Film Review – Scary Movie (2026)
Film: Scary Movie (MA)
Directed by: Michael Tiddes
Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans
Review by: Julian Wright
Halloween, Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer have dredged up more sequels recently in the name of nostalgia, so why not the hit parody franchise that changed hands and dwindled away over the years?
The Wayans brothers have reclaimed their low-brow, foul-mouthed, gross-out, un-PC Scary Movie series for more bodily fluid gags and a dose of the N word (Nostalgia! But they do use the other one liberally).
Cindy Prescott (Anna Faris) is now a Laurie Strode/Sidney Prescott hybrid with teenage daughter issues due to her neglect because of her doom prepping for Ghostface’s bloody return.
Brenda (Reginal Hall) is back as a Ma-like mother of two kids always handing out jelly shots to their underage friends and her husband Ray (Shawn Wayans) is still struggling with his sexuality.
And Shorty (Marlon Wayans) is still a stoner and now in his 25th year as a high school student.
Whether they were killed or a killer in a previous instalment, a range of past cast members come back in significant or cameo appearances, because nostalgia.
Where the latest Scream dropped the ball in commenting on the current state of the horror genre, Scary Movie has picked it back up, commenting on the franchise OGs reclaiming what has been handed over to other filmmakers to capitalise on what they created.
It is the one clever aspect to this film, and, let’s face, this series has never been praised for sharp satirical or subversive observations.
No, the Wayans brothers still rely on what made the 2000 Scary Movie a huge hit – stupid skits parodying popular horror movie scenes strung together with an enthusiastic comedic cast and an endless supply of jokes in poor taste.
But you know what, it worked, delivering a bunch of off-colour laugh out loud moments and even a few iconic scenes that are still memed to this day.
Is this trip down memory and self-proclaimed nostalgia grab worth it?
It is amusing to see these dopey characters dealing with the trauma tropes their horror counterparts have come to endure, and it is great to see the gang back together (ok, nostalgia does have quite the chokehold),
You will definitely laugh, it’s hard not to, but nothing quite matches the chaotic laughs as the original, nor are they as consistent.
Hall is present but not provided an iconic sequence like her cinema trip to see Shakespeare in Love, or when she was chased by a skeleton in part two.
The marketing promises that lines will be crossed, and many are, yet some aspects feel strangely safe for the Wayans brothers.
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