Once I heard the news that there would be a sixth installment to the “Scary Movie” franchise, I was immediately interested to see how the film’s creators, the Wayans brothers, would continue the franchise 13 years after the release of “Scary Movie 5.”
However, after watching the new film, I am disappointed to say that the Wayans brothers have failed to capture the level of comedy that was present in their previous films.
The new installment, “Scary Movie” (2026), released June 6, is set 26 years after the first movie’s story with the original gang of characters having grown up and had children of their own.
The protagonist of the original film, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), has become very clearly deranged as she lives in a booby-trapped house that parodies 2025 film “Final Destination: Bloodlines.” In this film, Iris Campbell survives a catastrophic tower collapse, protecting herself from death’s design by protecting herself in her fortified house. Cindy’s fear of the film’s parody of Ghostface from the “Scream” franchise forces her to live within her house’s protection, all while not making an effort to contact her two daughters Sara (Olivia Rose Keegan) and Tuesday (Savannah Lee Nassif).
The film begins with Ghostface attacking Tuesday in a comedic style reminiscent of the first movie where she presumptiously acts like she knows how the killer will try to attack her but fails to anticipate their next move, leaving her in the hospital severely injured.
Then, in a fashion much like other “Scary Movie” films, these legacy characters get hunted down one by one in order to eliminate their older counterparts, the movie’s original cast.
What made the film franchise stand out initially was its ability to perfectly spoof various horror films at the time “Scary Movie” initially released and have many of those jokes land in a way that kept the story moving along. While “Scary Movie” never made sense in its complete oddball plot and character interactions, it still held a charm few comedy movies can recreate. It was this nonsensical charm that has made the franchise one of my favorites.
Maybe I had my bar set too high for this new film, but I feel like it has lost much of the original “Scary Movie” charm in various ways.
To start, the film felt entirely too jam-packed with all its horror movie references, which often seemed like random bits of pop-culture the film’s creators could lazily throw in. While I enjoyed that this film modernized its spoofs to include horror movies released in the last decade such as “The Substance,” “Longlegs” and “Weapons,” I felt like they didn’t really do much in terms of creating actual plot points.
It became clear to me that the quantity of references was prioritized over quality, leading to many jokes to fall short.
What made the film feel even more unnecessarily random was its various cutaways. For example, in one moment we were viewing Twitch streamer Kai Cenat’s live stream where Ghostface is spinning the wheel, or in another, we were getting a “Michael” spoof where the movie is instead about Jermaine Jackson. These segments felt completely unnecessary regarding the film’s main story, leading me to believe they were just thrown in for shock value.
While the movie started parodying “KPop Demon Hunters,” I questioned why these non-horror source materials were being added to the movie. After all, the movie is called “Scary Movie.” And adding a parody of a kid's movie came completely out of nowhere, further muddling the plot’s structure.
I was also disappointed to realize that the film’s trailer spoiled many of the various movie references.
In fact, most of the horror references were already shown in the trailer, leading me to feel little enjoyment when a film parody emerged. The element of surprise became nonexistent as I already knew what I was in for, having seen the film’s funniest moments in the trailer.
The original cast of Cindy, Shorty (Marlon Wayans), Ray (Shawn Wayans) and Brenda (Regina Hall) unsurprisingly became the movie’s strong suit. Seeing these lovable yet admittedly odd characters reunite was my favorite part, especially Cindy and Brenda. Both are flawed moms — while Cindy has avoided her kids completely, Brenda actively hosts parties at her house for all the high schoolers to drink and get into trouble.
In comparison, the legacy characters are structurally weaker, becoming almost a caricature of Gen Z kids. I felt that the movie placed too much focus on creating a generational separation between these characters and the original cast. For example, Brenda’s kid Dei (Sydney Park) rides a metro train holding an animal rights sign and gets stabbed by Ghostface, and they have to correct their pronouns when another passenger exclaims “He stabbed her!”
As someone who is a part of Gen Z, the film’s exploration of these modern topics felt like watching an older relative complain about the younger generation using extreme, unrealistic examples.
Despite my many complaints about the film, this sixth film rekindles nostalgia for the original spoof franchise.
Modern comedy has often failed to achieve what “Scary Movie” created many years before: a perfectly odd and delightful parody that is unafraid to take risks. And I am glad I was able to revisit this perplexingly distinct franchise, even though it fails to live up to its previous glory.
