by Rosa Parra

The Wayans brothers return to the franchise they started 26 years ago. A few weeks ago at Cinemacon, Marlon and Shawn Wayans took the stage with Anna Faris to present an extended trailer of the film and humorously warned us by listing people who might be offended. I was intrigued and knew what to expect. Scary Movie 6 was directed by Michael Tiddes and features Anna Faris, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Regina Hall, and Olivia Rose Keegan.

I haven’t revisited the first two films in a long time, so I’m reviewing this film with only a vague memory of the previous entries. Let me start with the obvious: this movie is a Wayans film. If you’ve seen their past work, you know what that entails—uncensored jokes and no group is safe from being targeted. The film doesn’t hold back, taking jabs at the film industry, the franchise, the horror genre, the LGBTQ community, and even making a joke about ICE. So, if you’re sensitive to social and political humor, avoid this film.

The opening sequence was quite impressive. Featuring cameos from Teyana Taylor (playing herself) and Carmen Electra (as a bartender), it was overall hilarious. Taylor humorously comments on the audience’s ability to read captions, reflecting the film’s target viewers. She’s a trooper for allowing the film to poke fun at her Oscar loss earlier this year—she was nominated for supporting actress but lost to Amy Madigan for Weapons. In the scene, she walks down an alley looking for a caller when Ghostface appears behind her, ready to attack. She fights back, calling for help and beating Ghostface. To finish him off, she boasts about her abs, saying she may not have won an Oscar, but she won a Golden Globe, and then she finishes him with the globe itself.

My favorite parts include the opening sequence with Teyana Taylor, the Michael Jackson parody sequence about the film Michael, a joke about The Substance featuring a cameo from one of the White Chicks, and the ending, which was also good.

As expected, there isn’t much of a plot—mainly Ghostface returning to kill the legacy characters. Although Ghostface has a compelling motive this time, the story feels fragmented overall. Some jokes land, but some are repetitive, losing humor and becoming borderline annoying.

Overall, Scary Movie 6 is silly fun in the theater—a good distraction from world events. It’s dumb, funny, and utterly simple. The film embraces what it is without pretensions.

Rating: 5/10