Scary Movie 3

The Scary Movie horror spoofs must be some kind of mutant movie franchise--they actually keep getting better. And unlike the hilarious but indefensibly scattershot second flick, Scary Movie 3 even has a coherent combo-platter plot. A campy amalgam of The Ring's cursed killer-videotape scenario and the alien invasion from Signs--with a little mock-8 Mile thrown in for flava--this installment has been handed off to satire specialists. Director David Zucker (Airplane! and the Naked Gun movies), screenwriter Pat Proft (Real Genius, Naked Gun, Hot Shots!) and pop-culture cult-flick script contributor Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma) retain the Scary Movie urban sense of humor (gangbangers turn up to fight the aliens then kill each other off instead) and the huge pantheon of parody targets and cameos, but add more zing and sting--and considerably more adept moviemaking behind the camera. Starring Charlie Sheen (riffing on Mel Gibson's Signs character) and Anna Faris, the series' perennial wide-eyed dingbat heroine (who when told about the shocking, spooky videotape replies, "It was New Orleans, I'd never had vodka before, and I was out of beads!"), this is recommended as a guilty pleasure. [Note: DVD extras include an audio commentary (by director David Zucker, producer Robert K. Weiss, and writers Craig Mazin and Pat Proft), 10 deleted/extended scenes (including an alternate ending) with optional commentary (27 min.), the 23-minute making-of “Making Scary Movie 3,” and tongue-in-cheek five-minute behind-the-scenes featurette “Making Scary Movie 3…FOR REAL,” four minutes of outtakes and bloopers, a four-minute behind-the-scenes segment on the “Hulk vs. Aliens” alternate ending, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a reasonably entertaining spoof.] (R. Blackwelder)[DVD Review—Sept. 20, 2005—Dimension, 85 min., not rated, $19.99—Making its second appearance on DVD, 2003's Scary Movie 3.5: Special Unrated Edition—Collector's Series looks and sounds about the same as the last release with the same DVD extras as the first outing, except for six bonus deleted scenes (10 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: if you own the original, it's not really necessary to pick up this “special unrated edition” that adds very little.][Blu-ray Review—Sept. 13, 2011—Lionsgate, 85 min., not rated, $14.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2003's Scary Movie 3 features a good transfer and DTS-HD 5.1 audio. Blu-ray extras are identical to the DVD release, including audio commentary with director David Zucker, producer Robert K. Weiss and writers Craig Mazin and Pat Proft, a “making-of” featurette (24 min.), deleted and extended scenes (21 min.), an alternate ending (15 min.), a parody featurette (5 min.), outtakes (4 min.), a “Hulk vs. Aliens” behind-the-scenes segment on the alternate ending (4 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid Blu-ray debut for one of the better films in the franchise.]