For Spooky Month at RFMC, we’re looking back at the “Scary Movie” franchise that started by making fun of “Scream” and – despite its promise of “No Sequel” — just kept going. Next up is “Scary Movie 3” (2003):
Horror movies parodied
The plot melds “The Ring” and “Signs,” but this third entry doesn’t adhere directly to a movie plot like the first two. Taking over for the Wayans Brothers, director David Zucker and co-writer Pat Proft bring their “Naked Gun” and “Hot Shots!” sensibility, where random silliness is the order of the day.
For example, note how sheriff Camryn Manheim’s hat brim gets increasingly bigger during her chat with Charlie Sheen as they parody the scene from “Signs.” It’s random and has no meaning in terms of commentary, but I can’t help but laugh.
Because of its universal timeless humor, “Scary Movie 3” has aged better than the second installment, which relies on crassness, stoner humor and callbacks. That said, fans of “The Ring” and “Signs” will most appreciate “Scary Movie 3,” which continues in this franchise’s tradition of taking actual scenes and exaggerating them until they cross from scary to funny.
Other movies parodied
Simon Rex’s arc comes from “8 Mile,” marking the franchise’s most robust riff on a non-horror film. George Carlin pops in for one scene as The Architect from “The Matrix Reloaded,” parodying the gibberish.
Best actor
Anna Faris had become a star by this point, having appeared in “The Hot Chick” and “Lost in Translation,” but she doesn’t phone it in as Cindy Campbell moves into Naomi Watts’ sleuthing TV reporter role from “The Ring.” Faris’ comedic timing remains impeccable as she gives cohesion to a screenplay that could otherwise come off as uneven.
Best legend
Leslie Nielsen has also still got it, as he plays a clueless president who could be a parody of whatever specific one you want. President Harris calls to mind Lloyd Bridges’ turn in the “Hot Shots!” films (“Get me the president!” “You are the president.”).
At other times, Nielsen goes into Frank Drebin mode, like when Harris mistakes a crowd of disabled people for body-snatched aliens and starts a panic.
Oh yeah, that guy
Simon Rex never quite found the big time after jumping from his MTV DJ gig, but he’s perfectly serviceable here as he goes through the Eminem arc from “8 Mile.”
Funniest sequence
Regina Hall, the only actor other than Faris to return, features in the funniest sequence – sort of. In a skit where the laughs increasingly pile up, Brenda’s corpse gets mistreated at a wake, all starting with Rex thinking Anthony Anderson said “She’s awake.” It calls to mind Nielsen’s antics at the queen’s reception in “The Naked Gun.”
Hall herself does star in another funny sequence, though. Brenda does an increasing series of fake-out scares on her friend Cindy, but crying wolf means she gets no help when the soggy, pasty corpse crawls through the TV set.
Meta humor
The writers bring back Nielsen’s classic “Airplane!” line “I just wanted to tell you both good luck, we’re all counting on you” at a perfect time, as the president opens the basement door and knocks out the ghost corpse.
Time-capsule humor
At Cindy’s TV station, her boss caps a conversation with “And twins!” The office bursts into a Coors Light commercial from the era.
Best one-liner
The Architect (a deadpan Carlin): “My wife and I wanted a child, but she couldn’t get pregnant. Neither could I.”
“Scary Movie 3” (2003)
Director: David Zucker
Writers: Craig Mazin, Pat Proft
Stars: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Simon Rex
Photo credits: Dimension Films