hat's so funny about horror movies? Lots, according to the producers of the Scary Movie series. With so many movies (good and bad) to spoof there seems to be no shortage of fodder for the successful franchise, whose three movies have grossed a tidy $335 million.

  Now the Scary Movie gang is back with send-ups of War of the Worlds, The Grudge, The Village, Saw and Saw II, Million Dollar Baby and much more.

  "It spoofs pretty much anything that made a lot of money," says Anna Faris who returns with Regina Hall for the fourth time as the loveable but dim-witted Cindy Campbell and her self-serving, sex-crazed pal, Brenda Meeks.

  This time out, Cindy, who takes on a new job as an at-home health care worker in the creepy "Grudge House," falls for her next-door neighbor Tom Ryan (Cinderella Man's Craig Bierko), a 
actors
Anna Faris
Regina Hall
Craig Bierko
Simon Rex 

director
David Zucker

location
Vancouver, British Columbia

outtake
The Grudge's Bill Pullman actually appears in the film's spoof scene in Scary Movie 4.

single father with a few screws loose. When Earth is attacked by giant tr-iPods, Tom flees with his kids, leaving Cindy and Brenda to save the world from a ruthless alien invasion all while discovering a mysterious village and coming under attack by a serial killer.

  Carmen Electra, Bill Pullman, Chris Elliott, Molly Shannon, Michael Madsen, rappers Chingy and Lil' John and Leslie Nielsen, returning as fearless Commander in Chief President Harris, all make cameo appearances.

  In fact, the film opens with Shaquille O'Neal and Dr. Phil McGraw waking up chained in a rank bathroom in a spoof of Saw. "Shaq and I are chained up together," McGraw told Entertainment Tonight. "And the only way out is you have to cut off a body part to get loose so he and I are wondering which one will end up doing it."

  Marking his big screen debut, the TV star said he had no worries about making light of his own image. "I want people to know I don't take myself too seriously as it might seem when I am into a heavy issue. I always try to work with humor as much as I can because it diffuses a lot of [people's] defensiveness. I think it's good to make fun of yourself."

  Hopefully the stars getting the send-up treatment feel the same way.

- Robin Stevenson