Unapologetic spoof humor returns to the big screen with the release of Scary Movie, which sees the Wayans Brothers returning to the franchise for the first time since 2001’s Scary Movie 2. The IP has done more than skewer horror films, but it also takes down every pop culture moment you can think of while becoming a part of the zeitgeist itself in the process. Across six entries, some of them have hit more than others, so with the sixth film upon us, it’s time to rank the entire franchise, including the recently released sixth installment.
6. Scary Movie 5 (2013)
This was probably the easiest one to rank because it’s the worst of the bunch by a country mile. The franchise felt like it was well beyond its expiration date by this point as it struggled to generate laughs and justify its existence. Directed by Malcolm D. Lee and from a screenplay by David Zucker and Pat Proft, Scary Movie 5 serves as a standalone sequel to Scary Movie 4.
Should one be searching for a plot, it involves a husband and wife who bring their infant home from the hospital and realize a demon is hunting their family, resulting in them bringing in paranormal specialists to help solve their problem. Key films spoofed in this installment are Paranormal Activity, Mama, Evil Dead, and Sinister, but nearly all of the comedy and spoofs fall incredibly flat.
Scary Movie 5 is missing the vulgarity of the Wayans Brothers’ entries or the occasional savvy of the David Zucker-directed films, and instead, we get Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans with the Scary Movie moniker slapped on it. The film’s ensemble, consisting of Ashley Tisdale, Simon Rex, Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, and many more, is largely wasted here, but there is one gag that works and garners some laughs.
The Black Swan mirror gag is worthy of a better movie, as one wishes the whole movie could be as inspired, but instead, we get a sequel trying to hold up a franchise that at the time was on its last legs. This is the only entry so far that Anna Faris and Regina Hall didn’t appear in, and their comedic talents are wholly missed, but, given the quality, probably for the best that they skipped this one.
5. Scary Movie 4 (2006)
The distance between Scary Movie 4 and the fifth film is vast, as at least the fourth installment is watchable, thanks in large part to Faris and Hall nailing their comedy and characters with expert precision. However, of the films directed by David Zucker in the franchise, this one lacks the most and veers it further away from what made the Wayans Brothers’ contributions so fun.
Directed by Zucker and from a screenplay by Craig Mazin, Jim Abrahams, and Pat Proft, Scary Movie 4 has Cindy (Faris) and Brenda (Hall) linking up with the clueless Tom Ryan (Craig Bierko) to save the world from an alien invasion that spoofs War of the Worlds, with Saw II, The Grudge, and The Village, among others, also getting send-ups. What works in Scary Movie 4 belongs to some of the cast, most notably the chemistry of Faris and Hall, carrying the torch of the franchise in the Wayans Brothers’ absence, while Bierko’s committed performance spoofing Tom Cruise is also a highlight (one of the film’s funniest moments has him recreating Cruise’s infamous couch-jumping antics during his interview with Oprah).
Leslie Nielsen, a Zucker mainstay, also steals his scenes as President Baxter Harris with his signature comedic delivery. It’s not that Scary Movie 4 isn’t funny (the alien attack on Detroit gag involving Cindy and Brenda still gets a laugh), but you can see the IP diluting itself even more than the third film did. Going from R-rated raunchiness to safe-for-the-box-office PG-13 comedy wasn’t in the best interest of this franchise because Zucker’s sensibilities, which worked so well with Airplane! and The Naked Gun films, don’t quite fit within this franchise.
4. Scary Movie 3 (2001)
The most jarring thing about Scary Movie 3, at first, is the shift in humor. As we would later learn, the franchise was stripped from the Wayans Brothers after they were involved in a contract dispute with the Weinsteins, and some of the ideas they pitched were taken by the dastardly producing brother duo and given as a blueprint to director David Zucker and a new writing team consisting of Craig Mazin and Pat Proft.
The no-holds-barred humor of the Wayans Brothers is very much missed here, but of the Zucker-led Scary Movie films, the third instalment works the best because, despite the PG-13 safeness, there are some clever uses of slapstick and a sharp sense of humor that benefits from Zucker’s signature style of gags that come fast and furious. In the film, which in parts is a send up of The Ring, newspaper reporter Cindy (Faris) watches an infamous videotape that causes the viewer to die seven days after watching it and discovers there are even more weird occurances going on out there, including massive crop circles appearing in the fields of local farmers Tom (Charlie Sheen) and George (Simon Rex), ala Signs.
Scary Movie 3 has some of the best jokes and gags of the franchise, most notably Hall’s all too brief appearance as Brenda and her face-off with the long-haired ghost from The Ring (“Cindy, the TV’s leaking”), Cindy’s communication with the little boy from The Grudge through naming Japanese cars, and Anthony Anderson and Kevin Hart’s riffs about turning up missing and waking up dead. Faris is the glue here that holds it all together, but she’s admirably supported by Sheen and Rex, who do spot-on takes on the roles portrayed by Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix in Signs.
Also, once again, Leslie Nielsen’s appearance as President Baxter Harris proves why he was such a comedic legend that the kids of the 2000s were lucky to experience. The main slight is that it’s missing the edge of the Wayans Brothers entries, but it’s still a solid installment that actually has gotten better over time.
3. Scary Movie (2026)
It’s great to see the Wayans Brothers get their franchise back with the latest installment of the franchise because it reminds fans of why they fell in love with it in the first place. It’s rapid-fire jokes, absurd and offensive comedy that is performed with 100 percent commitment by the cast, and while all the jokes might not land, the sixth Scary Movie signals what could be a new beginning of the Wayans Brothers skewering horror and pop culture for a new generation. Directed by Michael Tiddes and from a screenplay by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans, and Rick Alvarez, Scary Movie reunites Cindy (Faris), Brenda (Hall), Shorty Meeks (Marlon), and Ray Wilkins (Shawn) twenty-six years after Ghostface first hilariously made Cindy his target.
This time, he’s also after Cindy’s two daughters, Sara Campbell (Olivia Rose Keegan) and Tuesday Campbell (Savannah Lee Nassif), in a send-up of 2018’sHalloween and the nostalgia resurgence of Scream (2022) and Scream VI. There is a comfort in seeing old friends and even though Scary Movie pokes fun at the nostalgia of legacy sequels, it’s also aware that fans will get a kick out of seeing Marlon, Shawn, Faris, and Hall returning as the franchise’s “Core Four,” who haven’t missed a comedic beat, while also serving up returns of other franchise favorites including Dave Sheridan’s Deputy Doofy, Cheri Oteri’s Gail Hailstorm and Lochlyn Munto’s Greg Phillippe.
It’s great that they weren’t used as mere cameos, and the new cast, which also includes Sydney Park as Brenda’s daughter Dei and Ruby Snowber as Val, keep up the pace in a way that makes them worthy of playing alongside the comedic greats that started it all. The film’s opening scene is an all-timer and features a fun cameo from an Oscar-nominated actress that is actually better than the Scream VI opening scene that it’s mocking, and an unexpected gag involving KPop Demon Hunters and the hit song “Golden” (with lyrics changed to suit Shorty and his weed addiction), had the crowd I saw it with on opening night howling.
Every joke might not work by today’s standards (a lot has changed in the world, and some might not think some of the more pointed jokes, especially about gay culture and trans rights, will be appropriate), but this kind of laughter is what we need right now, and all involved are more than game to sell the absurdity of it all.
2. Scary Movie 2 (2001)
The passage of time has been very kind to Scary Movie 2 because, at the time of its release, it may have been viewed as a disappointment compared to the first movie, but in the years since its release, it admirably battles in some circles for the top spot. Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and from a screenplay by Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Alyson Fouse, Greg Grabianski, Dave Polsky, Michael Anthony Snowden, and Craig Wayans, Scary Movie 2 sees Cindy (Faris) and her friends in college and heading to “Hell House” after being tricked by a professor and his assistant under the ruse of a “sleep deprivation study.”
The film lampoons several films, including The Haunting, What Lies Beneath, The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, Charlie’s Angels, and many more. Scary Movie 2 wasn’t as well-received at the time because Wayans Brothers mostly chose to spoof older horror films that weren’t as topical as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Even I wasn’t as impressed at the time with what this sequel had to offer but over the years I realized how wrong I was about this entry, which has the Wayans Brothers going for broke in terms of edgy humor that pushes the limits with a mix of slapstick, raunchy jokes and shock value that makes it a time capsule and fun representation of the earlly 2000s when it was released.
The film is highly quotable, especially the dinner party scene featuring Chris Elliott’s Hanson, his “strong” hand, and the art of making a turkey, Brenda hiding from Cindy as she screams down the hallway (“Why, that loud B*tch gotta bring that sh** over here), and the numerous stoner gags involving Shorty (Marlon). Also incredibly spot on is the film’s opening scene parodying The Exorcist, with James Woods and Natasha Lyonne taking it to the limit for laughs. You can tell that Dimension Films chopped this one up because it’s all over the place, even for a Scary Movie film, and by discovering some of the deleted scenes that were featured in some of the trailers but didn’t make the film, but Scary Movie 2 is still funny as hell and a solid sequel that has only gotten better with hilariously deprived age. Scary Movie 2 is unhinged energy at its finest.
1. Scary Movie (2000)
Our generation needed a spoof and satire to call our own, much like the previous generation had with Airplane! and The Naked Gun movies, and the Wayans Brothers gave us just that with Scary Movie, a comedic hall-of-fame that wisely chose to lampoon the booming teen slasher movie resurgence that began with 1996’s Scream. Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg, and Aaron Seltzer, Scary Movie’s framework is mostly Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer and follows a group of teenagers who run over a man with their car, dump his body in a lake and then find themselves stalked a year later by a Ghostface killer who sets out to kill them one by one.
The best thing about Scary Movie is that it surgically pokes fun at the horror genre with an acute understanding of it. Wes Craven reportedly didn’t see the joke in all of this when he first saw it, but imitation proves to be the sincerest form of flattery, and it’s clear that the Wayans Brothers also love the films they’re making fun of. They understood why the films they chose to parody worked, but also understood that there were aspects of them that made them prime for respectful ridicule. Oddly enough, much like Scream, which came from the same studio (Dimension Films), Scary Movie is extremely self-aware and witty while also leaning into the gross-out comedy landscape that was emerging at the time (one might even say this film set the tone for it).
While some of the later films may have been scattershot and lost focus, Scary Movie somehow balanced the crude, the rude, biting social commentary, and topical references without missing a beat. Some scenes remain comedic classics, including Hall’s hilarious depiction of African American movie theater etiquette that poked fun at Scream 2’s opening scene, the entire flashback involving the hit and run that rips apart I Know What You Did Last Summer (“Oh my God we hit a boot”) and just about anything involving Faris, who was such a find who continues to spread joy with her comedic stylings.
Despite grossing $278 million worldwide on a $19 million budget and remaining one of the most successful R-rated comedies, there is something about Scary Movie that feels like a cult film in some regards because its status seems to continue to grow as more people discover just how significant this film was to movie comedies then and now.
Scary Movie is now playing in theaters nationwide.
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