Scary Movie 3

Scary Movie was, in its own gross and freakish way, often very funny. Scary Movie 2 recycled the best gags from the first one, but the law of diminishing returns kicked in early. To paraphrase Edmund Blackadder, Scary Movie 3 is less funny than the winner of Most Unfunny Film at the Unfunny Festival of Film. In other words, it's about as amusing as a Belgian sitcom (that was cancelled for not referencing waffles often enough). Despite the presence of Leslie Nielsen (who ought to know better) and Charlie Sheen (ditto), the film is a poor 'spoof' of The Ring, 8 Mile and Signs, but those films had more jokes per minute than his has per hour. Still, apart from that it was quite good.

For a fair assessment of this album, you'd be best advised to consult a rap fan since the 8 Mile aspect of the film influences all but ten minutes of the music on disc. Not being a fan of rap, none of the tracks here really appeal to me and frankly all start to sound the same after a while. Unfortunately, James L Venable's original score isn't especially interesting either. When you're starting to lose interest before the end of two five minute suites, you know you're in trouble. The opening paraphrase of the Halloween tune suggests a promising selection of music spoofs, but that is soon displaced by rambling orchestral passages which threaten to break into a theme, but never do. It's not really horrifying, fun or engaging, so perfect for the film in that regard.

It would be a trifle unfair to dump on Varese for releasing something so alien (as it were) to its core fanbase, but sadly I suspect this could turn into one of their better selling albums. If, however, good returns mean that it allows for another Alex North re-recording or a re-release of some forgotten Jerry Goldsmith album, then that's fine by me, just don't expect me to listen to Scary Movie 3's soundtrack on any kind of regular basis.