More than two decades after the original helped redefine modern movie spoofs, SCARY MOVIE is back with the return of Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, and Shawn Wayans. On paper, that reunion should have been enough to reignite the franchise. Unfortunately, while the new film delivers occasional flashes of the series’ old magic, it struggles to find enough genuinely funny material to justify its comeback.
The biggest selling point is unquestionably the cast. Faris slips back into Cindy Campbell mode with ease, reminding audiences why she became one of comedy’s most underrated stars. Regina Hall remains a scene-stealer as Brenda, often generating laughs through sheer commitment to even the dumbest jokes. Marlon and Shawn Wayans also bring welcome energy, creating moments that feel closest to the spirit of the original films.
The problem is that the movie mistakes references for comedy far too often.
Like many modern legacy sequels, SCARY MOVIE spends so much time reminding viewers of other movies, TV shows, celebrities, and internet trends that it forgets to actually build jokes around them. The targets are certainly plentiful, ranging from recent horror hits to streaming culture and social media obsessions, but most of the punchlines arrive with a shrug rather than a laugh. The film seems convinced that simply recognizing a reference is enough to make it funny. Too often, it isn’t. Critics widely noted that the movie relies heavily on pop-culture callbacks while struggling to deliver the sharp parody that made the earliest entries stand out.
That’s not to say the movie is completely devoid of laughs.
There are scattered moments where the Wayans’ trademark absurdity breaks through. A handful of visual gags land perfectly, several surprise cameos generate genuine crowd-pleasing reactions, and the movie occasionally embraces such ridiculous stupidity that it’s difficult not to smile. Unfortunately, those moments are separated by long stretches of filler that feel more exhausting than entertaining. Several reviewers praised individual jokes and cameos while criticizing the film’s uneven hit-to-miss ratio.
One of the film’s biggest issues is timing. The original SCARY MOVIE arrived at a moment when horror was ripe for parody and mainstream spoof comedies were thriving. In 2026, the landscape feels very different. Audiences have become more selective, parody movies are far less common, and simply repeating jokes that might have worked twenty years ago isn’t enough. The film often feels trapped between honoring its early-2000s roots and trying to comment on modern culture, never fully committing to either approach.
Ironically, the nostalgia may be both the movie’s greatest strength and biggest weakness. Seeing Cindy, Brenda, Ray, and Shorty together again carries undeniable appeal. Fans who grew up with the original films will enjoy spending time with these characters, even if the material surrounding them isn’t particularly inspired. Yet the movie leans so heavily on that goodwill that it rarely proves why this franchise needed to return in the first place.
Visually, the film looks better than many viewers might expect. The production values are stronger than past entries, and the movie occasionally stages its horror parodies with enough style to almost function as legitimate genre sequences. But attractive cinematography can only carry a comedy so far when the jokes aren’t consistently landing.
The most disappointing aspect of SCARY MOVIE is that you can occasionally see the better version hiding underneath. Whenever Faris, Hall, or the Wayans brothers are allowed to simply play off one another, the film comes alive. Those brief stretches remind viewers why the franchise became such a cultural phenomenon in the first place. They’re just far too infrequent.
Fans looking for a nostalgic trip back to the early 2000s will likely find enough here to justify a ticket. Everyone else may leave wondering whether some franchises are better left in the past.
SCARY MOVIE isn’t the disaster its harshest reviews suggest, but it’s also nowhere near the triumphant return fans were hoping for. The cast remains likable, the cameos are fun, and a few jokes genuinely work. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to overcome a screenplay that confuses quantity of references with quality of comedy.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
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