It’s been 13 years since horror last got Scary Movie’d, with a fifth entry in the spoof comedy series that tackled the likes of Paranormal Activity, Black Swan, the concept of Charlie Sheen, and, er… Inception? That’s a mighty long time for any genre. And so, the arrival of Scary Movie 6 brings with it plenty of potential to lampoon everything that’s happened in the intervening decade-plus: the entire Blumhouse oeuvre, a fresh generation of horror originals, and most importantly, the revival of Scream itself. Check out the trailer here:
Given how much material the filmmakers have to play with this time around, the trailer here is stacked. It begins with a direct parody of Scream VI, adding in some M3GAN, before giving us some Wednesday gags, the 2018 Halloween re-quel, a Get Out sunken place riff, creepy Smile smiling, some festive Terrifier 3 cheer, and a redux of Scream 2022’s hospital chase. And, given that this one was turned around in the last few months, it’s hot off the press with some particularly timely parodies too: Sinners, Weapons, and The Substance all get their moments here.
Scary Movie 6 has Marlon, Shawn and Keenen Ivory Wayans all on writing duties, alongside Rick Alvarez, and is directed by Michael Tiddes, who helmed Marlon Wayans’ other horror-comedies A Haunted House and A Haunted House 2. Plus, it reunites stars Anna Faris (with an old Laurie Strode ‘do) and Regina Hall (with a Ma haircut), who both appeared in the first four Scary Movie films, but didn’t come back for 5.
As ever with these films, mileage may vary on the tenor of the humour – the trailer is leaning into the coarseness of it all, with that ‘Every line will be crossed’ tag at the end. But for anyone whose favourite scary movie is Scary Movie, your time has come. Or, it will do when Scary Movie 6 hits cinemas on June 12.
