that produces mixed results. Pam Anderson and Jenny McCarthy get the picture off to rollicking start as a pair of well-endowed, dim-witted Catholic school girls in trouble. Denise Richards makes the most of a very brief appearance playing opposite her husband, Charlie Sheen, who stars as a farmer styled after Mel Gibson’s character in “Signs.” Simon Cowell, the acerbic “Idol” host, provides one of the film’s high points when he finally gets what’s coming to him at a rap competition. Less effective are Eddie Griffin and Queen Latifah in underwritten roles as the Matrix characters Morpheus and the Oracle. And superannuated spoof-staple Leslie Nielsen, as the feeble-minded president who’s convinced aliens are among us, needs to have his membership card to the lampoon genre revoked once and for all. Oh, and let’s not forget the ubiquitous Coors Light Twins, whose 15 Minutes of Fame is beginning to feel like our long dark night of the soul.
The team that brought us the first two films is MIA. “Scary Movie 3” was directed by the estimable David Zucker, who along with his brother Jerry and pal Jim Abrahams, set the bar for spoof flicks with classics such as “The Kentucky Fried Movie,” “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun.” So expect plenty of dopey physical humor — characters hitting their heads on boom microphones and the like — as well as countless gross-out gags, borderline offensive ethnic jokes and some clever wordplay. What you shouldn’t expect is the second coming of “Airplane!” because if you were expecting that, well, Shirley you can’t be serious! (Rated PG-13 for pervasive crude and sexual humor, language, comic violence and drug references. Running time: 90 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 24, 2003. Read the original PDF.