When viewers think of thegreatest comedies of all time, the same few movies tend to make the list:Caddyshack,Blazing Saddles, the Marx Brothers’ 1933 classicDuck Soup. Charlie Chaplin,the King of Comedy during the silent film era, usually has a couple of movies that also make the list. Arguments could even be made for more recent hits likeDumb and Dumber,Anchorman, andWedding Crashers. But there’s one gem from the early 2000s that often goes overlooked:Scary Movie 3.
A spoof of mostly iconic horror films, the originalScary Moviewas a box office smash back in 2000. On an estimated budget of 19 million dollars,it grossed 278 million dollars worldwide. It spawned four sequels and multiple parody franchises that all had the word ‘Movie’ in the title, likeNot Another Teen MovieandEpic Movie. Some of the sequels, and most of the spin-off franchises, are forgettable. But then there’sScary Movie 3. It’s that rare sequel that’s as good as, if not better than, its predecessors. It’s full of laugh-out-loud moments and celebrity cameos and pokes fun ata lotof famous films. Some are well-known horror movies, while others are cultural phenomenons of the time. Here are all the movies thatScary Movie 3parodies.
Signs (2002)
This is the most evident spoof in the movie. Similar to M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fi filmSigns,Scary Movie 3focuses mostly on a widower (played by Charlie Sheen instead of Mel Gibson) and his family, as they grapple with strange happenings on their farm. But instead of finding cryptic crop circles, they come across hysterically blatant messages carved into their cornfield, like the words “ATTACK HERE” with an arrow pointing directly at the family’s house. The movie even parodies Shyamalan himself in a scene that features one of the most subtly hilarious lines ever (“Tom, I’ll need a ride home”).
Like withSigns,humanity learns that extraterrestrials are among them through a series of comedic newsreels, showing an alien strolling by a pair of fornicating dogs or chilling at an outdoor bash while party goers projectile vomit. But unlikeSigns,aliens aren’t here to destroy humanity. They’re come to destroy a very familiar and evil little girl.
Related:Signs: M. Night Shyamalan’s Masterpiece 20 Years Later
The Ring (2002)
The RingwasThe Exorcistof the early 2000s.It was thathorror filmeverybodywas afraid of. So naturally,Scary Movie 3had to make fun of it. Here, an evil tape, complete with an evil child named Tabitha, threatens to kill main character Cindy (Anna Faris) and the rest of humanity in seven days – and also those poor aliens, who were just trying to watchPootie Tang.
The homicidal tape inScary Movie 3is a gag reel that spoofsThe Ring.For instance, the iconic ring from the classic horror film turns out to be a man sitting down on the toilet inScary Movie 3. But the real treat comes when Cindy’s best friend Brenda (Regina Hall) throws down with Tabitha after she comes crawling out of the TV, carelessly getting water all over Brenda’s floor.
8 Mile (2002)
In 2002, rapper Eminem was the biggest superstar on the planet, and8 Mile, his semi-autobiographical film, wasone of the best movies of the year. It even won the Academy Award for Best Original Song forLose Yourself,which Eminem performed during a surprise appearance at the 2020 Oscars. InScary Movie 3,George (Simon Rex) spoofs Eminem, and also Joaquin Phoenix inSigns,by being an aspiring white rapper, who’s just looking for his chance to blow. He battle-raps Fat Joe to gain street cred and hangs out with Mahalik (Anthony Anderson) and CJ, played by the then unknown Kevin Hart. George’s rap career, however, takes a turn for the worst when he mistakenly imitates a KKK member – a joke that may be a bit harder to swallow in 2023.
Related:Eminem’s 8 Mile TV Adaptation Confirmed by 50 Cent
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Matrixis a sci-fi franchise that defined the turn of the century and made viewers question the nature of their reality. Since its release in 1999,The Matrixhas gone down asone of the greatest sci-fi films ever made. It was also one ofScary Movie’sfavorite films to spoof.The original poked fun at the iconic, visually stunning fight sequences from the first Matrix, like dodging bullets with back-breaking moves.
Scary Movie 3took its shots at the sequel,The Matrix Reloaded, and featured several notable actors in parodied roles: Queen Latifah as an Oracle-like character and Eddie Griffin as Orpheus. The Architect was played to perfection by comedy legend George Carlin, paralleling a convoluted scene fromThe Matrix Reloadedthat viewers needed a dictionary to properly understand.
Related:Explained: The Philosophy of The Matrix Movies
The Others (2001)
The Othersis a 2001 gem that belongs in the discussion ofgreatest horror movies ever made. It stars Nicole Kidman and featuresone of the greatest twists in cinematic history. Its shout-out inScary Movie 3is quick, but it ends up creating one of the funniest, most memorable scenes in the movie. Similar toThe Others,Charlie Sheen’s character suspects that an imposter is posing as his daughter, hidden beneath a white communion dress. When he rips off the dress, it’s not his daughter, or an alien, or a ghostly old woman that he finds lurking underneath. It’s, of course, Michael Jackson.
In the ’90s and 2000s, Jackson departed from his image as a globally best-selling musician. His altered appearance raised eyebrows and thechild molestation charges against himdominated headlines.Scary Movie 3poked fun at his dance moves andthe infamous moment where he dangled his infant son Blanket over a hotel balcony in Berlin. At the end of the scene, Sheen’s character finds a Michael Jackson bodysuit discarded on his farm, hinting that the King of Pop was really just an alien all along.
Airplane! (1980)
This one is more homage than parody.Scary Movie 3was directed by David Zucker, who also co-directed the 1980 comedy classicAirplane!. Airplane!follows a flight of goofy crew members and passengers, one of whom is forced to fly the plane after its pilots become sick. One of the movie’s stars is comedy legend Leslie Nielsen, who also plays the dim-witted President of the United States inScary Movie 3.
Nielsen’s performance is full of idiotic lines and absurd moments, like when he reveals that he urinates from his index finger like America’s alien visitors. But the most obviousAirplane!reference comes when Nielsen repeats his iconic line at the end ofScary Movie 3,after barging though a door and knocking the wicked Tabitha back into her well:“I just want to tell you both good luck. We’re all counting on you.”
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Ringsis another franchise juggernaut of the early 2000s. It’s an epic fantasy adventure trilogy that’s based on the bestselling novels of the same name. All three movies are well-reviewed and beloved. The last film in the series,The Return of the King, made cinematic history when it became the first fantasy movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2004. Its appearance inScary Movie 3is short and sweet. In the opening scene, Kate (Jenny McCarthy) tells gal pal Becca (Pamela Anderson) about a videotape that murders the viewer in seven days.
Suddenly, the phone rings, and Kate hands it over to Becca to answer. “Hello?” she asks, terrified. “I’m coming for you, my precious,” says a creepy voice, mimicking Gollum fromThe Lord of the Rings.But Becca just rolls her eyes. “Hi, Mom,” she replies, exasperated.
Related:The Best Fantasy Movies Based on Books
Minority Report (2002)
This jab is a bit more subtle. Another entry in the list ofgreatest sci-fi films ever made,Minority Reportis based on the novella by science fiction mastermind Philip K. Dick. It introduces the audience to a perfect society without crime or murder – thanks in part to precognitive triplets, who are able to see a crime before it takes place. InScary Movie 3,Cindy’s accident-prone nephew Cody (Drew Mikuska) has premonitions and creepily divulges them to various characters throughout the movie. “Smoke all you want,” he says to a cigarette smoker, “you’re going to get hit by a bus.”
Air Force One (1997)
In the 1997 action hitAir Force One,Harrison Fordplays the perfect U.S. President: competent, handsome, and badass. Here, the President goes toe-to-toe with terrorists who have hijacked his famous plane, the Air Force One. While contemplating what to do during a crisis,Scary Movie 3’sU.S. President is stuck asking himself, “I wonder what President Ford would have done.” He then glances at a presidential portrait hanging on the wall beside him. But it’s not real-life American President Gerald Ford. It’s Harrison Ford fromAir Force One.
