Scary Movie Arrives to Lukewarm Critical Reception

The long-awaited return of Scary Movie hit theaters on Friday, June 5, reuniting the franchise's original ensemble cast for another round of horror parody. Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Anna Faris, and Regina Hall reprise their signature roles, joined by an extended lineup that includes Kenan Thompson, Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Kim Wayans, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Damon Wayans Jr., Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, and several other performers.

The film's premise centers on the Core Four, now 26 years removed from their original encounter with a masked killer, once again becoming targets in the killer's sights. This time, the comedy targets a sprawling landscape of modern horror cinema—reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, and so-called "final chapters" that prove anything but final.

The critical consensus, however, has proven decidedly mixed. The film currently holds a 25% Rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers finding the spoof formula largely ineffective.

TheWrap criticized the film's approach, writing that its "stubborn insistence that nothing about Scary Movie needs to change and it's the children who are wrong now makes its profane and controversial jokes feel conservative."

ScreenCrush awarded it 4 out of 10, comparing it to "raw notes from a writers' room brainstorming session."

The Guardian's 2 out of 5 review suggested the Wayans "probably describe this as classic take-no-prisoners comedy, prioritizing belly laughs above satire, horror or any sense of propriety. But honestly? They seem a little scared, too."

The Associated Press gave 1.5 out of 4 stars, observing that "especially toward the end, the filmmakers tread water with their references to M3GAN, Get Out, Candyman and The Substance — simply showing us a set-up from those films without doing anything to really skewer them."

Variety found the film overstuffed, noting that while "jammed with spoof-genre history, but that makes it feel more exhausting than exhilarating. It's a top-heavy satirical party that's become so meta it's meh."

The Daily Beast characterized it as "a familiar stew that's as scattershot as ever, and engineered to appeal to teens who can't get enough jokes about sex, race, and movies they've already seen."

The Hollywood Reporter pointed to a fundamental structural issue: "This kind of broad, slapstick parody needs a steady stream of laugh-out-loud moments, but the new Scary Movie generates barely a trickle."

Not all reviews proved entirely negative. IndieWire assigned a C+, acknowledging that "the good news is that the Wayans have still mostly reclaimed the franchise they founded… For longtime Scary Movie fans, that development alone carries enough genuine emotional weight to make a trip to the movie theater worthwhile."

Empire offered a backhanded observation, suggesting "the posters — inspired parodies of recent horror films — are wittier than the film, suggesting that maybe next time get those ad creatives into the writers' room."

NME concluded that the film, which runs 96 minutes, "is really just an excuse to string together a bunch of cinematic in-jokes, meaning it lives or dies on the strength of its sketches. The result is a slow death that drags even at 96 minutes."