Scary Movie (2026) Dir. Michael Tiddes

26 Years after the original film, the Wayan brothers are back for the 6^th instalment of the Scary Movie franchise. Acting as a spiritual successor to the original two films. Scary Movie (2026) finds itself back in an absurd reference filled world, this time parodying Scream 5. With references to modern horror and other pop culture moments, will this new instalment hit the mark?

I’m not a fan of the Scary Movie franchise. To me it’s always come across as annoyingly centrist, offensive, and jarring. But I am a big fan of parodies, and I think the parody genre hasn’t seen the time of day in a long time. When this movie was announced, I was hesitant but optimistic. Perhaps a good comedy poking fun at 2020’s horror is what the film industry needs right now! But then the trailer for this movie released, and it reminded me immediately of why the Scary Movie franchise has always been the annoying little cousin of the parody genre.

In my opinion the best parodies are the ones that pay their respects to the genre, and are made with a clear love and understanding of what made the original films so iconic and lovable. Showcasing some of the silly cliches whilst making sure they don’t step on the toes of the original filmmakers. The Scary Movie franchise has always felt like its laughing at the genre rather than with it. Scary Movie (2026) has this same vibe. It’s filled with constant punch down humour that always comes across as the lowest form of wit.

Looking back on the Scary Movie films, like most early 2000’s comedies, they are horribly dated. This latest film continues to be as offensive as humanly possible. Containing homophobia, transphobia, ablism, and the list goes on. It continuous with the mindset of “let's make fun of everyone”, The films tag line is even “All boundaries will be crossed”. But this ideology only comes across as ignorant. Making fun of the entire political spectrum only does one thing, it alienates the left wing who can’t look past the irony and appeases the right wing who see their political takes reaffirmed. There are also rumours that they cut out a scene where the new white actors are doing black face. In an increasingly volatile world where things are seemingly getting worse, is a film like this really what we need?

Additionally, what made the original Scary Movies feel so culturally relevant, is the fact that they parodied films that had just come out. Their fingers were really on the pulse of the genre. But Scary Movie (2026) is parodying Scream 5, which in itself marked the end of the rebooted sequel era. Scream 5 poked fun at the era itself. Therefore, it makes Scary Movie (2026) feel like it came out 10 years too late, outdating itself instantly.

As well as this, the original Scary Movie only really focused on Scream, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, with a handful of other references. Scary Movie (2026) is a bloated mess that tries to cram in as many references as humanly possible. The amount of times they do a cut away gag to reference a horror film is outstanding and bares no weight to the film itself. It feels like most of the time they have a checklist of popular horror films that they want to do and every five minutes they are ticking off another film.

Credit where credit is due, there are a few good zingers in this film. With funny references that are well meaning and well placed. As well as containing some interesting meta commentary about the Scary Movie Franchise. The performances in this movie also continue to be pretty good. There is a clear vibe that the Wayans want to create, and the actors are achieving that, both returning and new additions.

I just can’t get behind a film that is so blatantly and openly offensive. Sadly, this film only shows how far we have regressed as a society, to the point where movies like this are deemed acceptable to make again. It was made with no love for the genre with the mindset of a bully who thinks horror is stupid. This was a film that no one asked for, we should have left this franchise where it belonged. In the past, in a bygone era.

Yet somehow, this movie is still better than Scream 7.

★½

1.5 / 5

Jacob Holmes



Instagram: _jacob.holmes

Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/2vL6V