Matthew Percefull
Are we back in the 2000s? A docuseries starring Tyra Banks is all the talk, the US is engaged in a destructive and largely unpopular war in the Middle East, tabloid-era beauty standards are back, and the Wayans brothers are promoting the 6th Scary Movie parody film. I want off of this time machine.
I’m not against parody. In fact, the horror genre is in desperate need of some satire. The first Scary Movie film worked so well because of when it was released. The late ’90s saw meta-horror explode. Due to the success of Wes Craven’s Scream, almost every horror film from that era was chock full of fourth wall breaks and references to tropes. Horror was getting too smart. Too self-aware. Too full of itself. The Wayans brothers were there to cut it down a peg. Scary Movie 6 has the opportunity to do the same.
I’d say we’re in a similar place in 2026. We’re coming off of an era when many horror critics, fans, and even filmmakers tried to self-identify as “prestige” or “conscious.” The problem with that is it was framed as a new thing. It was often framed as “Aren’t you glad that horror is finally serious?” That attitude, while usually stated with good intentions, has skewed how general audiences think of and consume horror media. It splits the genre into two broad categories: “trash” or “prestige.” This identity crisis makes the current genre ripe for parody.
In the summer of 2025, a sixth installment of the infamous parody franchise (titled simply Scary Movie) was announced. After over a decade, the series was back. What really excited fans was the involvement from the Wayans and several key cast members (most notably Regina Hall and Anna Faris). The brothers had not touched the series since 2001; boy, can you tell. The later installments doubled down on the juvenile humor and cheap jokes, abandoning the satirical edge the Wayans had established. I was pretty excited for Scary Movie 6. I was confident that the Wayans’ more mature worldview would be able to hit on something collective while still making us laugh.
Then, the trailer was released. It opens with a Facebook-coded pronouns joke.
I’ll start on the bright side: Scary Movie 6 looks to be a treasure trove for horror fans. There were the obvious heavy hitters like Terrifier‘s Art the Clown, the Smile demon, M3GAN, and the return of Ghostface. I was also pleased to see more niche films like Heart Eyes and Ma get winks in the trailer. Even the critical darlings like Sinners, Weapons, and The Substance all get featured prominently. Scary Movie 6 may be Horror’s Endgame moment (take that as negatively or positively as you’d like).
If you take away the modern horror references, this film could have released in 2006. Almost every joke featured in the Scary Movie 6 trailer is something that you’ve probably heard from your annoying family members for years. I’m not really offended by any of these jokes; they’re too generic and broad to even invoke a real reaction. The Scary Movie films were never seen as highbrow art, but the Wayans-led installments were clever, loving parodies of horror films we all loved. The jokes in this newest entry seem to be pointed at social media culture rather than horror as a genre. The approach disappoints me. If you’re going to tackle current events, it helps to do so from a fresh perspective. So far, this film feels like you froze a fifteen-year-old boy from 2005 and told him to write a parody of modern horror films.
Maybe this trailer is a bait and switch. Maybe these easy jokes were chosen for the trailer to get the lowest common denominator in the theater. Maybe our legs are being pulled. We will have to see this summer when Scary Movie 6 releases, I suppose.
