Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer, Shorty, Ray, Cindy and Brenda find themselves targeted by another mad slasher.
Directors: Michael Tiddes
Writers: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans, Rick Alvarez
Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Cameron Scott Roberts, Olivia Rose Keegan, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park
Cinematographer: Terry Stacey
Editing: Jonathan Schwartz
Music: Haim Mazar
The original Scary Movie was a parody powerhouse that is still a very funny take on the slashers of the 90s and early 2000s, mixing ridiculous jokes with boundary-pushing humour. With Scary Movie (2026), the Wayans are back for the first time since the second film, and the core cast Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back after missing the fifth film. On paper, the reboot of the Scary Movie series was exciting because of all these elements, paired with the recent run of new horror films and subgenres primed for spoofing. But what’s delivered is not a funny film at all, lacking in any jokes that could crack a smile, let alone return the series to its heyday.
In all the marketing for Scary Movie, it was promised that “all lines will be crossed,” and going into the cinema, there was a certain expectation that this would push the envelope. Instead, all the jokes that I guess the Wayans think are crossing the line are simply baseline ‘cancel culture’ type stuff that has simply been said a million times at this point by countless stand-up comedians. There’s a trans character, there are woke references, there’s a joke about pronouns, and Ray continues his ‘I’m not gay’ character. It’s all so non-offensive in such a boring way. It’s neither crossing the line enough to get people ready to defend the jokes like they do the many Ricky Gervais or Dave Chappelle stand-up specials, nor is it offensive enough to upset anyone that the film is making fun of. I don’t even know if the problem here is that the Wayans didn’t want to try and poke the bear further, or that Paramount wanted to play it safe. In reality, if this film really wanted to push boundaries, it would have included jokes at Paramount’s expense about Melissa Barrera‘s firing from Scream 7. That would have been pushing some buttons.
It is fun to see these characters all back on the screen together again; there’s a level of nostalgia that comes with it, which I can appreciate as someone who loved the first two Scary Movie films growing up. However, the new characters, the sit-ins for Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, and co., are all very forgettable. Olivia Rose Keegan, in particular, was gratingly annoying during the Barerra sit-in, as she was seemingly told to do her best Anna Faris impression, but it wasn’t fun to watch, it wasn’t funny, and her presence on screen genuinely began to annoy me.
Choosing to use the Scream requel as the basis for this Scary Movie requel makes sense, but aside from that baseline plot to follow along the beats of, the rest of the parodies here are very forgettable. There’s a Final Destination rollercoaster gag that was amusing, but also, that’s Final Destination 3, not even a more recent entry. And most of the more recent horror films parodied are quick quips that aren’t particularly memorable, or parodies you’ve probably already seen done better in a YouTube or TikTok video. Big commercial horror film successes like Get Out, Weapons, Sinners, M3GAN, and Smile all get some jokes or references. There’s also a scene parodying The Substance that shows potential, but is cut off too quickly into a White Chicks reference, which ruins it. Terrifier 3 gets a short parody, which is one of the more memorable parodies. And then Longlegs gets a brief reference setup mid-movie to save an actual amusing scene for the mid-credits.
All these complaints about parody choices, failing to live up to its marketing promise to cross all the lines, etc., could be looked past if the film were at least funny — which it simply isn’t.
