D V D C R Y P T

SCARY MOVIE 3

Directed by David Zucker
Produced by Robert K. Weiss
Written by Craig Mazin & Pat Proft
Director of Photograpy Mark Irwin
Music by James L. Venable
Cast: Anna Faris, Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Leslie Nielsen & Anthony Anderson

2003/84 mins/Color/5.1 Dolby Digital
1.85:1/English/USA/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Dimension Home Video DVD

It's not unusual for a sequel to retain the cast from the original film, but it's a rarity when the filmmakers return for a different movie. This is usually due to the fact that the creative team has moved on, and thus this can hurt the quality of a sequel. The SCARY MOVIE franchise bucks this trend. SCARY MOVIE, and its sequel, SCARY MOVIE 2, were both made the same crew, and were OK movies. However, SCARY MOVIE 3 has a totally new team behind-the-cameras (and a mostly new cast) and the result is the best movie in the series (thus far) and a great horror film spoof.

SCARY MOVIE 3 targets THE RING, SIGNS, and 8 MILE to satirize. Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) (one of only two returning characters from the first two films) who is now a TV reporter, is investigating a story about a video tape which kills those who see it. Meanwhile, on a farm near Washington, D.C., Tom (Charlie Sheen) and George Logan (Simon Rex) have found crop-circles in their corn-field. Cindy has adopted her nephew Cody (Drew Mikuska) (who is psychic), and is delighted to see that his teacher is her old friend Brenda (Regina Hall). It's at Cody's school that she meets George, and learns that his life-long dream is to be a rapper. As Cindy begins to learn more about the killer video tape, the alien invasion begins, and even the President (Leslie Nielsen) has to turn to Cindy for help.

I heard an interview with SCARY MOVIE 3 director and he said that viewers needn't have seen the movies that are being spoofed to enjoy SCARY MOVIE 3. Well, that's just marketing talk, because if you haven't seen THE RING or SIGNS, most of this jokes in this movie will fly right past you. That also goes for THE SIXTH SENSE and THE MATRIX RELOADED, which are also lampooned. (As for 8 MILE, I actually haven't seen that film, but I know that it's about a rapper, so I think I had that one covered.) The movie does a fantastic job of spoofing those movies and having seen them will certainly enhance the SCARY MOVIE 3 experience.

I'll admit, I didn't hate SCARY MOVIE and SCARY MOVIE 2, and I feel that each movie certainly has its funny moments. However, both of those movies often swerved away from being spoofs and tried way to hard to get laughs. But, with AIRPLANE! and NAKED GUN veteran David Zucker directing, along with long-time writer Pat Proft, along with Craig Mazin, SCARY MOVIE 3 goes for the spoof gusto. This film lifts entire scenes out of the movies it's satirizing and skewers them perfectly. As with any of Zucker's films, the jokes come at you left-and-right. Some of them are big-and-broad (such as the car-wreck scene from SIGNS) and some are quick and subtle (like the sheriff's hat), but most of them hit the mark. Yes, this is stupid, sophomoric humor, but SCARY MOVIE 3 does a great job of taken elements from several deadly serious movies and turning them on their ear. The PG-13 rated SCARY MOVIE 3 tones down the raunchy humor from the first two SCARY MOVIE films, and goes for more "innocent" laughs. While horror movies rarely get the credit they deserve, SCARY MOVIE 3 pays them the ultimate complement by giving them a terrific roasting. SCARY MOVIE 3 is a funny movie and will change the way that you look at the movies being spoofed.

SCARY MOVIE 3 laughs its way onto DVD courtesy of Dimension Home Video. The film is coming to DVD in two separate releases, one full-frame and the other widescreen. For the purposes of this review, only the widescreen version was viewed. The transfer is good, as the image shows only a trace amount of grain and no overt defects from the source material. The colors are very good, and the blacks are true. There are some mild elements of artifacting (with slight haloes) and edge enhancement. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which delivers clear dialogue and music with no hissing or distortion. The stereo and surround sound effects are discrete, but effective when used. The subwoofer comes to life when the rap music is present and during the finale. Overall, a fine transfer.

The SCARY MOVIE 3 DVD offers several extra features. We start with an audio commentary with director David Zucker, producer Robert K. Weiss, and writers Craig Mazin & Pat Proft. This is a fun commentary, as this quartet revel in the idiocy of the film and analyze each joke. Unfortunately, they don't say much about the film's production, such as locations. They do mention a lot of deleted scenes, and promise that they will be on the "second disc". Well, there is no second disc, but we do get 10 deleted scenes, which comprise 27 minutes. Unfortunately, many of the scenes mentioned in the commentary aren't included on the DVD. The deleted scenes can be viewed with or without commentary from Zucker, Weiss, Mazin, & Proft. The highlight here, and of all of the extras, is the alternate ending, which is 15 minutes long. This group of scenes is VERY different from the finished film and spoofs a totally new group of movies. This alternate ending makes the disc a winner. We next have "Making SCARY MOVIE 3" (23 minutes), which offers comments from the cast & crew. Zucker & Weiss discuss how the movie was made over a series of months as more movies were viewed to spoof. This featurette has shots which aren't in the movie. "Making SCARY MOVIE 3...For Real" (5 minutes) is a spoof featurette in which the cast & crew make fun of the movie and one another. There is a 4-mintue "Outtakes and Bloopers" reel which offers some laughs. Finally, we have "Hulk vs. Aliens - Behind the Scenes of the Alternate Ending" (4 minutes), which examines the special effects of this lost scene.

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