When the marketing for Scary Movie 6 boasted that “every line will be crossed,” we were ready for a return to the unapologetic, outrageous and gross out comedy that defined the early 2000s with the first two Scary Movie films from the Wayan Brothers. The studio did make 3 more sequels but shafted the Wayans out (thanks a lot Weinstein!) and now 13 years later, the Wayans are back, the original cast are back to deliver a new take-down of the current horror cinema landscaped. So you can imagine my complete and utter disappointment when what is actually on show is a heavily edited, disjointed mess that feels less like a feature film and more like a loosely stitched-together string of SNL sketches. There are still some laughs here, but it is a far cry from the consistent hilarity of the original two films.
Things actually start off incredibly strong. The film’s opening scene is a hilarious, pitch-perfect parody of Scream 6, featuring an Oscar winner who is wonderfully unafraid to take the mickey out of herself. It sets a high bar, one the rest of the movie immediately trips over. From there, the film takes aim at a varied slate of recent horror and pop culture hits, including Michael, Sinners, Halloween, Ma, Get Out, and Smile. The problem? There is absolutely no cohesive plot holding these parodies together. The original two films had an overarching plot and everything just kind of slotted in naturally, here it feels like there is an idea of a basic plot, however the rest of the parodies feel shoe-horned in just to cram as many franchise jokes in as they could.
The most unforgivable sin of Scary Movie 6, however, is its treatment of the legacy cast. Cindy (Anna Faris) and Brenda (Regina Hall), who are the absolute heart and soul of this franchise, are completely back-benched in favor of a new cast that is overwhelmingly unfunny and instantly forgettable. Worse still, when Brenda and Cindy do appear, they feel incredibly muted. They lack the jaw-dropping hilarity and outrageousness that made them iconic in the first place. Ray (Shawn Wayans) suffers a similar fate, randomly showing up just to drop a sporadic, one-note gay comment before disappearing again. Of the returning veterans, only Shorty (Marlon Wayans) feels closest to his original character, bringing some much-needed 90’s infused energy to the screen.
Despite the structural mess, there are a few genuinely great moments that prove the Wayans brothers still know how to construct a killer joke. Shorty delivers a phenomenal, weed-haze-inspired takedown of Golden from KPop Demon Hunters, and Gail Hailstorm taking The Substance leads to a brilliant and completely unexpected cameo that will be sure to set the internet on fire. The film also pulls no punches when it comes to topical humor, serving up great gags involving the Epstein files, the Kendrick Lamar beef, ICE raids, and the #MeToo movement. (Fair warning: if any of those topics offend you even slightly, it is probably best to stay far away from this one.) Some of the best moments were in the trailer though, the Megan dance and they/them stabbing on the subway would have had more impact if we didn’t already see it in the trailer. There are attempts to recreate scenes from the first two Scary Movies including Brenda’s iconic talking in the cinema which just falls completely short in this version.
Ultimately, Scary Movie 6 feels like it may have been subject to some heavily chopping from the studio mandated editing room. The jokes are nowhere near as outrageous as the previous films, severely under-delivering on the edgy marketing campaign. The new cast here fail to deliver iconic performances, there is no new comedy standout here and this did lead to a disappointing reboot. The Wayans themselves are undeniably funny, and there are flashes of their comedic brilliance here, but the lack of cohesion with the main plot and the sidelining of the characters we actually came to see leave this installment feeling incredibly hollow. My personal expectations aside, this just doesn’t work as a film, it may have fared better as a Paramount + special and some more attention given to the characters that the audience want to come and see again. In an incredibly overstuffed movie release schedule this month, I fear this film won’t cut it for both fans of the original series and new audiences wanting to see what the hype is all about.
Scary Movie is in cinemas Thursday June 4.
