Scary Movie (2026): A Painfully Unfunny Spoof of Modern Horror

There was a time when poking fun at pop culture through direct references, absurd gags, and over-the-top satire was one of Hollywood’s most popular comedic formulas. The 2000s were filled with spoof movies, but none from that era had the cultural impact or staying power of the ‘Scary Movie’ franchise. While critics rarely embraced the series, audiences consistently showed up, helping the franchise spawn five sequels that reflected the state of horror at the time of their release.

Unfortunately, with each new installment, their quality sharply declined. What began as gleefully dumb fun gradually became a series of films that had more misses than genuinely funny jokes. It has now been thirteen years since 2013’s ‘Scary Movie 5’, and in the years that followed, the spoof genre largely disappeared from mainstream cinema. That seemed unlikely to change until last year’s ‘The Naked Gun‘ exceeded expectations and demonstrated that broad, unapologetically silly comedy can still work for modern audiences when executed well.

At the same time, the horror landscape has changed dramatically since the release of Scary Movie 5. The early films in the franchise often leaned on tongue-in-cheek commentary on the lack of representation for Black audiences within the genre. Today, horror is filled with acclaimed films from Black filmmakers such as Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, and Nia DaCosta, who have helped reshape what mainstream horror can be. Meanwhile, the rise of so-called “elevated horror” has dominated genre discourse for more than a decade, providing a rich target for satire. Especially considering this promised the grand return of the Wayans family to the franchise, many were hoping Scary Movie to return with a fresh perspective on modern horror.

Unfortunately, there’s very little that feels fresh about the sixth installment in the ‘Scary Movie’ franchise. When Golden Globe winner Teyana Taylor appears in the opening scene playing a heightened version of herself, it initially feels like the film might be onto something. The sequence is gleefully ridiculous in all the right ways, and Taylor once again proves that her comedic timing is just as sharp as her dramatic abilities. For a brief moment, it seems as though this film could rejuvenate the franchise. Unfortunately, that promise quickly fades, and from there the film tumbles downhill.

Scary Movie 6 is so deeply unfunny and out of touch with the current horror landscape that it’s almost baffling. After a 13-year hiatus, one would expect the franchise to return with a fresh perspective or a clever take on modern horror, but that never materializes. Outside of the occasional modern horror reference, it is shocking to think that this is a film released in 2026. Although the central plot loosely spoofs the recent ‘Scream’ films, every time it attempts to parody another horror movie, it completely abandons its own narrative, rather than finding a clever or cohesive way to incorporate those references. The result is a disjointed collection of gags that rarely land and never come together as a satisfying spoof.

The jokes range from exhaustingly stupid to shockingly out of touch. The film makes little effort to engage with the trends that have defined horror over the last decade, whether that’s the rise of so-called elevated horror or the success of Black-led horror films. Instead, it falls back on stale culture war punchlines that feel years past their expiration date. The repeated shots at “wokeness” come across as tired rather than subversive, while several jokes aimed at the trans community feel less like satire and more like mean-spirited cheap shots. Even by the low standards of modern spoof comedies, it’s remarkable how consistently Scary Movie 6 misses the mark. More than anything, it’s shocking that a film this devoid of genuinely funny ideas made it to theatres in the first place instead of going straight to Paramount+.

More than anything, the film feels like a relic from another era, one that misunderstands both what made the original successful and the landscape of horror today. Great spoofs don’t just reference popular movies, they understand the genres they’re parodying and have something clever to say about them. This film does neither. Instead, it settles for lazy pop-culture references, outdated punchlines, and an incoherent stream of gags that rarely generate more than a groan. After a 13-year absence, the franchise had the opportunity to make a clever comeback that surprised audiences. What it delivers instead is a lifeless reminder of why the franchise disappeared in the first place.

still courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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Tristan French