Scary Movie (2026) ★★

Released: 5 June 2026

Director: Michael Tiddes

Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Cheri Oteri, Dave Sheridan & Chris Elliott

Without divulging into spoilers, there’s a moment towards the end of Scary Movie (or Scary Movie 6 if you’re keeping count) where it taps into the point of its existence. Amidst the nostalgia and the twist involving the killer(s) (dating back to the franchise’s legacy), it’s a joke that extends to a broader meta about the Wayans family’s struggle with the franchise they built.

For context, despite the franchise’s commercial success of the first two movies, the Wayans – Keenan, Marlon and Shawn – famously lost the rights to Scary Movie. Studio Miramax (under the leadership of Bob and Harvey Weinstein) lowballed their contracts, forcing the family to walk away whilst the studio went on to make the third film without their knowledge. The franchise further spawned two critically panned instalments, but the less said about them, the better. With this firmly on the mind, the scenario presents an interesting side context when paired (albeit loosely) with Ryan Coogler’s Sinners when concerning Black ownership and the valuation of its art, ideas and the people behind them who are still not given their worth and respect. Their subsequent return (despite still being owed royalties, according to reports) certainly means a lot to the family and a somewhat defiant unwillingness to let it go. And when you add a slice of “fuck dem kids” energy as the film elicits in its final crescendo, they’re not about to let anyone else control the passing of the torch to others, unless your surname is Wayans.

And credit to them, because for the most part, it’s the one worthy joke that makes sense unapologetically. The sixth instalment brings the gang back together, including fan favourites Anna Faris and Regina Hall. Similar to its predecessors, their brand of silly, childish and juvenile humour is a throwback to its heyday. So unsurprisingly, it’s also a bad movie that barely holds itself together.

The Scary Movie franchise has always been a jukebox of set pieces and skits, a time capsule of pop culture parodies within horror. But to put it bluntly, for its sixth iteration, Michael Tiddes’ film can be described as someone navigating their TikTok algorithm – an endless scroll of random skits played at twice the speed (or higher) that’s desperate to keep your attention. It is a hyper-relentless, fast-paced assault on the senses where the comedy goes for the supposed juggler in its takedown of Sinners, The Substance, Get Out, Weapons, Longlegs, Nia DaCosta’s Candyman, Terrifier, Halloween (2018), M3GAN, Smile and John Wick (because “no-one saw Ballerina”). Even KPop Demon Hunters doesn’t escape their gaze – a smoke-filled sex dream sequence where Shorty sinks into the floor on Ghostface’s command, only to be turned into a stylised animated figure – all to the tune of Golden. Is there a point to all of this? No, but some jokes land with an occasional chuckle and a wide-eyed sense of disbelief. Others launch into the sky, hit the curvature of the Earth and crash land with a massive thud as you wonder, “what am I watching?”

With no less than five writers attached to the script, its plot is a muddled mess. This “Rebootquel” or “Re-booty-quel”, as Shorty (Marlon Wayans) proclaims, sees the franchise following the pattern of Scream (2022), where the legacy characters mix in with the new generation of class. Brenda (Regina Hall), along with her Octavia Spencer haircut from Ma, is now a mother with two children. Cindy embodies Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode, a Republican living an isolated life still haunted by the trauma of her encounters with Ghostface and assembled ‘Home Alone’ style traps that would end up impaling her delivery man when he’s delivering packages. Cindy’s daughter Sarah (Olivia Rose Keegan) is a basket case of over-the-top “mommy issues” (including self-medicating on a pill vial named exactly that) and for failing to see the obvious killer behaviour with her boyfriend. And there’s also a Wednesday-inspired joke – with a character named Tuesday, done for legal reasons.

Despite being seemingly primed for parody (including the sea of Ghostfaces running around town), the major problem Scary Movie unleashes is threefold. One, there’s no real flow, consistency and in some cases, continuity between jokes. Not that you should expect any substance or depth. If you’ve come this far in the journey, Scary Movie doesn’t offer any surprises or anything new, or as Teyana Taylor’s brief cameo suggests: “I know who goes to a Wayans Brothers movie”. But there’s no genuine attempt to make the jokes feel earned within its plot. Tiddes’ direction is like a blunt force of nature, a Naruto-running kid before they’re hit by a car (as witnessed in the movie). It’s willing to hit you over the head with the same, repetitive jokes until it descends into boredom.

Secondly, Scary Movie never positions itself to take advantage of its contemporary culture, outdone by its SNL counterparts and the current era of content creators. Despite some risqué moments, overall, the jokes are tamer by comparison. You will have seen better, because it has been done better when ‘Y’all Klan?’ memes or Ryan Coogler as your sleep paralysis demon took over the internet. The best effort Scary Movie can disappointingly muster is Ray (Shawn Wayans) exorcising his sexuality in church and an invitation joke that spirals into a commentary about “gentrifying The Jeffersons”. It leaves its best joke with The Substance, where Gail Storm (Cheri Oteri) proceeds to have beautifying surgery, only for Ghostface to hijack the procedure and inject her with “The Stuff”. At least, the surprise of what exits from Gail’s body is a genuine cackle, even if it is for a fleeting moment.

The third is egregiously simple: the lack of Regina Hall, who is by far the franchise’s best asset. When the film remembers what she offers, her humour remains sharp as ever, with her best coming in the way of burying white folks in the back garden after an accidental shooting, to “you don’t have to say Black with a hard B” when confronting the killer. And thankfully, her chemistry with Farris continues to shine, even if it’s lost in the hazy chaos of Tiddes’ algorithmic film.

The painful truth is, Scary Movie offers nothing more than what’s seen in the trailers. There are far too many cooks on the script, where the clear seams of rewrites and revisions are visible, and the self-referential humour falls flat, disguised as Leo-pointing meme references rather than genuine genre critique. It’s a tiresome, kitchen-sink mentality that is hoping and wishing for something to stick to the wall, and true to the fast-paced form of social media content, it’s disposable and easily forgotten about. That dopamine hit of emotional gratification it seeks only lasts until the next reel is loaded, ready to be consumed.

But if we are truly honest, Scary Movie is a dated concept that plays into Hollywood’s love of nostalgia like a greatest hits reunion. But all this delivers is one damning statement: some things are better left in the past.