Scary Movie review — a rebooted spoof that feels out of time

The Scary Movie series has always depended on timing. The sixth film repeats the first movie’s unnumbered title as a nod and a reboot, but it arrives unable to incorporate this summer’s surprise hits and instead reaches back, riffing on the fifth and sixth Scream films; with Scream 7 largely abandoning self-referentiality, Scary Movie becomes the last horror-comedy still carrying the torch for in-jokes.

Behind the scenes, Marlon and Shawn Wayans return as co-writers and co-stars, and Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back as well. The opening photocopies Scream 6’s city-set onto the super-meta opening of Scream 4. Plotwise, Cindy Campbell’s daughters Sara and Tuesday are stalked by another masked assailant, and Cindy reunites with Brenda, Shorty and Ray to defend them, with the film referring to the mystery baddie as Ghostface.

The movie leans heavily on Scream, particularly the fifth film, supplying much of its structure and a string of scenes and lines to tweak.

scary movie, reboot, spoof, scream 6, scream 7, ghostface, marlon wayans, shawn wayans, anna faris, regina hall