#REVIEW: “SCARY MOVIE”

By Mr. Will Wong

The excitement is palpable as SCARY MOVIE returns to the big screen, some 13 years after its fifth installment. They’re doing it bigger than ever this go, as The Wayans re-join the Franchise, giving fans a reminder why it is they loved this ridiculous Horror Parody franchise so much in the first place, to the tune of $900 million at the Box Office, globally.

Shorty (Marlon Wayans), Ray (Shawn Wayans), Cindy (Anna Faris), and Brenda (Regina Hall) were estranged, but our Core Four are reunited as Ghostface Killer resurfaces, out to get them and now their kids as well. Director Michael Tiddes takes the reins here, with a Script by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans, and Rick Alvarez, delivering that same brand of raunchy, unapologetic humour, but with timely modern references.  Films like SINNERS, MICHAEL, GET OUT, LONGLEGS, BALLERINA, HEART EYES, and more get some not-so-subtle nods, connecting the humour with an audience of now.

SCARY MOVIE succeeds in feeling like a cohesive body of work that belongs to the Franchise in its prime. There is a sentiment about it that might connect to a generation which saw comedic sensibilities shift after many social campaigns and cultural movements took place in recent years.  In the face of things like AI replacing human capital, SCARY MOVIE feels like a reminder that we often can be made to feel replaceable – “out with the old, in with the new” if you will. The Film is reminder though that the old guys are still here, resilient and something is comforting in that.

The returning Cast are fully dialed-in and some of the casting with the newer generation, particularly Cindy‘s daughters, Sara and Tuesday, played by Olivia Rose Keegan and Savannah Lee Nassif, is particularly well-matched, with them mirroring some of Cindy‘s signature inflections.

If you’re looking for high art, you’ve landed in the wrong theatre.  If you’re looking for laughs, nostalgia, an outlandish escape that is constructed like a clever, colourful pastiche, then SCARY MOVIE might just be for you.

Paramount Pictures Canada release SCARY MOVIE June 5, 2026.