Publication Date: 06-05-2026

Scary Movie (2026) review

Dir. Michael Tiddes

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★

When the Wayans family was mysteriously absent from Scary Movie 3, there was no social media as we know it to today to run rampant with speculation to drum up the reason why. Co-stars and writers Shawn and Marlon, along with their older brother/director Keenen Ivory, didn’t have a podcast on which to go to air their grievances. Instead, they took their talents from Paramount to Sony to make White Chicks and other light-hearted spoofs.

Upon the announcement of the Wayans reviving the Scary Movie franchise, ending a 25-year absence, excitement was palpable. It was further fueled by a litany of marketing and pre-release paratext that brought back the spirit of the previous installments, with ample posters poking fun at various horror films of the last decade. Like the return of Scream, Beavis and Butt-Head, Good Burger, or other properties that laid dormant until executive deemed the cash cow was still worth milking, it generated initial excitement before some level of disappointment upon audiences seeing the final product.

The sixth installment of Scary Movie can’t necessarily be deemed disappointing when compared to the fourth and fifth films, which were also awful. But the fact that I was mentally recalling Scary Movie 5 more than Scary Movie 2 while watching it tells you that despite the Wayans family’s return — four of them are credited screenwriters — the results are about as equally pitiful as they’ve been since they were ousted from the series, should tell you what a dismal movie this is.

Rewatching the entire series this week, Scary Movie 3, warts and all, made me think how it was one of the last feature-length spoof movies that didn’t feel like an onslaught of movie and pop culture references in search of a punchline. While they haven’t made a new movie in over 10 years, the effects of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer on the genre are deeply felt. Scary Movie so ineptly tries to rekindle the series’ comedic spark ala your typical legacyquel, but it quickly finds itself running on a treadmill to nowhere, abandoning its own logic (or lack thereof) in the final 40 minutes to become a mindless array of low-rent send-ups of movies far more popular and successful than it could ever hope to be.

The “core four” of Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), Shorty (Marlon Wayans), and Ray (Shawn Wayans, who sadly looks like he’s sleepwalking through this) returns. Cindy’s ragged hair and reclusive tendencies immediately recall Laurie Strode in Halloween (2018). She’s forced to come out of “retirement” by her estranged adult daughter, Sarah (Olivia Rose Keegan, who admittedly channels Faris’ look and voice to impressive effect), when yet another person in a Ghostface fit is killing people in their community. Meanwhile, Brenda dons the Octavia Spencer haircut and a personality akin to the titular character in Ma; Shorty is still a perennially stoned case of arrested development; and Ray can’t beat the gay accusations, try unconvincingly as he might.

Beyond the plot of Scary Movie mirroring the recent three Scream sequels, it’s almost startling the similar paths these franchises took. The commonalities between the two are on display here: the uneven introduction of a crop of young newcomers, internal strife that led to the firing of cast-members, and the shift in focus to returning players. In tow for the first time in eons include Dave Sheridan’s Officer Doofy, Cheri Oteri’s Gail Hailstorm, and Chris Elliott as “Shorthand,” in an incalculably underwhelming Longlegs aside. Officer Doofy is the one supporting player who is given something tangible to do. He’s retired from the force, but he’s petrified of catching COVID-19, an oddly believable arc.

Scary Movie is more in-line with Friedberg and Seltzer’s “comedic” stylings. The script is a nonstop marathon of one-liners and sequences parodying everything from Get Out to Sinners, Terrifier, I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025), Smile, M3GAN, The Substance, and even K-Pop: Demon Hunters in one of the film’s very few inspired bits. An early bit involves a Final Destination theme park in what could’ve been a terrific setting had the film committed to anything.

Unfortunately, almost none of these moments are given any time to breathe. They’re fluttering diversions in a movie content with being the assembly of a laundry list of ideas sans punchlines. Evidently, the Wayans couldn’t resist cutting a single one. They go for broke. And thus, Scary Movie is effectively bankrupt.

The trailers, posters, and marketing promised us that “every line will be crossed.” Oh, if that were even remotely true. The Wayans are veterans of comedy. They should know by now that the mere mention of things like OnlyFans and crypto, or even hot-button, controversial political topics isn’t inherently funny. A character acknowledging their pronouns are “they/them” isn’t funny. A character pulling out a manila folder that says “the Epstein files” isn’t funny without some kind of tangible wit or setup involved. The line isn’t crossed. The line is merely acknowledged.

Scary Movie is the equivalent of a party guest who competes breathlessly for attention and laughs from the crowd. It violently contorts and hurls itself in every direction hoping to amuse, but instead, it embarrasses itself early and often. The finale completely abandons any shred of continuity in favor of the Wayans going completely meta, railing against their cast-members for continuing to do the series in their absence that doesn’t engender the goodwill it seems to believe it does.

Finally, when the Scary Movie series rose to popularity, in conjunction with Scream, horror was in a redundant place, heavy on slashers and teen-centric scares. Now, the landscape has only grown more versatile, complex, dynamic, and prestigious. Horror movies are now winning Oscars. Neon and A24 have raised the standard by mining the field for original stories as opposed to sequels. The Wayans are now forced to lampoon critically acclaimed, award-winning movies. The biggest reveal in Scary Movie isn’t a particular cameo. It’s how the family’s comedy chops have dulled while the craftsmanship of their contemporaries has sharpened.

My review of Scary Movie (2000)
My review of Scary Movie 2
My review of Scary Movie 3
My review of Scary Movie 4
My review of Scary Movie 5

Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Olivia Rose Keegan, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, Dave Sheridan, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Heidi Gardner, Damons Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, and Kenan Thompson. Directed by: Michael Tiddes.