Twenty-six years is a long time to wait for a reunion, but the Wayans brothers make it feel like no time has passed at all. Scary Movie (2026) — officially the sixth installment in the franchise — reunites the original core four: Marlon Wayans as Shorty, Shawn Wayans as Ray, Anna Faris as Cindy, and Regina Hall as Brenda, all targeted once again by a familiar masked killer with an agenda as absurd as ever.
Directed by Michael Tiddes, who has collaborated with the Wayans family on multiple projects, the film wastes no time getting into the parody. Within the first ten minutes, it takes aim at Sinners, Weapons, and A Quiet Place — landing some genuinely clever jabs alongside the expected lowbrow humor. The best jokes come from the Sinners spoof, where Marlon Wayans commits fully to a bit that somehow escalates beyond all reason and lands perfectly.
What Works
The chemistry between the original cast is the film’s biggest asset. Faris, Hall, and the Wayans brothers clearly had a blast making this, and that energy is infectious on screen. There’s a loose, improvisational quality to many scenes that feels refreshing compared to the more formulaic entries that came after Scary Movie 2. Damon Wayans Jr. is a welcome addition, bringing sharp physical comedy to his role as Agent Underwood, and SNL’s Heidi Gardner steals every scene she’s in.
The film is at its best when it commits to a bit fully. A mid-film sequence spoofing elevated horror tropes — think long silences, bleak color grading, and a character who won’t stop whispering — is the funniest stretch of the movie and demonstrates that Tiddes and the writing team genuinely understand what they’re parodying.
What Doesn’t
At 96 minutes, Scary Movie still manages to feel slightly padded in its second act. Not every parody lands — a few references feel dated or underdeveloped, and some gags overstay their welcome. The film also tries to inject a thin emotional throughline about the Core Four’s friendship and the passage of time, which doesn’t quite gel with the surrounding chaos. It’s clearly meant to give the reunion weight, but it comes across as obligatory rather than earned.
The horror-spoof genre has evolved significantly since 2001, and while Scary Movie 6 is sharper than its middle-era predecessors, it still doesn’t quite hit the heights of the original. Modern audiences have been conditioned by a more self-aware pop culture, which raises the bar for what parody needs to do to genuinely surprise.
The Verdict
Scary Movie 6 is a crowd-pleasing, occasionally inspired return to form for a franchise that badly needed the Wayans family back at the helm. It won’t win any awards, and it doesn’t try to. What it delivers is two hours of committed, go-for-broke comedy from a cast that knows exactly what this movie is supposed to be. Turn your brain off, bring your most chaotic friends, and let the Wayans cancel everything in sight.
Rated R — Runtime: 96 minutes — Distributed by Paramount Pictures