With: Marlon Wayans, Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Shawn Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Savannah Lee Nassif, Ruby Snowber, Olivia Rose Keegan, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Kim Wayans, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Dave Sheridan, Heidi Gardner, Lochlyn Munro, Sydney Park, Jon Abrahams, Kenan Thompson, Teyana Taylor, Anthony Anderson, Shaquille O'Neal, Carmen Electra
Written by: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans, Rick Alvarez
Directed by: Michael Tiddes
MPAA Rating: R for crude sexual content, graphic nudity, strong violence, and drug content and language throughout
Not much has changed for this old franchise that might have once offered some guilty pleasure giggles, but even with up-to-date gags, Michael Tiddes's Scary Movie still has a worn-out feeling, and most of the jokes don't land.
The Ghostface Killer returns and threatens Tuesday (Savannah Lee Nassif). Her sister Sara (Olivia Rose Keegan) visits her in the hospital, bringing along her boyfriend Jack (Cameron Scott Roberts). Sara and Tuesday are the daughters of Cindy (Anna Faris), though Sara is estranged from her mother, and Cindy has hidden herself away for years in a house full of booby traps.
Cindy is reunited with Brenda (Regina Hall), Shorty (Marlon Wayans), and Ray (Shawn Wayans). Together the old friends and new friends try to figure out where the killer will strike next, which among them might actually be wearing the mask, and what the heck is generally going on.
Coming twenty-six years after the first entry and thirteen years after the last, Scary Movie is modeled after the plot of the fifth Scream movie, which, for whatever reason, was called simply Scream; hence, this one is Scary Movie, rather than Scary Movie 6. However, it opens with a callback to Scream VI and Samara Weaving's opening scare in the alleyway. This time it's Teyana Taylor, and the outcome is a bit different, if less than hilarious.
The movie takes side trips to try to lampoon Sinners, Get Out, Terrifier 3, The Substance, Longlegs, etc., also without getting much of a laugh. It rolls out a few modern jokes about things like the Epstein Files, pronouns, DEI, ICE raids, etc. with about the same results.
It can't even manage a tinge of nostalgia (as the Scream films do so well), probably because these aren't really characters, but rather simple sketches, delivery devices for the jokes.
That said, Scary Movie does manage maybe a half-dozen surprise laughs that catch you off guard, so it's not a total waste. But the irreverent days of the original Scary Movie (2000) and maybe its first sequel are long, long gone.
