"Scary Movie 3" Spoofs Horror Favorites

by Jennifer Puk

This year, movie theaters have been filled with such horror films as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "House of the Dead" leading to a sort of horror overload. The cure for this (and a few sleepless nights) might just be another parody of the genre.

Once again the hit comedy-thriller, "Scary Movie," makes it onto the big screen with its third edition. The characters are now out of college, and all grown up. The character Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) returns as a news anchor, who finds herself investigating the mysterious crop circles on a local farm and suspicion of aliens. Throughout the movie, there are guest appearances by such stars as Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Eddie Griffin, and Queen Latifah. Charlie Sheen spoofs Mel Gibson's role in "Signs," and Lesley Neilson stars as the president.

The trilogy began in 2000, with the Wayan brothers mocking "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" in their first film. In this film, the writers have chosen to parody "The Ring," "Signs", and "The Others." They transform the scenes that made you curl up in your seat, squeeze your boyfriend's arm, and sleep with the lights on, into knock out funny scenes, making you wonder why you were scared in the first place. This time, the parody extends to other popular movies, such as "8 Mile" and "The Matrix."

However, in "Scary Movie 3," the direction and writing power has shifted from the Wayan brothers to David Zucker. Zucker is noted for writing and directing such hit comedy films as "Airplane" (1980), "Naked Gun" (1988 and 1991), and "BASEketball" (1998). Without the Wayan brothers' directing, this movie's jokes are less harsh. Its rating is PG-13, while the first two are rated R. Nevertheless, it carries on its memorable ridicules with the same momentum and precision that exists in the other "Scary Movies." In fact, it may be even funnier than the others, since its jokes and surprising one-liners are slipped in at every corner. As this movie has a more a more cohesive plot than the previous two, I couldn't help but be drawn into the comic scarefest and laugh right out loud at every scene.