The Scary Movie series is one of the biggest parody series, spawning a whole bunch of “from 2 of the six producers”- inspired films that chase the series’ height and success. With Scary Movie (2026) now looking to chase that same success and reignite the series at the box office, it’s time to rank all of the Scary Movie films.

We recently discussed each of the films in the lead-up to Scary Movie on our ‘What Do You Wanna Watch’ podcast. Below are links to each episode.

Here are my rankings of every film in the Scary Movie series.

6. Scary Movie 5

When Scary Movie 5 was released, the series had already been worn out and had lost all that made it special. There was none of the core cast left, none of the writers or directors. It’s a really hard watch that feels like a bunch of 30-second joke ideas thrown together into a blender, pieced together over the Paranormal Activity films as the baseline spoof, and then thrown in with a heap of celebrity cameras. It isn’t funny at all, lacks any charm, and comes across as a cheap imitation of the rest of the series.

 

 

5. Scary Movie (2026)

The latest entry in the Scary Movie series saw a return of all of the core cast for the first time since Scary Movie 2. It’s a welcome bit of nostalgia, and the key performances and chemistry here are the highlights. It is, however, another sign, following Scary Movie 5, that maybe this series was best left dead, since it’s not funny. Even with the Wayans returning, it misses the mark and doesn’t feel like it has the pulse of pop culture and horror films today to make it work.

 

 

4. Scary Movie 4

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There are some broadly enjoyable moments in Scary Movie 4, but it moves further away from spoofing just horror movies than the previous ones and relies more on very broad, silly jokes rather than smart jokes based on the films it’s parodying. There’s also a bunch of celebrity cameos thrown in that don’t work well, including the opening SAW parody with Shaq and Dr. Phil. At least there’s some fun chemistry between the cast, including the film’s alien-heavy and War of the Worlds parody.

 

 

3. Scary Movie 2

The follow-up to the success of Scary Movie made Scary Movie 2 feel more rushed than the first film and less well-written. It is still a bunch of fun, however, thanks to its shift from the slasher parody of the first film to a haunted-house setting and a focus on parodying more supernatural films. The jokes are more absurd than in the first film, but it’s got some memorable scenes, including the dinner scene and Shorty being rolled up into a human joint.

 

 

2. Scary Movie 3

With the arrival of director David Zucker, the franchise found a different comedic direction. Scary Movie 3 moves away from the crude humour and focuses more on what Zucker is known for in a collection of rapid-fire gags in the classic spoof style. There’s still some good horror parodies here, including the film’s take on The Ring, and the ending, with its big Signs-inspired plot, is one of the funniest bits of the series.

 

1. Scary Movie

The original Scary Movie is still one of the best parodies and spoof films, and the gold standard for how to take on genre films. It took the success of Scream, perfectly skewered it and combined it with other popular 90s slashers, including I Know What You Did Last Summer. If you watch Scary Movie today, not all of the jokes have aged perfectly, but it’s still very funny, well-written, and a great glass-cabinet look at pop culture for the time it was released. Growing up, watching Scary Movie was one of the most popular films for teens, and it brought many unsavoury quotes to be said over and over again. It’s still the funniest film in the franchise, and a high that I don’t believe any future films would be able to meet.

 

 

What do you think of my rankings of the Scary Movie films? Have you watched Scary Movie (2026) yet? If you have, let us know your ranking of the films in the comments section below.