Scary Movie 3 film review

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SCARY MOVIE 3

For anyone familiar with the Scary Movie films, it will already be clear that the only frightening thing about them is how crude and distasteful they are prepared to be in the name of humour. Essentially nothing is off limits. In its defence, Scary Movie 3 is at least an equal opportunity insulter. This time round, alongside racial and handicapped jokes, Mother Teresa and Catholic priests get mined for their comic value, while there's also a timely bit on Michael Jackson and his renowned affiliations with young boys. With such a vast target to aim at, it's inevitable that some of the jokes hit, but overall too many whistle by and the bullseye is never really under threat.

After writing, directing and starring in the first two films, Shawn and Marlon Wayans have handed over the reins to David Zucker who, along with his brother Jerry, pioneered the whole spoof genre in 1980 with Airplane!. Among the films Scary Movie 3 ridicules are The Ring, Signs and 8 Mile, although everything from The Matrix to Pop Idol gets plundered.

To suggest there is anything resembling a plot would be misleading and giving the gaggle of writers far more credit than is warranted. What there is is a collection of loosely connected sketches, most of which are blatant parodies of scenes from the original films. Linking them together is Scary Movie stalwart Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) who is investigating mysterious crop circles and a dangerous video tape. In her quest she encounters the dishy but dopey George (Simon Rex) who plans to abandon his agricultural roots to become a rapper.

The film's coarse tone is set from the beginning scene as Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy frolic around offering plenty of gratuitous cleavage, presumably in a ploy to get the audience's attention. That neither reappears again (McCarthy at least had the excuse of her character being bumped off), is also indicative of a film peppered with cameos. Among those who turn up briefly to make the most of their moment and the material are Queen Latifah, Camryn Manheim, Eddie Griffin and George Carlin. Proving their mastery of the style are Zucker veteran Leslie Nielsen as the bumbling President and Hot Shots star Charlie Sheen.