Scary Movie

by Mike McGranaghan

I grew up with counterculture comedy - Saturday Night Live, George Carlin, National Lampoon’s Animal House, etc. This form of humor took shots at traditional values and ideals. The whole point was that the world does not actually look like Leave It to Beaver or a Normal Rockwell painting. Since that time, society has grown in many ways, leading to radical and positive changes in how certain subjects are viewed. The counterculture comedy of today, therefore, involves taking jabs at political correctness. That’s risky because the potential is there to seriously offend people.

This brings us to Scary Movie, the 6th installment in the long-running franchise and the first made by the Wayans family since Scary Movie 2. They return it to its R-rated, boundary-pushing roots. Jokes in the film revolve around race, gender identity, and sexuality, in addition to spoofs of just about every horror hit of the last ten years. It tips a few sacred cows because that’s what it takes to be edgy these days. The result is scattershot. Parts are very funny, whereas others feel like cheap shots at the PC mindset.

Masked killer Ghostface is back, and he’s got his eye on series regulars Cindy (Anna Faris) and Brenda (Regina Hall), but also their children, Sara (Olivia Rose Keegan), Tuesday (Savannah Lee Nassif), and Dei (Sydney Meeks). Shorty (Marlon Wayans) and Ray (Shawn Wayans) are around, too, also finding themselves in the killer’s sights. Overall, the picture serves as a commentary on legacy sequels, mocking their conventions. This is often done by breaking the fourth wall. The characters in Scary Movie recognize that they’re characters in a Scary Movie sequel.

As expected, recent horror flicks get the parody treatment, including M3GAN, Sinners, Weapons, Terrifier, Get Out, Longlegs, and Smile. Several of the spoofs are pretty clever. An amusement park inspired by the Final Destination series offers three ace sight gags, and the mockery of The Substance pays off with a pointed political joke. Other times, the references are squeezed in awkwardly. Shorty has a hallucination related to K-Pop Demon Hunters and Tuesday watches a TV commercial that takes aim at Michael. Why that’s here is hard to say since the Michael Jackson biopic isn’t a horror movie – or at least not a conventional one.

When not teasing the horror genre, Scary Movie aims to shock audiences with social commentary. Pronouns are a frequent butt of jokes. There’s an ICE-related bit, along with a couple pertaining to DEI programs. (Note the spelling of Dei’s name.) Political incorrectness continues with a handful of genitalia jokes, one of which leads to the most graphic shot of a woman’s crotch since Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. The hit-to-miss ratio of this material will vary by viewer. When the Wayans clan and director Michael Tiddes have a specific point to make, there are laughs to be had. When they’re pushing the envelope for its own sake, the humor tends to fall flat.

Right there is the challenge of modern-day countercultural comedy. Too much of it is simply reactionary. An ignorant crack about, for instance, someone’s gender identity can be passed off as “just a joke.” Context and intent are necessary for button-pushing to be hilarious, as George Carlin proved immaculately throughout his career. Scary Movie made me laugh about 40% of the time. The other 60% either fell flat or was simply shooting fish in a barrel. I’m glad the Wayans clan isn’t afraid to give their pictures bite. Now they need to work on their aim.

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