Scary Movie review

SCARY MOVIE: 

SIXTH ENTRY IN HORROR PARODY FRANCHISE IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU’D EXPECT! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND MIRAMAX

Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, and the rest in Scary Movie (2026)

 

            The parody franchise that mocked scary movies and pushed the envelope with its humor is back in…well, Scary Movie AKA Scary Movie 6, the latest installment in the long-running Scary Movie film series dating all the way back to 2000. I should get this out of the way first; I do not like any of the Scary Movie films, with only the first entry I actually consider…Good-ish. 

            The first Scary Movie, for all its faults and constant need to be as over-the-top, gross, and stupid as possible, had its moments of genuine laughs and sometimes decent satire of horror films like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Despite mixed reactions from critics, it was a massive hit and spawned sequels and…other spoof movies that tried to emulate what Scary Movie did with disastrous results (Epic Movie, Date Movie, Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie, etc.). 

            I feel there’s no point in going in-depth about the Scary Movie sequels because they’re all the same, and outside of a few chuckles here and there, none of them were able to recapture what made the original…work somewhat. After a long hibernation since 2013, now we have this sixth installment with The Wayans Brothers returning to the series since 2001’s Scary Movie 2, much of the first film’s cast reprising their roles, and Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House 1 and 2, Fifty Shades of Black) in the director’s chair. 

             I was not looking forward to this, especially how disappointing parody films have gotten since the 2010s (No joke, I haven’t seen a single “Movie” movie in theaters since Superhero Movie in 2008). However, spoof films started gaining a resurgence recently with the new Naked Gun movie last year, starring Liam Neeson, being incredibly funny, and I even enjoyed the recent Anaconda movie with Paul Rudd and Jack Black, where they tried to remake the original movie. 

            With The Naked Gun (2025) easily being my favorite parody film of the last couple of decades and a surprising amount of hype for the Scary Movie franchise’s return, maybe there was some hope this series could be salvaged…not quite! Scary Movie (2026) certainly isn’t the worst of these parody movies, and like its predecessors, there are some funny moments, but practically nothing is different from what you’ve seen in the other films, except now they’re satirizing legacy sequels, which Scream (2022) already did. 

            The film is essentially a satire of Scream (2022), Scream VI, and Halloween (2018) and follows Sara (Olivia Rose Keegan-Days of Our Lives, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Gotham Knights) and Tuesday Campbell (Savannah Lee Nassif), a parody of Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega’s characters from the recent Screamfilms being attacked by a Ghostface killer and enlist the help of their estranged mother, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris-Lost in Translation, The House Bunny, The Dictator), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall-Little, One Battle After Another, The Sheep Detectives), Shorty Meeks (Marlon Wayans-In Living Color, White Chicks, Him), Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans-In Living Color, Don’t Be a Menace in South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Dance Flick), Deputy Doofy Gilmore (Dave Sheridan-Corky Romano, Ghost World, The Devil’s Rejects), and Gail Hailstorm (Cheri Oteri-Saturday Night Live, Southland Tales, Shrek the Third) to figure out who the killer is. Along the way, they encounter parodies of M3GAN, Art the Clown from Terrifier, Sinners, Weapons, Smile, Get Out, Heart Eyes, The Substance, and Candyman…oh, and for some reason, the Michael movie and KPop Demon Hunters. 

            The film also stars Gregg Wayans (Fifty Shades of Black, Marlon, Sextuplets) as Brad Meeks, Sydney Park (The Walking Dead, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, There’s Someone Inside Your House) as Dei Meeks, Lochlyn Munro (Freddy VS Jason, The Predator, Peacemaker) reprising his role as Greg Phillippe (The guy with the small knob), Kim Wayans (A Different World, In Living Color, Pariah) as Nurse Ratchett, and Chris Elliott (Get a Life, There’s Something About Mary, How I Met Your Mother) as Shorthand (A parody of Nicolas Cage’s character from Longlegs). 

            Overall, Scary Movie (2026) has its moments, but this sixth entry in the franchise adds almost nothing new to the formula and just comes off as another run-of-the-mill spoof movie that isn’t nearly as funny or clever as it thinks it is. It certainly isn’t the worst Scary Movie or one of the worst parody films I’ve ever seen, but this whole movie seemed entirely pointless and exists just to make obvious jokes about legacy sequels and modern horror movies. 

            There are some funny gags in it, with one of my favorite jokes being early on regarding a Final Destination-themed amusement park where all the rides crash and everyone dies, that’s pretty great, and it even ends with the kid and the lucky penny getting squashed like in Final Destination: Bloodlines. I also chuckled at this spoof of The Substance that becomes an homage to another Wayans Brothers movie, and there’s actually a pretty damn funny final act. 

            Yeah, aside from chuckles here and there, the film just does all the same shit again, dick jokes, shit jokes, jokes that go on for too long (The Sinners church parody can suck my honky, white dick, it’s so painfully unfunny and long!), weed jokes, Marlon Wayans saying “Wazzup!?!” and laughing like an idiot, obligatory dance sequence set to a rap song (Take a wild guess which horror character does that considering this character also did a dance in their actual movie). Maybe the Wayans Brothers should take some notes from “Elevated Comedy”, as the movie called Judd Apatow comedies in reference to the “Elevated Horror” nod in Scream (2022), because I have seen them be incredibly funny and talented before, but these spoof movies don’t showcase their skills all that much. 

            Yeah, this movie didn’t do much for me, sadly. What was even the point in bringing this franchise back if you’re not going to take it to new heights? I guess it was kind of neat to see the old actors back together, and like I said, I got a few chuckles every now and then, but Scary Movie (2026) is just a sign this style of parody should have stayed dead and buried. 

            Geez, that would be like…I don’t know, making a sequel to White Chicks, you wouldn’t do that, it would just be fucking absurd…they’re making a White Chicks sequel, aren’t they?