‘Scary Movie’ review: The Wayans brothers return for dull, dated sixth instalment of horror parody franchise

Dir: Michael Tiddes. US. 2026. 95mins

Less a film than a handful of limp gags thrown at a wall, the sixth Scary Movie attempts to resurrect this long-gestating parody franchise – it’s been 13 years since the last instalment – by cramming in as many zeitgeisty genre, pop culture and political references as humanly possible. That ‘nothing is off limits’ is one of the key selling points of a film which reunites writers/producers/stars the Wayans brothers, who created the franchise but exited after Scary Movie 2. But while the jokes come thick and fast, it’s all so obvious, scattershot and immediately dated that nothing lands. It’s not funny or clever, provocative or edgy – it’s just boring.

Lacks sharpness, insight and, crucially, humour 

Scary Movie has avoided adding a ‘6’ to its title, seemingly to appear like a fresh reboot, and claims to be a ‘spiritual sequel’ to the first two films. It actually proves to be a well-worn retread, but nevertheless should do well with Saturday night crowds looking for untaxing adult comedy when it rolls out worldwide from June 3. (The 2000 original made $278m, the highest grossing of all the films to date; in contrast, 2013’s Scary Movie 5 took $78m.) 

The film will also appeal to fans who have been waiting for a new Wayans brothers project after the likes of Don’t Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood (2007), White Chicks (2004), Little Man (2006) and Fifty Shades Of Black (2016). But with the modern horror landscape being populated with exciting original fare like Obsession, Backrooms, Weapons, Sinners and The Substance (most of which are parodied here), Scary Movie, for all its supposedly up-to-date satire, just winds up looking dated and dull.

The plot, such as it is, sees the return of the masked ‘Ghostface’ killer, who hasn’t appeared in the franchise since Scary Movie 2 (subsequent films have focused on other genre cliches, like cursed video tapes or terrifying escape rooms). It also welcomes back Anna Faris (star of the first four films) as Cindy Campbell, who is now an alcoholic recluse and spends her time preparing for the return of the masked maniac she battled in the first two features. Scream and Halloween are just two of the many, many titles that are skewered here, from canonical stalwarts like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th to modern titles Terrifier (whose antagonist Art The Clown appears in the film’s best scene), M3GAN, Ma, Get Out and Longlegs.

The focus, initially at least, is on Cindy’s teenage daughter Sarah (Olivia Rose Keegan), who reluctantly teams up with her estranged mother to best the knife-wielding psycho targeting her and her friends. Also along for the ride is Cindy’s other daughter Tuesday (Savannah Lee Nassif) and best friend Brenda (Hall), together with Brenda’s brother Shorty (Marlon Wayans), kids Dei (Sydney Park) and Brad (Gregg Wayans) and former boyfriend Ray (Shawn Wayans). As this rag-tag group attempt to work out a way to survive, the five screenwriters (including four Wayans brothers) pummel the viewer with haphazard sight gags targeting, among other things: Covid-19, the Epstein Files; #MeToo; the January 6 Capitol attacks; cancel culture, police brutality, wokeism, racism, ageism, environmentalism and penis size. And on and on for 95 long minutes.

Indeed, director Michael Tiddes (who was an assistant on previous Wayans projects White Chicks and Little Man) seems to be daring his audience to take offence, the film revelling in – and relying completely on – its self-proclaimed provocative, taboo-busting, anti-woke schtick. But it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, and better (including in 2022 horror comedy The Blackening) and here lacks the sharpness, insight and, crucially, humour that made the first Scary Movie a successful horror parody.

Times have certainly changed in the 26 years since that original film was released, and the years have not been kind. There’s just not enough of substance (no pun intended) to tick the nostalgia box for longstanding fans, and new young audiences will undoubtedly be more culturally savvy than this tired material – so are far more likely to be bemused than amused.