Scary Movie Debuts With Mixed Reactions and Less than Stellar RT Score

Scary Movie has been a campy horror staple for Millennials and Gen Zs in the early 2000s. With its sixth movie making its debut on the big screen, fans were initially hopeful. It almost seemed like the latest movie would be an instant hit.

Written and produced by Shawn and Marlon Wayans, Scary Movie 6 starts with a fourth-wall break. On Tuesday Campbell (Savannah Lee Nassif) was watching a spoof of Scary Movie and was subsequently attacked by Ghostface. Her sister, Sara (Olivia Rose Keegan), realizes that Tuesday may have been attacked by Ghostface. She and rushes to their estranged mother, Cindy (Anna Faris). Instead of helping, Cindy insists on her reclusive ways, believing that Ghostface is trying to lure her out. The return of Ghostface kickstarts the events that follow in the movie.

Scary Movie 6 isn’t just nostalgia-bait—it’s also filled with references from other classic and modern horror movies. But if it’s hilarious, why are the Rotten Tomato ratings not looking fresh at just 26%?

Lazy, outdated, and offensive jokes

Rendy Jones, a TV journalist wrote, “One of the earliest jokes involved Shorty saying he didn’t like old heads being referred to “chopped and unc,” which is pretty funny considering most of the film has a big ol’ “old man yelling at cloud” energy over gen-z. Outdated on arrival, not that clever and sometimes mean-spirited in either a transphobic or misogynistic manner, with its Radio Silence-era Scream framework strung together like horror sketch tiktoks on autoplay based on every horror movie from 2024-2025. When it’s funny, it’s hilarious, when it’s not, I’m violently shaking wanting to scream “grow up,” at the screen. At least it made for a better Scream than Scream 7.”

Amy Nicholson from the Los Angeles Times said, “Call Scary Movie lazy, dumb, and offensive. It would enthusiastically agree. The lowbrow horror parody thrives on shtick about weed, race and genitalia. The only thing that scares it is high expectations.”

Will Bibbiani from The Wrap commented, “If anything, the film’s stubborn insistence that nothing about “Scary Movie” needs to change and it’s the children who are wrong now makes its profane and controversial jokes feel conservative.”

Alex Rabinowitz from Pop Culture Brain notes, “I appreciated the Wayans’ effort to push the raunchiness and audacity of the jokes.” However, he also believes that the movie has leaned on nostalgia and callbacks.

Essentially, most of the jokes are a hit or miss. It won’t make everyone laugh, and the excessive use of references may not be to everyone’s tastes.

Even casual moviegoers are divided on Scary Movie 6

One wrote on Rotten Tomatoes, “The funny parts consisted of the jabs at liberals, Covid-era garbage, and small jabs at Weapons and Sinners. It felt like many things were offensive just for the sake of being offensive, which works for some movies, but not here.”

Meanwhile, one poster on X wrote, “A Scary Movie getting bad reviews is the most Scary Movie thing ever.”

Another commenter said of the terrible ratings, “This means it’s insanely good when translated to Scary Movie terms.”

Because is it even a Scary Movie if it isn’t trashy? It’s supposed to be so bad to the point that people hate-watch it for the giggles. Despite the mixed reviews, it seems that some moviegoers online remain undeterred from flocking to the cinema.

(featured images: Paramount Pictures)

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