Scary Movie (2026)

Director: Michael Tiddes
Starring: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Kenan Thompson, Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Monro, Kim Wayans, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Damon Wayans Jr., Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Cameron Scott Roberts, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, Gregg Wayans, Benny Zielke, Ruby Snowber, Jon Abrahams, Deon Cole, Carmen Electra, Teyana Taylor, Kai Senet, Anthony Anderson, Shaquille O' Neal 
Running Time: 96 min.
Rating: R

★★½ (out of ★★★★) 

At least on paper, rebooting or requeling the Scary Movie franchise a little over a decade since its last installment isn't the worst idea in the world, especially given how many new horror films seem ripe for parody. And while there's minimal nostalgia to be found in reuniting a cast that starred in half a dozen of these already, the Wayans brothers do make good on their promise to temporarily resurrect the politically incorrect comedy with this entry. So regardless of how many jokes land or flop, they can't be accused of playing it safe. 

The real problem is that it's sort of a mess, with randomly inserted and characters whose actions inconsistently waver depending on how ridiculous the story needs to be at any given moment. But that's almost a silly complaint to lodge against a franchise that's always been about getting to the next gag at any expense, including quality. They're just especially blatant about it this time, with parodies flying at us a mile a minute as it spoofs every popular horror movie of the past five years and skewers a variety of hot button social issues. 

Now a paranoid recluse and alcoholic, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) is estranged from her two daughters when the youngest, Tuesday (Savannah Lee Nassif) is attacked by a recently resurfaced Ghostface killer.  Older sister Sara (Olivia Rose Keegan) and her boyfriend Jack (Cameron Scott Roberts) try to narrow down the suspects, getting help from Brenda's (Regina Hall) kids Brad (Gregg Wayans) and Dei (Sydney Park), Brad's girlfriend Elle (Ruby Snowber) and Sheriff Phillippe's (Lochlyn Monro) transgender son Jess (Benny Zielke). 

While at odds with pill popping daughter Sara, Cindy reunites with Brenda and Shorty (Marlon Wayans), convinced Ghostface is back to kill off the original legacy characters. And as the religious, churchgoing Brenda deals with husband Gay Ray's (Shawn Wayans) ambivalence about his homosexuality, original Ghostface and mentally challenged former deputy Doofy Gilmore (Dave Sheridan) reemerges, aiding Sara and the gang. But with the body count rapidly rising, everyone's a suspect.

What's most noticeable is how determined the Wayans are to go to those uncomfortable places that permeated the 2000's era spoof films, challenging the notion it still can't be done today. And it's a relief they're fully committed to the offensiveness considering this material is so wildly uneven that holding back would really sink it.  

The opening scene featuring Teyana Taylor as "herself" in the franchise's meta movie within a movie spoof immediately quells concerns, providing enough laughs to wish they'd continue along this trajectory. But as quickly as this occurs, the action immediately shifts to the actual story, with a plot that shares an outline with the latest batch of Scream sequels, right down to the terrorized sisters and suspicious boyfriend. 

Of course, all of this highlights the challenge of basing an entire series of films on spoofing an existing horror franchise that's already a self-referential parody of its own. As usual, the Wayans solve this problem by sending up everything else, whether it's Sinners, Smile, Weapons, Get Out, Terrifier, M3GAN, Longlegs, Wednesday, K-Pop Demon Hunters, The Substance and even Michael. The Substance spoof featuring a returning Cheri Oteri as the Courtney Cox-inspired reporter Gail Hailstorm is probably the funniest while multiple, oddly placed jabs at Sinners bomb, especially a lengthy church "conversion" scene with Gay Ray that overstays its welcome. 

Ironically, the film does best when tackling the riskiest material, such as the sheriff's interactions with trans son Jess, COVID or a train scene centered around the nonbinary, not so subtly named Dei's obsession with pronouns. It's when the plot has to move forward that this stalls, but that's nothing new for the franchise. Anyone labeling it a huge step down from the others or an affront to cinema may want to rewatch those to remind themselves how bad these can get. Or maybe not.

A returning Faris enters her grizzled Jamie Lee Curtis phase from the most recent Halloween trilogy, putting her own comedic spin on the drunk, mentally unstable, gun toting survivalist driven to insanity from the previous films' events. If there's a Final Girl, it's Sara, who Olivia Rose Keegan plays as over-the-top and in-your-face as possible, recognizing that the most appropriate performance in a Scary Movie sequel is always an intentionally bad one. Marlon Wayans takes a page out of that book as permanently baked high school student Shorty while Dave Sheridan's Doofy reverts to his original "special needs" incarnation, stepping back into his uniform as if it were yesterday.

Stumbling from one Ghostface scenario to the next with hardly a plot to speak of, director Michael Tiddes throws jokes at the wall to see what sticks. Probability dictates a bunch will, even as others fall flat in the span of a 96 minute running time that feels just a bit longer. The parodies that do hit tend to hit hard, and if they weren't directly followed by awkward character moments that slow the momentum, this could have been something. But by its end, the Wayans brothers seem just as bored seeing the legacy characters interact with these new faces as we are. And if that's the biggest takeaway, they might have a better understanding of this franchise than we thought.