Scary Movie 3 (2003) User Reviews

I liked it

[rbverhoef · 6/10 · 8 May 2005]

I can be short about 'Scary Movie 3'. If you liked the first two films, especially the first, there is a good chance you will like this one. It is directed by David Zucker, one of the three directors of the great 'Airplane!', the film that sort of invented the genre, and it shows. Here it spoofs films such as 'The Ring', 'Signs' and 'The Matrix' and from time to time I thought it was really funny.

But when I think something is funny doesn't mean anything with a film like this. 'Scary Movie 3' is a matter of taste. If you like 'The Naked Gun', 'Hot Shots' and 'Scary Movie' you like this one, if you hate them, you hate this one. The humor is silly and stupid, but in the right mood most people must be able to laugh. I know I did.

Scary Movie 3: 7/10

[movieguy1021 · 7/10 · 24 October 2003]

A funny thing happened on the way to the movie theater tonight. The third installment of the Scary Movie series is not only PG-13, but is directed by comedy legend/genius David Zucker. Although he took over a series from the Wayans Brothers, Zucker turned it around into something almost completely new. It isn't quite in the same vein as his one true classic, Airplane!, but it shows how he should stay away from movies like My Boss's Daughter and go back into the spoof genre which got him, and his team, off the ground.

The first movie based its main parodies around Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, and the second was mainly revolved around The Haunting. Scary Movie 3 has two central spoofs: The Ring and Signs. The protagonist from the first two, Cindy (Anna Faris), is now an anchorwoman who investigates a mysterious videotape while odd crop circles appear. Many celebrities have cameos in parodies of recent movies.

Instead of extremely crude sexual humor, Zucker knew that you don't need lewdness to make people laugh. One of the reasons why Airplane! was so great is because it was only rated PG; almost all of the humor was situational and not just shock value. Sure, Scary Movie 3 had its share of crude humor, but it wasn't as over-the-top and unnecessary as the other two's were. Instead, what he did was take his parodies and make them seem possible. For example, George Carlin plays The Architect (a parody of The Matrix Reloaded) who spends all of his time alone in a giant room. He gets so lonely, he `bonds' with his chair, what most people would do.

Also, what made Scary Movie 3 funny is how it pointed out the faults of the movies that it is spoofing. Throughout Signs, Mel Gibson doesn't even mention farming once, although he lives out on a farm. Charlie Sheen, who mocks the Gibson character, continuously talks about it for the first few minutes he's on screen. In 8 Mile, one of the things I hated about it was how everyone was speaking with huge words; here, parodies of those characters do exactly this.

Scary Movie 3 did have some gags that didn't work, especially around the middle of the film. It seems that Zucker just wanted to move as quickly as possible and instead of making it even 90 minutes (it's about 75) he just wanted to make a quick, short parody film. Although Carlin's character was okay, Eddie Griffin and Queen Latifah's characters (as characters from The Matrix) weren't utilized as much as they should have been. Also, Leslie Nielsen, who has been in most of the Zucker spoofs, has a small role as the President and plays a typical Nielsen character. I would have liked to have seen more of him, but at least he was able to deliver a classic Airplane! line.

Scary Movie 3 is one of the funniest movies of the year, with its almost continuous laughter. It's probably the best one out of the three in the series.

My rating: 7/10

Rated PG-13 for pervasive crude and sexual humor, language, comic violence and drug references.

The Video that Haunts

[tedg · 4 November 2003]

I like movies. I like to talk about and think about movies. And I believe that nearly all movies are about other movies anyway. So when any movie comes along that is explicitly about movies, I'm in the ticketline. I really liked the first one because it referenced dozens and dozens of movies. The fact that they could be blended relatively seamlessly was part of the joke, but there was also the game of recognizing the source.

The second one was no improvement on the invention of the first. But this installment is a completely different beast. It is as different from the others as any in the 'Alien' is different from the others.

The Wayons are comics in the old-fashioned, standup sense. They make fun of life. When they poke fun at black stereotypes, they are poking fun at how things really are. So they have a big following in that community because their comments often 'ring true.' I really liked their work because it gave me double value for all that money I spend on bad movies.

But the Zuckers are film comedians, a wholly different species. When they poke fun, they are poking fun not at life, but at the movies. Its a completely different sort of humor. The opening, for instance. In previous films, the dumb blond jokes were about dumb people. In this one, the jokes are about characters and are particularly complicated. Pammy pokes fun at herself, especially herself in the famous porn video. And all is in the context of a tape that haunts.

Indeed, 'Ringu' was a movie about movies, and it forms the basis for this. Layered on that is '8 Mile,' a performance about a performance, here parodied by another layer of performance.

Sheen and Nielson are there to poke fun at their prior appearances, and their skits are as deliberately (I think) as flat as the white rapper's. To further the film-about-films idea, we have a parade of outside references: the Michael Jackson bit as a Scoopy Doo character is pretty prime stuff.

This kind of structure means that you have to make the targets deliberate. So instead of ratatat touching on over a hundred films, they focus on 3 or 4, so you know the score.

I laughed a few times. But I laughed more when scanning the web and being reminded of certain skits, like the wake, which is a minor masterpiece of editing. My only regret is that the Weinsteins decided to de-raunch the whole thing. I would have tolerated the few score childish jokes for the few really clever, cutting ones that would have made it through.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

a few random funny moments

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 27 October 2014]

There is a fun spoof of 'The Ring' to start this off. Farmer Tom Logan (Charlie Sheen) and his brother George (Simon Rex) discover a crop circle, saying "Attack Here!" Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) is now a TV anchorwoman who wants to do hard hitting news. Her psychic nephew Cody (Drew Mikuska) has her best friend Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall) as his teacher. George's niece Sue has the same class. Cindy falls for George who is trying to win a rap battle.

Old school David Zucker takes over from the Wayans. It's a lot of movie spoofs. There are some random funny moments. I still like Anna Faris as Cindy. I'm not so sure about Sheen. This was before his meltdown and I still had some trepidation about his comedy back then. The problem is that more jokes don't work rather than work. The few random funny jokes keep this from being a complete failure.

Pretty good, but it could have been better.

[Aaron1375 · 7/10 · 12 January 2004]

I thought this one was rather funny, I liked it a tiny bit more than the first one (didn't see the 2nd), but that is probably because I saw all the movies they made fun of with the exception of "8 Mile". The problem is once again this movie isn't going to be very good if you haven't seen "The Ring" or "Signs" the two main ones they made fun of therefore it is not really a stand alone movie. You can miss "8 Mile" though as anything you saw in the previews of that one would be all you need. These "Scary Movies" and the last few parodies made really require you to see movies before you can enjoy. That just was not the case with movies like "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun", sure there were a few references that might of helped too if you saw the movie, but not a whole lot as it was stand alone funny. This movie mainly makes fun of "The Ring", there are some funny jokes here, but for my money the funniest stuff came at the expense of "Signs". The Ring probably made up 50 percent or more of the jokes with Signs at around 30 percent and "The Matrix Reloaded" and "8 Mile" making the remainder. There is one small joke that is Lord of the Rings related, but it isn't anything really funny. There was supposed to be something in it making fun of the Hulk, but I am pretty sure it was cut because I didn't notice anything. Which leads to another complaint, why the heck did they make the movie so short? This movie had to be an hour and twenty minutes max, you're telling me they couldn't find anything else to spoof? I really hate going to a movie that is under an hour and thirty minutes. Overall though it was an okay movie with some good laughs here and there.

Turn your brain off and have a good time.

[jonsefcik · 5/10 · 2 November 2019]

Objectively, this is a terrible movie, and the sense of humor is really dumb. However, I cannot deny it's really really funny. This movie was a laugh riot when I was a kid, and believe it or not I actually found it even funnier on rewatch as an adult. I laughed really hard, way harder than I should have at a lot of the old jokes I remembered and new ones I never noticed before. It's hard to get a real involuntary laugh out of me, and I involuntarily burst out laughing 10 or 15 times, which is a lot for me. Assigning a numerical score is hard; it's a 3 in terms of objective quality, but an 8 or 9 in terms of entertainment value, so I'll meet somewhere in the middle and give it a 5/10. If you're a fan of stupid humor and just want to turn your brain off and have a good time alone or with friends, this movie'll do the job.

This is more creative than it gets credit for

[kevin_robbins · 7/10 · 11 August 2023]

Scary Movie 3 (2003) is a movie in my DVD collection that my wife and I recently rewatched on MAX. The storyline follows a family that live in a midwestern town that is experiencing crop circles and doesn't know if it's real or a hoax. Meanwhile, a single mom is raising a unique little boy who has unique visions and perspectives. As they both try to get to the root of their problems, they discover working together may help them get to the bottom of both family's issues...

This movie is directed by David Zucker (Ruthless People) and stars Anna Faris (House Bunny), Charlie Sheen (Major League), Regina Hall (Girls Trip), Pamela Anderson (Barb Wire), Jenny McCarthy (Dirty Love), Kevin Hart (Ride Along) and Anthony Anderson (The Departed).

This movie is way better than it gets credit for. This is a tremendous horror parody with a fun mashup of Sixth Sense and Signs (with a few others mixed in like The Ring). The acting is excellent and Charlie Sheen and Anna Faris are tremendous. The horror skits are awesome and the cameos thorough out are impressive. Kevin Hart, Queen Latifah, Eddie Griffin, George Carlin, Leslie Nielsen and Anthony Anderson all deliver strong cameos that are hilarious.

Overall, the focus on M. Night Shyamalan, especially during this era, was brilliant. This is more creative than it gets credit for. I would score this a 7-7.5/10 and strongly recommend it.

No fizzle.

[dfranzen70 · 5/10 · 29 October 2003]

Scary Movies 1 and 2 had more Wayanses than you can shake a really big stick at. Scary 3 forgoes the Wayans factor and instead employs the Airplane! factor, as it's directed by David Zucker, part of the creative team behind Airplane!, Hot Shots!, The Naked Gun!, and other exclamatory titles. (Even Leslie Nielsen, who appeared in Airplane! and has made a career out of similar roles, turns up here as well.)

So with that pedigree at work, it would be understandable if expectations were a little high for this movie. Let's check the scoreboard. Scary Movie 1: a lot of fun, did a very good job spoofing self-serious horror movies. Scary Movie 2: same crew, awful result - totally immemorable. Scary Movie 3, then, should be as good as if not better than the first movie, if only for the fine comedic chops of the director.

SM3 parodies three movies, for the most part: The Ring, 8Mile, and Signs. There's also some Matrix tossed in for good measure - these movies are known for their kitchen-sink approach. From The Ring, you have the whole bit about the tape that kills those who watch it and the bit about the girl down the well; from 8Mile, you have the I-wanna-be-a-white-rapper bit, with Simon Rex perfectly pantomiming Eminem; and from Signs you have that whole aliens-are-coming-see-the-crop-circles bit. There are plenty of pop culture references, including an eerie stand-in for Michael Jackson.

The problem is that the jokes are scattershot, as if someone loaded a BB gun full of humor but removed the casing, thus causing quips and pranks to hit some targets but miss others by a long shot. Movies like this that rely on a fast pace, physical comedy, and a script full of everything the writers can lay their hands on. And because of this reliance, these movies tend to be - exactly like their jokes - hit or miss. For every Hot Shots!, there's a Top Secret!. This is because the law of averages catches up to the screenwriter - not every joke can be funny, and the more jokes are tossed around, the higher the risk that they won't be funny. This doesn't mean it's impossible to have a rapid-fire funny movie - see the aforementioned Airplane! and, for you older-film buffs, movies like His Girl Friday that lived off the rapid-fire humor.

The basic plot has bright-eyed TV reporter Cindy (Anna Faris) breaking a story about mysterious crop circles on a farm outside Washington. The owner of the farm, Tom (Charlie Sheen), is a former minister whose wife died in a tragic accident. Meanwhile, people die a week after watching a particular weird videotape. Somehow, it all ties in together.

Sheen seems to be making a living out of lampooning himself and anyone else, and he turns in his usual good work here. At this point in his career, you know what you're going to get from Charlie Sheen. Faris is appealing as the intrepid reporter, exuding both charm and cuteness in equal amounts - but not so much that you'll go into a diabetic shock. Besides Nielsen, among those who show up for small (or even cameo) roles include Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Jeremy Piven, Camryn Manheim, Darrell Hammond, Simon Cowell, Denise Richards, Queen Latifah (one of the few who rose above her material), Eddie Griffin, D.L. Hughley, George Carlin, Ja Rule, and a host of rappers, including Macy Ray, Redman, Method Man, Master P, and Raekwon. With all those recognizable, you wind up with a mishmash; the actors and rappers are overwhelmed by their celebrity (except for Latifah, who is clearly slumming) and are nothing more than distractions, for the most part.

But even without the myriad celebrity cameos, this is just not a winner. It's not as bad as the second Scary Movie, but it pales in comparison with the first - and it's leagues worse than most of the previous Zucker comedies. There are some funny moments (including a hilarious wake!), and some fine physical comedy, but the film mostly falls flat.

Little bit underrated.

[stellarinteractive · 6/10 · 26 April 2018]

I don't say that this movie is something. But it's underrated. It deserves at least 6 out of 10.

I can't discuss about sense of humor of other humans, but this kind of humor works for me. It's simple movie, with many funny and enjoyable scenes but it is not the movie that we can take seriously. 6 stars is appropriate rating for this movie but not less or more, from my aspect.

Actor performances are pretty good, i was little bit astonished by performance of Kevin Hart and late Leslie Nielsen. They did a very good job and that is their part of the work.

What can i say anymore, simple movie, for fun, nothing serious.

Spoof movie with a myriad of embarrassing and unimaginative gags.

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 19 May 2006]

This third chapter deals with Cindy (Anna Faris) who must protect a kid and she befriends his brother, a white rapper (Simon Rex)and the father (Charlie Sheen). Besides, she investigates strange crop circles as well as eerie videotapes and shunning Alien invaders with the intervention of the stupidest President (Leslie Nielsen). Reload for a third shot !. You'll die to see these rings !. This time it's personal, you're Warned !. Catch her if you can......Invading heavenly bodies soon !. Great trilogies come in threes !.

Cindy is back ,this time to save America from a plot Alien invasion for world domination. She thwarts the plans and saves the kid from a ghostly creature. Stars Anna Faris as Cindy and Regina Hall as Brenda who are the only people to show up in the first four Scary Movie films. From the start to finish the humor and the laughters are innumerable. Lots of gags and sketches, some of them funny but movie lacks the freshness of the first and second installment. This is a hilarious parody, surrealist, extreme spoof and gross out though less than its predecessors but is also intelligent and bold at times. It is really just an excuse for filmmaker David Zucker to parody a whole new batch of films and to do a lot of sex jokes and ugly scenes. As always the cinematic references are numerous and provide silly laughs, the amusement is guessing which films are parodied; they result to be the following : ¨Signs¨and ¨The ring¨ specially, but also ¨8 miles¨, ¨The others¨ including an ironic gag about Michael Jackson, and with a President (a deadpan Nielsen) parodying¨Air Force One¨. The picture contains loads of fun here and there and a passel of cameo appearances, such as: Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Queen Latifah, Eddie Griffin and rappers, as JA Rule, Master P, Method man.

David Zucker, is the main creator of the cinematic subgenre of 'Spoof Movie' : parodies in which grotesque references to various successful films are mixed. David is back behind the camera of the 'Scary Movie' saga, as he already did in the first installment. The movie was mediocrely directed by David Zucker, he along with his brother Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams are famous American satirists (ZAZ), they are directors and writers with successful works and long time collaborators, making their own comedy troupe (The Kentucky Fried). If you are looking for well-done spoofery, sees ¨Airplane¨ and ¨I'm gonna git you sucka¨ and leave this one to the discount previously viewed bin. Rating: 4.5/10. The motion picture will appeal to lunatic humor and absurd comedy enthusiasts.

Scary Movie 3!

[BrandtSponseller · 9/10 · 11 April 2005]

Scary Movie 3 is largely a spoof of five films, The Ring (2002), Signs (2002), 8 Mile (2002) and to a lesser extent, The Matrix (1999) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003). It begins with a spoof of the first scene from The Ring, then cuts to Tom's (Charlie Sheen) discovery of the crop circles on his farm ala Signs. As a bridge between the stories, Cindy Campbell (Anna Farris) is a television news reporter who is doing a story on the crop circles, and who is the guardian of a young psychic boy, Cody (Drew Mikuska), similar to Aidan of The Ring. The two stories turn out to be intimately connected. Tom's brother, George (Simon Rex) is a white rapper, ala Eminem in 8 Mile, and he strikes up a romance with Campbell. Meanwhile, President Harris (Leslie Nielsen) also becomes involved as the security of the country is threatened.

I used to make it a point to not read any other reviews before I wrote my own, but recently, I've become curious when I watch a film I really enjoy, like Scary Movie 3, that many other people seemed to dislike. I find it informative to read the negative reviews to try to figure out why people dislike the film.

The negative reviews for Scary Movie 3 weren't very helpful. The most popular complaints seem to be that the trailer ruined the film by "giving away the good parts" and that the film has fun at the expense of some people's sacred cows. Additionally, many people made a comment to the effect that you'd only enjoy the film if you're, say, 13 or under.

I never watch trailers before I see a film any longer. I have also had trailers ruin many films for me in the past, so I just stopped watching them; I recommend that you do the same. If you don't know already, think about commonalities in the films you tend to like. Get an idea for the genres, directors, actors and so on that you usually enjoy. That's the only guide you really need to determine if you should see a film. It's not a guarantee, but what is? I actually look away when trailers appear on screen before the feature when I'm watching a film in the theater, and I try to mentally block out the sound. It's pretty easy to do, as trailers tend to be heavier on sound effects than dialogue. If trailers appear on television, I quickly change the channel. At any rate, it doesn't make the film you're considering any worse just because you watched a trailer first. Scary Movie 3 isn't bad because the trailer ruined it for you.

Next, it's not a good idea to watch these kinds of comedies (we might call them "absurdist comedies", or "outrageous comedies") if you have any sacred cows--that is, anything that you feel one should not joke about, or that one could go too far in joking about. I don't see it as the film's fault if you haven't analyzed yourself and/or if you do not research the kinds of films you're considering viewing so that you don't expose yourself to something that you're going to consider offensive. If you're sensitive about certain things then you need to learn how to avoid them. If you're allergic to nuts or shellfish, you're going to be careful to not eat anything containing nuts or shellfish, right? It's not the chef's fault.

Finally, I'm definitely older than 13--I'm in my late 30s, and I loved Scary Movie 3. I came very close to giving it a 10 out of 10--it was at that score until the climax, which I felt unfortunately lost a bit of the comic momentum that preceded it, and which arrived a bit too soon for my tastes (I prefer longer films).

It helps to be familiar with the films being spoofed. Believe it or not a lot of the jokes are fairly subtle jabs at elements of the source material--for example, the pillow fight of the opening scene, which has connections to the almost lesbian subtext of the same scene in the original Japanese version of The Ring, Ringu (1998); or the character and camera "spins" when Tom first exits his farmhouse, which pokes fun at the stylistic cinematography of Signs. There are also many quicker references to other films. These will have far less payoff if you're not familiar with the source material. For example, during the climax of Scary Movie 3, there's not only a reference to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), but also the climax of Motel Hell (1980), which features an infamous chainsaw "duel".

There is a stylistic difference between the first two Scary Movies and this one, which is undoubtedly correlated to the change in directors. Rather than the Wayans Brothers, David Zucker directs here. Zucker is the exclamatory wiz who also helmed Airplane! (1980), Top Secret! (1984), and The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988). Scary Movie 3 is much more in the vein of Zucker's previous work than the other Scary Movies. I can't imagine why someone would like the one style and not the other, but if so, that might help you decide which Scary Movies to see, if any.

Finally, there were also some complaints over the plot of this film, especially the combination of such seemingly disparate plots from the source material. It's important to remember that this is absurdist comedy, with an emphasis on absurd. The crazy segues from one plot to the other, with them meeting in the middle thanks to Cindy, President Harris and a number of other crazy devices, was beautifully ridiculous. I want ridiculous when I watch a film like this. That's largely what attracts me to the genre. If you're at all a fan of absurdism, you should find much to enjoy here.

In ten years time, the only Scary Movie I will gladly watch again will be this one.

[Torgo_Approves · 7/10 · 30 July 2007]

As far as these not-so-groundbreaking comedies go, the third part is easily the one most shock-full of funny stupidity and the one that stands up to repeated viewings. It is the most quotable of the four and the one with the best story and characters, like that's saying much. But the bottom line is that the film is hilarious. It never lags behind and it always has another dumb joke, sight gag, reference or annoying kid being hit by a car up its sleeve. Unlike the first movie, where only the few scattered moments of cleverness were really funny, or the second which was stupid and lamely written like the writers' crystal meth intake depended on it, "3" has an abundance of dumb jokes - and almost all of them work! This can all be attributed to David Zucker, who does anything but live up to his name and shows really great comic timing. Without this, the entire script would be excruciating, but Zucker's clever direction (how many noticed Cindy jumping at the loud noise from a boat - coming from a different scene?) and the cast's talent make the film much funnier than it has any right to be. Call it a guilty pleasure or comedy gold, either way, unless you're one of those people who watches Richard Gere movies on purpose, this movie will leave you breathless with laughter.

The movie has enough celebrity cameos to fill your average episode of "The Simpsons", a cast ranging from photogenic eye candy in the form of Pamela Anderson and Jenna McCarthy to in-need-of-a-hit actors like Leslie Nielsen, Charlie Sheen and Anna Faris, and even a little rap music to boot (and to please the 11-year old, 50 Cent-loving, white suburban kids). The film is not ugly to look at, and the various different visual styles and moods of the movies spoofed are well re-created, like the gritty, washed-out photography of the "8 Mile" sequences or the oh-so-ominous music in the "Ring" segments. The cast works well together; few people can keep a straight face muttering ridiculous dialogue like Charlie Sheen and who can play a dumb blond better than Anna Faris? Vertically challenged, leg-humping Kevin Hart steals the show, although "the dogs are acting strange" is classic.

Of course this kind of comedy is anything but timeless, since most of the movies spoofed will be forgotten as time goes by, but we teenagers who were born in the late eighties to early nineties will forever hold this quadrilogy of stupidity dear to our hearts.

Definitely more entertaining than its victims - the ridiculously pretentious "Ring" (2002), the lackluster mess "Matrix Reloaded" (2003), or even "8 Mile" (2002) (which I actually liked) - "Scary Movie 3" is one of my favourite comedies and, in my humble opinion, one of the funniest spoofs ever made. Laugh all you want. I am.

A Disappointing Sequel but Still Mildly Enjoyable

[christian123 · 5/10 · 11 July 2005]

Scary Movie 3 isn't as funny as its predecessors but its still has its funny moments. It all begins when roving reporter Cindy Campbell sets out to find a hard news story in the middle of television sweeps. She soon uncovers an outrageous onslaught of globe-threatening developments including alien invaders, killer videotapes, freaky crop circles and much more. Faced with conspiracies of massive proportions, and a crew of very strange people following her around, Cindy must fight to stop evil from taking over the world yet again. The plot is a non-issue here as the first two were pretty much plot less. This time around they focus on Signs, The Ring, Matrix Reloaded and 8 mile as well as many others just not as much as the previously mentioned ones. The first one was {imo} one of the funniest films I have ever seen. The second one wasn't as good but still quite funny. The third one is mildly enjoyable but its nothing special. Let's just say that I didn't mind seeing it once but I probably wouldn't want to see it again. The jokes are either hit or miss and the ones that are funny usually involve Charlie Sheen. The lame ones usually involve Anthony Anderson as he is very overrated. Why he keeps getting cast is unclear because he isn't funny. Anna Faris gives a funny performance and she's also kind of underrated. Simon Rex shows some potential as he actually wasn't so bad. Regina Hall also returns as Brenda and she gives a pretty funny performance. The rest of the cast were pretty much a bunch of cameos. Jenny McCarthy and Pamela Anderson probably had the funniest scene out of all the cameos. Their in the opening sequence spoofing The Ring and that scene turns out to be on of the more enjoyable ones in the film. Denise Richards, Queen Latifah, Camryn Manheim and many others also have cameos. David Zucker directs and while this isn't another Airplane, it's also not another My Boss's Daughter either. Its pointless to really analyze a straight comedy as the main thing that people want to know if its funny or not. Like I said before if you do like it, you probably won't really like it that much. In the end, I found it a bit disappointing as the PG-13 rating kind of weaken it but it can still be enjoyed. Rating 6.3/10

The best in the trilogy!

[jellyneckr · 22 May 2004]

I wasn't very thrilled to hear that a third SCARY MOVIE was being made, but I decided to check it out anyway since David Zucker was the director and just like with all David Zucker's previous movies, this one was hilarious! With one of the best cast of all time, SCARY MOVIE 3 has a lot going for it. First off, it spoofs not just horror movies, but crap flicks like 8 MILE as well. Second, it actually has a decent plot unlike the first two SCARY MOVIE films, and third, it is extremely well paced. Besides being absolutely hilarious, the cinematography is excellent. The movie looks great for a lowbrow comedy. Can't wait for SCARY MOVIE 4. 8/10

Good first half, then faaaaades awaaaaaay

[TheOtherFool · 4/10 · 4 October 2004]

First of, I love the original title of this film: Scary Movie 3: Episode I - Lord of the Brooms. That had me rolling on the floor. Then came the hilarious trailer and I was thinking: maybe it will be as good as the original Scary Movie, and not so much like the terrible second offering.

And better than part 2 it is. It's fresher, funnier and the movies it makes fun of actually were movies that I saw and had a certain feeling about (whether I liked them or not). It's main goals are Signs (which I loved) and Ringu (which was pretty good as well). But numerous other movies are mentioned (to name a few: 8 Mile, The Sixth Sense).

While it starts out like a blast, the movie loses a lot of it's touch in the second half, coincidentally (?) when Leslie Nielsen makes his appearance. Really mr. Nielsen, move on!

4/10.

Not great, but it was quite fun in a way

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 15 July 2011]

I really liked the first movie, the second while lacking is in my opinion better than its reputation and I disliked the fourth one. The third instalment to the series is neither a great or a bad movie, just somewhere in between as well as being quite a fun movie. The script does have its funny moments but it isn't as fast-paced, witty or as laugh-a-minute as the first two, the story is thin and on the predictable side and the film isn't as efficiently directed and is uneven in pace being rushed one minute and a little too slow the next. The cast though give it their all, Anna Farris gives her best performance of the series, and Charlie Sheen and Leslie Nielson are a lot of fun. There are some genuinely funny spoofs my favourites being The Ring and 8 Mile ones too, the production values are much more than cheap cheap to video fodder and the soundtrack is great. All in all, not great but I liked it. 6/10 Bethany Cox

The same flavor of immature humor.

[leoxatzian · 3/10 · 27 July 2019]

Despite the departure of the Wayans brothers from the franchise and a cast overflowing with comedic talent, "Scary movie 3" still offers the same kind of obvious, disgusting and low brow humor we have come to expect from these movies. Much like it's predecessors, this third instalment has a few solid laughs, but it focuses a lot more on satirizing movies that were popular at the time and making as many immature and unimaginable jokes as possible without trying to take the franchise any further in terms of comedy, making the audience feel like the filmmakers are just testing their patience at this point.

"Scary Movie 3"- David Zucker breathes new life into the troubled but mildly entertaining franchise and delivers one of the better installments.

[TedStixonAKAMaximumMadness · 7/10 · 11 October 2017]

Ah, the "Scary Movie" franchise. A strange but fascinating and mildly entertaining relic when viewed in retrospect. Originally the brainchild of the Wayans brothers comedy team, the first entry in the series debuted back in the year 2000, serving as a wild and raunchy parody of the popular horror feature "Scream." In addition, that first "Scary Movie" also set a new standard in parody, peppering in numerous small tributes, gags and nods to other famed contemporary releases of the genre, going for a counter-intuitive aim at quantity of jokes over quality. And while it was a troubled release, it was a huge hit for the studio, and was quickly followed up with a sequel in 2001, this time broadening the scope and taking aim at even more movies and genres. And by then, the formula stuck, with "Scary Movie 2" being arguably the best of the series.

By the time the third movie rolled out in 2003 however, there were some major shake-ups behind the scenes. Most notably being that series creator Keenan Ivory Wayans and his brothers Shawn and Marlon jumped ship after disputes with the studio, leaving the series without its core creative team. With the future of the series uncertain, eventually a major change-up occurred that would breathe new life into the troubled franchise. That being that comedy mastermind David Zucker, the mind behind "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun", was hired to take control and helm the third installment, along with his frequent writing collaborator Pat Proft and newcomer Craig Mazin.

And it was a move that paid-off. While it still falls prey to the same issues of incredibly forced low-brow gags and contrived situational humor that bogged down the first two entries, Zucker's zany mile-a-minute pacing and penchant for nonstop humor make "Scary Movie 3" one of the better films of the series, with a far better hit-to- miss laugh ratio than pretty much every other entry. The film continued the trend of the original and places its focus on a number of films that were released around the same time, with the bulk of the plot lampooing the M. Night Shyamalan hit "Signs" and the deliciously gritty American remake "The Ring."

Series star Anna Faris returns as Cindy, now working as an investigative journalist while raising her troubled nephew Cody. (Drew Mikuska) When a supposedly haunted video-tape hits close to home for Cindy, she is forced on a journey to try and save the day from the malevolent and vengeful spirit responsible for its creation. Along the way, she also finds herself falling for a wannabe rapper (Simon Rex) and contending with evil aliens who threaten the lives of a simple farmer (Charlie Sheen) and his family.

The biggest treat of the film is the wide cast of comedic talents. It's a lot of fun seeing Faris back in the role that arguably made her a star, and she's as charming and likable as ever. We also get Regina Hall back as Brenda from the previous films in a small guest-spot, and its just great to see her interact with Cindy in their scenes together. Charlie Sheen's a blast and a half, and he really goes all-out for the films wonderfully silly comedic tone. He's very charismatic here and definitely reminded me of his role in the similarly structured and paced "Hot Shots!" flicks from back in the day. We even get some surprising and very funny cameos from the likes of comedy legends Leslie Neilson and George Carlin, and both steal the show despite their limited screen time.

Where the film doesn't quite work is the structure. Don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting an especially compelling script, and it's clear the movie just wants to make the audience laugh. But the movie is pretty shoddily assembled and a lot of the plot-lines and stories seem way too tenuously connected. It just doesn't have that sharp flow that worked so well in the first two entries. I also do think that a few too many jokes feel out of left field and incredibly forced, and the fact that the rating was brought down from a hard-R to a PG-13 did neuter a bit of the comedy. Sure, the anatomical gags and the adult references were starting to feel played out by the end of the second installment... but this movie could have benefited from a few more raunchy jokes and references. It just feels a bit too tame compared to what came before.

On the whole though, the wickedly charming cast and nonstop jokes that director Zucker brings to the table more than make up for these issues. While it's not the best of the series and it's far from being high art, "Scary Movie 3" fundamentally succeeds at what it sets out to do, and it does so with some great gusto. It made me laugh. Quite often in fact. And for that, I give it a pretty good 7 out of 10.

So damn good for it's type

[UniqueParticle · 9/10 · 20 January 2020]

A ridiculous amount of spoofs of other movies which is great! To me this is great fun throughout, so damn funny, well written in a few aspects, and heartwarming mindless entertainment! David Zucker is legendary for the spoof type even though these whacky movies aren't always appreciated. I love how hilarious some parts are quite satisfying.

Much Much Better Than The Last Two Movie

[Mr_Sensitive · 7/10 · 23 February 2005]

This time Scary Movie does not only make fun of the horror movie alone. And also the least perverted of the three, making this the least favorite among the fans.

This time Cindy, a news reporter have to face with the killer videotape (The Ring), Alien Invading and Its Crop Circle (Sighs), A stupid white rapper (8 Miles), and prophecy of The One (The Matrix) also little from Michael Jackson (The Others).

To me, this is the best of the three, with a decent storyline and making fun of. Some of the stuff is damn funny too, and it doesn't have to be semen exploding. Overall it provides much more than the first two with a good and intelligence joke. (Though some of it might be crude).

Reason To Watch: · Anna Faris look her best, · Better casting than the last two, · Better joke than previous two.

Reason Not To: · Not perverted at all, so the fan might not enjoy it. · Not very much a teen movie anymore.

Rating: 7/10 (Grade: C+)

Zucker taking over this time.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 5/10 · 27 October 2009]

This is the first movie out of the franchise that got made without the involvement of the Waynes brothers. This time the movie is being directed by David Zucker, one of the men who basically invented and perfected the spoof genre. He has however lost his touch a bit the last couple of years, even though his movies still always contain more than a couple of hilarious moments, this movie included.

I must say that this was my least favorite out of the series so far. It doesn't has so much to do with the humor itself of the movie but more with the handling of the story and characters this time. I think that the movie made a mistake by not restraining itself by purely spoofing horror movies but also tons of other movies this time. It gives the movie a more of an Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer feeling and quality at times, which just isn't the best. The movie can't really seem to decide if it wants to continue on the same way as the previous two movies did, or to take a whole different direction. It makes the end result a rather mixed one. Yes, the movie is still being funny to watch but movie-wise it just isn't a very well executed one.

The movie introduces mostly some new characters but yet it also decide to feature characters from the previous movies. I feel that the movie would had worked out better if it would had just left out the characters from the first two movies and had just purely focused on the new ones, since they were obviously good and fun enough to carry the movie on their own. Now you more or less have two movies and story-lines, on which one focuses on some of the old characters from the first two movies, while the other is purely about the new ones. They try to connect the different story lines to each other by blending them in with each other but this just never works out very well.

Charlie Sheen is the main new big man of the movie. He plays a large part and shows that he still knows how to do a comedy. Also Leslie Nielsen returns into a David Zucker movie again, as the American president. When he's given the right material Nielsen is of course still quite hilarious, though he's starting to age pretty fast now, as became obvious in this movie.

Still a fun movie to watch but also more a mess than the previous two movies were.

5/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Not Funny Enough But Better Than The First 2 Movies

[Chrysanthepop · 25 June 2008]

Zucker, who's already experienced in making funny parody films such as 'Airplane' and 'Naked Gun', directs the third installment this time. Thankfully the Wayans brothers aren't in it to get on my nerves. 'Scary Movie 3' is a lot more enjoyable than its prequels. This one is not overloaded with vulgarity, sleaziness and toilet humour like the other two. Zucker actually manages to bring some class in this third film and there is quite a convincing plot that smartly combines Verbinski's 'The Ring' and Shyamalam's 'Signs'. My only complaint is that it's not funny enough. There were several sequences that could have been better done. Yet, the cast make it quite enjoyable. Leslie Nielsen is funny as the president but he does go a little too over the top at times. Anne Faris is back as Cindy, this time she adds some Naomi Watts to her character and does a commendable job. Charlie Sheen provides some laugh out loud moments, particularly in the scene with his wife Denise Richards. 'Scary Movie 3' is a much more enjoyable fair than the first two movies. This time I laughed at many of the scenes rather than feel sick (which was the case with 'Scary Movie 1' and 'Scary Movie 2').

Hits your laughing muscles like a paint bucket

[jayjaycee · 5/10 · 28 January 2020]

"Scary Movie 3" is a horror comedy directed by David Zucker starring Anna Farris and Charlie Sheen. Without a doubt, every single cinephile out there has this one specific film that's their all time favourite guilty pleasure. From "Pootie Tang" to "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" to almost any Adam Sandler feature there's at least one fan for every movie in the industry who loves it for how absolutely terrible it is. May it be the link to childhood memories or just the irresistible fascination for stupidity at times that leads us to this certain insanity, in every case they do exist. In my case, it's this absolutely trashy masterpiece (sarcasm!). I think I was around 13 years old when I watched it with my brother for the first time and although it's so bad, it became one of my favourites, to be honest. Even as of today, I'm laughing nonstop about the ridiculousness and inanity of the jokes. I think that's probably what makes it so charming. In an unimaginably silly way it parodies actually decent films I cherish, such as "8 Mile" and "Signs" and combines it with "The Ring" and it couldn't be any more dumb - still I love it. To this day, I'm still cracking up about the scene when he throws the bucket out of the car window and hits the biker or when Sheen wakes up and hits his head at the lamp (twice!). It's just the child in me that's extremely amused by it. It's overstated, at times way too loud and clearly foolish, but it still offers a great aspect: Leslie Freaking Nielsen as Mr. President. The man's pure comedy gold and he definitely delivers the greatest performance of the whole film, hands down. All in all, this movie is undoubtedly terrible and cheesy. The fact that it's my guilty pleasure doesn't change the obvious truth about it. It's so unimaginably bad that I love it and that's the only reason I own it on Blu-ray - otherwise I would have dumped it. But it's films like these that remind us that fun doesn't always have to result from high quality. Some films need to be watched by the child in us, so turn of your brain sometimes and embrace the embarrassment of cinematic disasters!

Better than the second movie but worse than the first

[happytoms · 6/10 · 11 October 2019]

It's the early 2000s parody formula. All you need is to base the story on few recent and successful high budget movies, make fun of everything and everyone in the most ridiculous ways, have action/horror which mostly leads to comedy, sexy girls and everything else you would expect from a parody.

It's a time capsule for anyone who wants to go back to the early days and remember all iconic situations and characters of the movie which aren't that many in this movie compared to the first one.

The story is as cliché as you would expect from a parody movie, and it's kinda enjoyable after all these years. Cliché story, music, effects, and the amazing 2000s vibe works kinda well.

Overall I think quite a lot of people will not enjoy it and quite a portion will. Personally, after watching the original movie this feels like not the greatest parody and not the worst one, it's somewhere in the middle around 6 out of 10. It's better than the second movie but worse than the first one. Would kinda recommend to anyone familiar or not with parodies, but it wouldn't be my first choice at all.