The Scary Movie franchise has returned after 13 years, but early reviews suggest the horror satire series may have been better left in the past. The sixth instalment, simply titled Scary Movie, currently holds a 32 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics panning its predictable plot and outdated jokes.
The film reunites the original Core Four cast—Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris and Regina Hall—to spoof recent horror hits such as Ma, M3GAN, Weapons and Sinners. Despite the impressive lineup of references, early viewers have expressed disappointment. One Rotten Tomatoes user noted: “Scary Movie 2026’s joke success rate is unfortunately on the low side, feeling like maybe 3 or 4 out of every 10 jokes hit the mark.” Another called it “a dreadful reboot that stumbles through tired, miserable ideas for comedy.”
The film also holds a Metacritic score of 37, indicating generally unfavourable reviews, and an average rating of 3.0 on Letterboxd. A third reviewer commented: “The film is really just an excuse to string together a bunch of cinematic in-jokes... The result is a slow death that drags even at 96 minutes.”
Marlon Wayans, who co-created the franchise and stars as Shorty, had previously warned that the sequel could “offend people,” telling Entertainment Weekly: “We just want to make everybody laugh, and we don’t care if you’re sensitive. Even sensitive people need to laugh at themselves.”
Scary Movie is released in cinemas on Friday with a runtime of 95 minutes.
