You have to avoid the temptation of just doing a collection of jokes 
Wisconsin-born David Zucker first made his name as co-writer of the 1977 pic Kentucky Fried Movie, going on to co-helm the mother of all spoof movies, Airplane!. Although brother Jerry has had the more high profile career (making Ghost, First Knight, and Rat Race), David has enjoyed box office success with horror spoof Scary Movie 3. He's also set to make Scary Movie 4 later this year.
Were you worried about coming into an established comedy franchise?
Not at all, because Scary Movie 3 has nothing to do with the first two movies. The first two were R-rated, grossout spoofs using comedians, and that wasn't our style at all. The other thing about coming into a spoof is that you're spoofing new movies each time, so it's totally fresh. It's a completely different situation to if I'd been coming in to, say, the tenth Police Academy.
Why did you decide to use Signs and The Ring as the basis of Scary Movie 3?
Those films were suggested by the studio. I added 8 Mile, The Others, Matrix, and even had a Hulk spoof in there for a while, although that was cut out.
When you're making movies that are so referential, are you watching the original movies all the time before shooting a scene?
We watch a film many times to get the jokes out of it. And we have the scene on the set with us so we can really get the feel of it. So when George [Simon Rex] and the kids are watching TV with the aluminium foil hats, I wanted them to get the exact same position as in the Mel Gibson movie [Signs]. I went back and reminded myself of that.
What's the secret of a good spoof?
Having a believable plot, believe it or not. It's important to have a good plot and characters, which then gives you a good ending, because you still have to make a movie. You have to avoid the temptation of just doing a collection of jokes.
Anna Faris plays the lead this time round and really shines...
She's fantastic! I don't think she got a good chance in the other movies to really show what she can do, but she's a marvellous comedienne. She can do really subtle things, and that's one of the big reasons for the success of Scary Movie 3.
What's next for you?
We're going to do Scary 4, I'm already signed to do that. But I also have a romantic comedy farce that I want to do, I'm writing that now.
Which line from your spoofs do people always quote back to you?
"Don't call me Shirley!" Or, "Do you like movies about gladiators?" That's the other one that's most remembered.
