‘Scary Movie’ REVIEW: It’s Almost Exactly What I Was Afraid Of
‘Scary Movie’ REVIEW: It’s Almost Exactly What I Was Afraid Of
I miss big-screen comedies. Do you? Ones that actually present and market themselves as such, and not those halfway dramedies that turn dramatic so the emotional climax can conjure big emotions and a convincing awards campaign. You might be holding out hope that comedy films can still be worth the big screen experience. You might have given up on it entirely and either take your humor from TV shows or TikToks and tweets. You’re not really supposed to have expectations when it comes to comedy films other than to have fun and laugh. What I’m saying is, I just wanted to have fun with the latest Scary Movie, and it was not that fun.
Anna Faris as Cindy and Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks in ‘Scary Movie’ | Still courtesy of Paramount Pictures
A lot of the sixth Scary Movie installment picks up right where the Wayans left off with Scary Movie 2, at least in terms of humor. Its story, like its narrative muse, continues more literally from the franchise’s first film and mashes various plot threads together from the more recent Scream reboots. When a serial killer with a Ghostface mask makes a sudden return, siblings Sara and Tuesday seek out the only guidance they know to defend themselves – from their estranged mother, Cindy Campbell. This is how Cindy, in her reboot-Laurie Strode look, is reunited with her best friend Brenda Meeks, herself a mother and sporting an Octavia Spencer Ma bob. This time, they are joined by still obviously gay but denying it, Ray, and still perpetual weed-smoking student Shorty.
Plot is not the most important thing in a comedy, but rather a parody of various horror films and recent films. From its Scream base, the film shuffles between Get Out, Sinners, Weapons, and a bunch of others. What it misses in its horror extravaganza is being able to fully mine the potential humor from “elevated horror” and its pretentiousness, but it does get in a good sight gag at the beginning, which made me hope they at least took some notes from Scary Movie 3 and 4 despite their grudges. If you’ve been missing the Wayans brand of humor, you’ll be rewarded by this film’s abundance of gross-out gags throughout the rest of the film. If your preference was the referential, mile-a-minute joke meter of the later Zucker films, as is mine I will admit, you’ll be happy to know that the Wayans brand of humor is pumped to the brim with jokes so that there’s more chances of churning out laughs, even if that approach beats some jokes to their deaths.
Cindy, Brenda Meeks, Olivia Rose Keegan as Sara Campbell, and Cameron Scott Roberts as Jack in ‘Scary Movie’ | Still courtesy of Paramount Pictures
The film’s opening, complete with attention-grabbing cameos, is easily a franchise highlight. Based on Scream VI’s city-based opening setting, the seeming Opening Victim is targeted by Ghostface. From the restaurant set-up all the way to its alley finish, its jokes largely land successfully, thanks in part to the talented performer leading the charge until their moment ends.
Most of this film’s core four get their big comedic set piece. Ray declares himself free from homosexuality in a scene that puts the viral 2014 “I Am Delivert!” video through a Sinners send-up. Shawn Wayans plays up the absurdity of his character’s identity denial, though he can only go so far with jokes that feel familiar upon arrival. Marlon Wayans’ Shorty gets one of the film’s big comedic highlights in a Get Out parody that morphs into an animated riff on K-Pop Demon Hunters’ iconic “Golden” song. It did get some laughs out of me, but it’s one joke that strains (heh) in its length.
Cindy and Brenda’s reunion is a scene containing some good laughs, and one where Anna Farris gets to flex her comedic muscles alongside a later moment where she destroys a bunch of Ghostfaces, John Wick-style. This, sadly, is Brenda’s biggest moment. Whether by virtue of her participation in four entries of the franchise, and/or the quality of her work in the first two films alone, Regina Hall has essentially become Scary Movie’s face. It’s her scenes that frequently get referenced, or at least the ones that still produce new fans. It’s a long way from the first film, whose initial posters she wasn’t even present in. Here, she doesn’t even get a chance to remind audiences why they’ve missed this franchise.
It’s a shame because the film’s climax feels like a more pointed jab at Farris and Hall’s participation in the franchise without the original creators’ approval than it intends. Maybe it actually is not, and I’m being “too sensitive” about it, but when you make your tagline “Every line will be crossed” and somehow have zero smoke for the disgraced Hollywood executive supposedly responsible for taking the franchise from you, with the targets pointed at those who remain visible and close, it feels loaded with more resentment.
Kai Cenat, Ghost Face, Marlon Wayans as Shorty, and more in ‘Scary Movie’ | Still courtesy of Paramount Pictures
If you’re here to see how Scary Movie’s younger cast fares, they are game performers who willfully throw themselves into the humor, even if some jokes don’t stick. Olivia Rose Keegan emerges as the younger MVP, channeling peak Farris with her spaced-out riff on Scream’s Sam Carpenter. This film’s other scene-stealer is actually Kim Wayans as a nurse who would rather not be part of the story’s killer thrills, scoring great laughs in her small screen time. As for the film’s queer characters, the viewer might want to affirm their biases through these characters. The homophobes might expect crude misgendering, while queer people and their allies might hope for unproblematic jokes. Both groups expect something to laugh at, but will likely end up sharing confusion that the film’s best queer jokes amount only to what’s, “I’m a millennial and gay people didn’t have this many pronouns back then.” Satirical horror deconstruction wasn’t all the rage back then, aside from two Scream films, but what do I know?
Scary Movie’s thesis statement, with the Wayans family back at the helm, is that this franchise is theirs, and nobody messes with it. I’m glad that they have what’s theirs back, really. I’m still looking forward to future Scary Movies and mayhaps even another White Chicks. But if their only material favors only their brand of humor with no fresh spin on it, then I don’t know how much longer the world has left to keep laughing at these films when there’s little room for everyone else to make these jokes with them. If they’re going to start making more Scary Movies with current horror references, just as younger Gen Z horror filmmakers are starting to get their shine, I hope the Wayans family at least start calling people below 40 for their perspectives, and humor.
‘Scary Movie’ opened in Philippine cinemas on June 10. Its MTRCB rating is R-16, with no cuts.
