BE AFRAID, be very afraid.

The third and final instalment of the Scary Movie series, now under the aegis of Airplane! creator David Zucker, takes potshots at Signs, The Ring, The Matrix Reloaded and 8 Mile among others.

Having survived the murderous attentions of two masked serial killers, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) is determined to prove herself as a television reporter.

She is asked to investigate the suspicious death of a Catholic schoolgirl, who reportedly watched a demonic videotape shortly before her grisly demise.

In the course of her inquiries, Cindy also stumbles upon a mysterious case of crop circles in a field belonging to farmer Tom (Charlie Sheen) and his rap star wannabe brother George (Simon Rex).

In time, Cindy seeks help from the enigmatic Orpheus (Eddie Griffin) and his mentor, The Oracle, aka Aunt Shaneequa (Queen Latifah).

Buoyed by their advice, Cindy joins forces with the beleaguered US President (Leslie Nielsen) to prevent an alien invasion and save herself from the videotape's evil curse.

Scary Movie 3 is a vast improvement on the first sequel, but once again relies heavily on your intimate knowledge of contemporary horror films. If you haven't seen the Hollywood remake of The Ring and M Night Shyamalan's supernatural thriller Signs then most of the gags will go over your head.

And not that all of them hit their intended targets.

The opening sequence with Jenny McCarthy and Pamela Anderson re-enacting the spooky first death from The Ring is extremely funny by virtue of Anderson poking merciless fun at her pneumatic public image.

But there are large portions of Scary Movie 3 which are flat and lifeless, and some of the cameos are plain embarrassing, like nasty Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell ripping into the contestants of an 8 Mile-style rap battle.

Faris, Sheen and co approach the source material with gusto, and co-writers Craig Mazin and Pat Proft darken the tone of some of the comedy, even broaching the subject of paedophilia.

Scary Movie 3 delivers everything you'd expect with a big, goofy grin on its face.

Rating: 6/10.

DAMON SMITH