Scary Movie 6 Review: A parody film where the laughs are nonexistent

PLOT: Two friends find themselves caught up in mayhem involving killers, monsters and supernatural creatures once again.

REVIEW: It’s crazy to me that it’s been 13 years since we’ve received a new Scary Movie, and even longer since we’ve gotten one from the Wayans. They were such a staple of the 2000s and a great way for Hollywood to make fun of itself. And I’m not sure I’ve heard a louder reaction this decade to a trailer than I did for this one when it aired during the opening night of Scream 7. The hype was very much real. In an era when theatrical comedies are rare, I really hoped Scary Movie 6 would show why we need these types of comedies back. Unfortunately, it seems like more thought was put into the marketing push than the actual film itself.

Scary Movie 6 (because calling it simply Scary Movie just makes things far too confusing) sees the return of Anna Faris as Cindy Campbell as she reunites with her old friends. I won’t lie, it is very fun to see Shorty, Ray, and Brenda back, along with the slew of others from the franchise’s past. I think I was most excited at the prospect of Doofy returning, since he was quite literally the killer from the first film. But he, along with many others, has absolutely nothing to do and is just there for a quick laugh.

I’ll be honest, in all of my years of reviewing movies, I’ve always find comedies to be the toughest nut to crack. Comedies, by nature, are very subjective and can be hard to break down in a critical way. So while I won’t bemoan the performances or the flat lighting, it’s hard not to be critical of the humor. The first two films had their finger on the pulse, breaking down horror tropes and giving us some genuinely great characters. But this just feels like the filmmakers haven’t caught up with the modern era and are just taking surface-level jabs. The humor never goes past a chuckle.

Any good Legacy Sequel also gives us some new characters to latch onto, yet this mostly just relies on past characters and nostalgia. Most of the new characters feel pretty pointless, but I did quite enjoy Olivia Rose Keegan as Cindy’s daughter. She was able to make her voice exactly like Faris’ and even pulled off some of her mannerisms. I also got a kick out of the big cameo in the beginning, but it’s far from a laugh riot, even when it pulls off something enjoyable.

There are many layers when it comes to Scary Movie 6, as the original was mostly a film making fun of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Now, it’s commenting on the legacy sequels of those films, while being one itself. And, with the series taking such a long break, there’s a slew of new films to parody as well. So you’re asking the audience to have immense knowledge of many different things. I think the whole idea of a parody film is tough to pull off in this day and age. We used to have pop culture that permeated the population, but now it’s so segmented, with so many different forms of entertainment being consumed, that it’s hard to parody a subject and even be confident that your audience will even know what it is. I think that’s one of Scary Movie 6’s main problems, it constantly feels like they’re having to explain the joke or wink at the camera.

Get Out, Halloween 2018, Scream 5 and 6, Terrifier 3, The Substance, and so much more get parodied here. There are some subtle jokes, but most of the time they try and hit you over the head with it. I also don’t think the filmmakers even understood what The Substance was about, because it’s all used for a lame joke; leaving so much meat on the bone in the process. The story uses Scream 5 as its structure so, if you haven’t seen that film, you’ll be missing out on a lot of the references. Like the original film, it takes that Scream plot seriously, and hardly ever deviates. Though it can feel like a Family Guy episode when it shifts to a different parodied film.

Part of me hoped that Scary Movie 6’s release would bring back parody films in a more significant way. It’s a subgenre I’ve always enjoyed and this film proves why we need them: it’s good to laugh at ourselves. But I’m just not sure if this will cause the seismic shift that I was hoping for as it doesn’t really succeed at the most important thing: being funny. Many of the jokes felt like ones the writer’s had been sitting on for decades, making them immediately feel dated. And I’m just not sure how this will connect with anyone who doesn’t already have a pre-established link with the franchise. But even those that do, the thrill of “oh my god, THAT person’s back” gets old fairly quickly.

Scary Movie 6 is playing in theaters everywhere on June 5th, 2026.