Taglines: Reload for a third shot.
A mysterious killer video tape is circulating around. One look at this tape and you have seven days left to live. News Reporter Cindy Campbell (Faris) witnesses this video tape and tries to work out a way to prevent her death. But this is not the only mystery to appear. Crop circles have been appearing in the local farm of Tom (Sheen) and George (Rex). With help from Aunt Shaneequa (Latifah), Cindy suspects that the aliens may be linked with the killer tape and must now work out both mysteries before it’s the end of the world.
Scary Movie 3 is a 2003 American science fiction horror comedy parody film, which parodies the horror, sci-fi, and mystery genres, directed by David Zucker. It is the third film of the Scary Movie franchise, as well as the first to have no involvement from the Wayans family. This is most evident as the characters of Shorty Meeks and Ray Wilkins, previously played by Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans, do not appear, nor are they referenced.
The film’s plot significantly parodies the films The Ring, Signs, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and 8 Mile. It is also the first film of two in the series to star Leslie Nielsen. Scary Movie 3 opened to mixed reviews from critics, who praised its consistent humor and satire, but criticized many other aspects such as casting, plot and pacing. The film was a box office success, grossing $220,673,217 worldwide.
Katie (Jenny McCarthy) and Becky (Pamela Anderson) are talking about a tape, which Katie thinks is a sex tape, but Becky refers to a cursed tape (The Ring). After several odd occurrences, they die. In a farm outside Washington, D.C., widowed farmer and former reverend Tom Logan (Charlie Sheen) and his clumsy brother George (Simon Rex) discover a crop circle, saying “Attack Here!” (Signs).
Meanwhile, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), now an anchorwoman, announces the crop circles on the news. She picks up her paranormally endowed nephew Cody (Drew Mikuska) from school, where her best friend Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), no longer dating Ray Wilkins, is his teacher. George Logan arrives to pick up his niece Sue, Tom’s daughter, who is in the same class. Cindy falls in love with George, who invites her and Brenda to a rap-battle with his rapper friends Mahalik (Anthony Anderson) and CJ (Kevin Hart) (8 Mile). George competes and proves to be actually quite talented, but due to unintentional racist blunders, he’s thrown out.
Later, Brenda asks Cindy to keep her company, since she watched the cursed videotape. After playing several pranks on Cindy, she gets the rest of the popcorn in the lounge, when the TV turns on. Brenda fails to turn it off. Tabitha (Marny Eng) climbs out of the well and the TV, Brenda gets into a fight with Tabitha. Tabitha ends up killing Brenda, since Cindy is ignoring the ruckus. George receives a phone call about the death, and Tom meets with Sayaman, who apologizes for the accident involving himself and Tom’s wife Annie (Denise Richards).
During Brenda’s wake, George and Mahalik, due to a misunderstanding, wreak havoc on Brenda’s corpse in attempt to revive her, only to blow up her body and end up getting kicked out of the house. Later, Cindy decides to watch the tape, finding it odd. She then gets a phone call, saying she’ll die in a week. She calls George, CJ and Mahalik for help. CJ offers that his Aunt Shaneequa might be able to help. Aunt Shaneequa (Queen Latifah), the Matrix Oracle, and her husband Orpheus (Eddie Griffin) agree to watch the tape. Shaneequa discovers the hidden image of a lighthouse, and gets into a fight with Tabitha’s mother. Shaneequa tells Cindy to find the lighthouse to break the curse. When Cindy returns home, she finds Cody watched the tape.
Directed by: David Zucker
Starring: Anna Faris, Anthony Anderson, Leslie Nielsen, Charlie Sheen, Regina Hall, Kevin Hart, Camryn Manheim, George Carlin, Queen Latifah, Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Drew Mikuska, Jianna Ballard, Denise Richards
Screenplay by: Craig Mazin, Pat Proft
Production Design by: William A. Elliott
Cinematography by: Mark Irwin
Film Editing by: Malcolm Campbell, Jon Poll
Costume Design by: Carol Ramsey
Set Decoration by: Rose Marie McSherry
Music by: James L. Venable
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for pervasive crude and sexual humor, language, comic violence and drug references.
Studio: Miramax Films
Release Date: October 24, 2003
