SCARY MOVIE is an Homage to Itself

SCARY MOVIE (4K UHD)

2026 / 95 min

Paramount

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😾

Were there really that many people pining for a legacy sequel to a franchise that was instrumental in killing the parody genre in the first place? Apparently so, because the latest Scary Movie film (arriving 13 years after the last one), was a big hit, even though it mostly plays like a high-five to itself and its creators, the Wayans brothers.

I’m old enough to remember when these guys were actually funny. If you’ve never seen the classic sketch comedy, In Living Color, or Keenen Ivory Wayans’ hilarious directorial debut, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, you owe it to yourself to seek them out. Now that was some funny shit, even if the viewer wasn’t always familiar with what they were satirizing.

Then the original Scary Movie came along, which was largely a satire of a slasher film (Scream) that was already a satire of slasher films. It had its moments, but mostly dumbed things down with lots of dick jokes, drug humor, the “N” word and pop culture references that wouldn't be relevant in a year or two. The sequels were even worse, though.

Marlon reacts to his Oscar snub.

The brothers are back for the first time since Scary Movie 2, bringing with them a cast of new and familiar faces. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. Though horror itself has changed a lot over the years, Scary Movie (2026) is largely content to keep making fun of the Scream franchise (which itself has long-since descended into self-parody). A few modern films are referenced here and there, so if the idea of M3GAN breakdancing has you in stitches, you’ll love the Get Out-inspired hypnosis scene (where Marlon Wayans being stoned is the actual joke). And let's not forget the scene recreating the “birth” sequence from The Substance, where out of a character’s back pops the Epstein Files (huh-huh…it’s funny because it’s the Epstein Files). 

It soon becomes clear that the Wayans brothers are their own biggest fans, even giving a shout-out to White Chicks (which they seem to remember more fondly than anyone else). Elsewhere, the movie packs in white jokes, black jokes, dick jokes, gay jokes, drug jokes, gratuitous cameos and gobs of “N” bombs, all set to a hip-hop soundtrack, which we all know is the hallmark of every movie parody. Most of the gags on display would’ve been eye-rolling 20 years ago. Today, they feel like pandering, simple-minded attempts to amuse undiscriminating 13-year-old boys…or the Wayanses themselves.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Scream Together features interviews with some of the veteran cast; Fresh Meat focuses on the newer cast members; Wayans World shows the brothers on-set; Scene Dissection takes a closer look at specific sequences of the film.

DIGITAL COPY