Scary Movie preview screening provided by Paramount Pictures
It’s taken 25 years but the original ‘OG’ cast of the Scary Movie franchise is back in this latest outing, promising audiences new and old a “non woke” Scary Movie that unashamedly pokes fun at anything and everything. While they deliver on that promise, it’s more of a tempered return for a franchise that hasn’t had a new entry in 13 years after the dreadful Scary Movie 5 (2013).
With the Wayan’s back and playing a bigger role following the creative fallout they had with producers after the first two films, the level of self awareness is palpable, both in terms of criticism of the drama they had and the whole “this is a movie, we know it’s a movie, we’re doing movie tropes” aspect. This starts right from the reintroduction of Ghostface who is back to deal with some unfinished slicing and dicing. His motives quickly become clear in classic Scary Movie spewed exposition style: use the new “kids of the OG stars” cast as a means to get to the OG stars and kill them for good.
From there a game of cat and mouse takes place, with Ghostface targeting characters one by one, but with the added element of multiple spin-offs on modern horrors peppered throughout. It’s the most a Scary Movie film has satirised other horror titles, with everything from Get Out (2017) to Weapons (2025) in the mix and it delivers the comedic bit sized ‘bits’ that these films have perfected over the years. While the humour feels a bit less zany and original than in the first few films —especially with the added element of a YouTube star and Gen Z humour that, while topical, feels misplaced and done to death— there are some unique bits that I won’t say much on (one involves the Get Out tea cup scene).
Marlon Wayans plays Shorty in Scary Movie
Most of the humour is derived from the original cast picking up where they left off with their antics. Legendary final girl Cindy (Anna Faris) brings her classic astonished facial expressions back, Shorty (Marlon Wayans) has his cracker jack stoner down pat, Ray (Shawn Wayans) continues being the most uncloseted closeted gay man in cinema, and Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall) slots back into her unapologetic role as Cindy’s friend. There are other side characters from the first two films mixed in as well, but take that game of guess who with you to the screening.
There’s a triumphant sendoff in the closing act, with a reclaiming of what was once taken from the Wayans’. It’s a subversive closing sequence that spins the idea of passing the torch on to the next generation on its head, and it feels like a big F U to the lack of creativity in Hollywood.
While much has changed in the 26 years since Scary Movie (2000) there’s a bitter-sweetness with seeing this cast reunited on-screen again, especially knowing that these sorts of films were such a staple of early 2000s teen cinema. Other titles that really should never have had a sequel like Happy Gilmore 2 (2025) have pandered to audiences and were unable to capture the glee of their unhinged, uncompromising humour when they were released. At least with the Scary Movie franchise, poking fun has always been the name of the game, and you can always count on a new Scream movie to give you a reason to riff on Ghostface one more time.
Scary Movie opens nationally from today
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