While I do enjoy a good blockbuster, arthouse drama, animated film, or even, to a lesser degree, horror film in theaters, one genre that I enjoy that I don’t get to relish much on the silver screen are comedies. Now, when I talk about comedies, I don’t mean a Marvel film or an action film with comedic elements. I’m talking full-on comedies with the lead actor or actress being the selling point, such as Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Jim Carey, just to name a few. For the most part, it’s a genre that has been somewhat present in cinemas lately, but it’s more visible on streaming sites such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. While I get it that it’s more profitable to release a comedy on a streaming service, I do miss those days of having a good laugh with friends watching a comedy on the big screen, especially when that comedy is considered a blockbuster. One movie that I wish was released in theatres last year was Adams Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2 (2025). Was it a great movie? Not really, but despite it being fueled by nostalgia, I had a good time (and laugh) watching the sequel. Speaking of nostalgia, there is a new comedy out as of June 2026 which is getting a theatrical treatment: Scary Movie (2026).

Scary Movie (2026) (because it has to parody Halloween (2018) and Scream (2022) and not include a number after it in order to confuse the audience) is the latest film in the Scary Movie franchise. For those who aren’t aware, it’s a series of movies that parody horror flicks and pop culture in general. The first entry, Scary Movie (2000), focused on then current hits like I Know What You did Last Summer (1997) and Scream (1996), with elements that were popular in the late 1990s. Though not having producer rights, the original Scary Movie starred, was written, and directed by the Wayans brothers, with Marlon and Shawn Wayans cowriting with four other writers (yes, Scary Movie had six writers) and Keenen Ivory Wayans directing. It was a huge success and brought life back into the parody subgenre. A year later, Scary Movie 2 (2001) was released, and despite being a moderate box office success, was negative received compared to the first film. The returns from that film had led the Wayans brothers to leave the franchise moving forward due to pay disputes, though that didn’t stop the producers of the series to make Scary Movie 3 (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006), and Scary Movie 5 (2013), with the latter being the worst out of the three. Fast forward to 2026 when the Wayans family have total control of the franchise and decide to make Scary Movie (2026).

I’m not going to lie, I was somewhat looking forward to Scary Movie (2026), but for the wrong reasons. As I mentioned earlier, I do enjoy a good blockbuster, arthouse drama, or animated film whenever I get the chance, but every so often, I do like to indulge in dumb comedies where I can put my brain on rest mode. This is especially true when I saw it after a long work day when my brain feels fried. Though I didn’t see it during its opening week due to schedule conflicts, I did manage to see it on the Sunday of its second week in theaters and I watched it with a friend who was also “excited” to see it mostly because he is a huge fan of the Scream franchise.

So, will be Scary Movie (2026) be like the original and bring back the franchise as it intended to be? As usual, let’s find out… actually, on second thought, I am going to cut to the chase and tell you no and that it didn’t. Normally, at the point of my review, I would say the words “did this….as usual, let’s find out” and then I would give a brief summary of the film and then tell you my initial thoughts, but I can’t keep a straight face. In other words, this is indeed one of the worst theatrical films I’ve seen this year. With that being said, let me give you a brief rundown of the characters and then I’ll explain why I thought this was really, really bad.

As mentioned before, Scary Movie (2026) is poking at horror films that have come out within the past decade or so, though the plot that they are mostly parodying is Scream (2022). If you’ve seen Scream (2022) or better yet, read The Legionnaire’s review of it, then you have an idea on what this film is about. Only certain characters are lampooned in Scary Movie (2026). For example, Tuesday Campbell (Savannah Lee Nassif) is supposed to be a send up of Jenna Ortega’s character from the Scream film series and Wednesday the Netflix series of the same name. You also have the sister of Tuesday, Sara Campbell (Olivia Rose Keegan), and her boyfriend Jack (Cameron Scott Roberts) who are a parody of Samantha Carpender and Danny Brackett respectively in Scream (2022). In addition to those personages, we also have some returning ones such as Anna Faris as Cindy Campbell who resembles Jamie Lee Curtis’s character from Halloween (2018); Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks who resembles Octavia Spencer’s role in Ma (2019); and Marlon and Shawn Wayans as Shorty Meeks and Ray Wilkins respectively, just to name a few.

Now, there’s a reason why I didn’t give a plot summery of Scary Movie (2026) like I usually do, and it’s not because it basically has the same plot as Scream (2022). Rather, Scary Movie (2026) is so random with its references that the plot wasn’t even a main concern when writing this movie, at least in my opinion. In other words, it is a completely unfocused film with three main goals: 1) Be as “offensive” as it can be, 2) Cram as many references from different film properties as it can in under an hour and forty minutes, and 3) Bring back fan favorite characters for the sake of nostalgia. While they did manage to somewhat succeed with the latter, the “jokes” and references aggravated me to no end.

Aside from the Scream franchise, Scary Movie (2026) references many horror films that have come out recently and like I said before, it’s all completely random. For example, there’s a scene where the killer traps Marlon Wayans’s character on a chair and sends him to the sunken place, which is a reference to the 2017 hit film Get Out. While I do admit that I did get one or two chuckles during that short sequence, it manages to go completely off the rails and reference KPop Demon Hunters (2025), including doing a parody of the song “Golden.” Now, I enjoy “Weird” Al Yankovic as much as the next guy, but at that point, it was too much. In retrospect, this film feels like a bunch of disconnected TikTok shorts referencing divergent movies that were edited together just to fill the runtime because there were nods that could’ve been taken out and it wouldn’t change the movie whatsoever. These include allusions to movies like Longlegs (2024), The Substance (2024), and a more recent entry, Michael. Yes, they managed to shoehorn in a musical biopic that has nothing to do with horror.

When it came to the “jokes,” Scary Movie (2026) was like someone trying to be offensive, but it was only offensive to those who never stepped outside a church setting. Maybe it was because I was prepared for it to be offensive as Marlon Wayans was saying after the trailer was released that they were going to cross many lines and offend as many people as possible. Honestly, there was one where I would have taken exception because it takes place in a church (though a nondenominational one from the look of it) and it ends with people twerking and doing inappropriate dances. The reason why I wasn’t put off here is because the scene itself didn’t make sense. Now, if it was set within a Catholic Church and it fit story-wise (i.e. set on Saturday evening or Sunday morning), then I would’ve been angrier.

As you can tell, I don’t recommend Scary Movie (2026) whatsoever. Plainly speaking, it’s a bad film. I even tried prepping myself by tailgating beforehand with four different shots of alcohol, and it still didn’t manage to make to movie more bearable. If you want to watch a great parody movie, just watch The Naked Gun (2025). It’s lightyears more hilarious and there’s actually a plot to follow. If parodies are not your thing, just watch any of the films this one tries to make fun of, such as Get Out, Halloween (2018), or any of the Scream movies, except the last one. I would say that Scary Movie (2026) is the worst film of 2026 so far, but there is another contender out there that is much, much worse. Let’s call it subtle foreshadowing for a future review.