After thirteen years, the Scary Movie franchise is finally returning to the big screen for a sixth instalment and even reunites the Wayans brothers in an attempt to drag the series back into relevance. As such, it should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that Scary Movie 6 delivers exactly what you would expect. That’s not necessarily a criticism either. Whether you loved or loathed the previous entries, chances are you’ll feel exactly the same way about this one.

Like previous installments, the Ghostface killer is back to torment another batch of victims, with fans of Scream 5 in particular getting far more than they bargained for. That’s because Scary Movie 6 is essentially Scream 5 with the serial numbers filed off. The plot is virtually identical, the character archetypes remain intact, and the only real difference is that the original cast have been swapped out for parody counterparts while familiar faces such as Brenda (Regina Hall), Shorty (Marlon Wayans) and Ray (Shawn Wayans) are thrown into the mix for good measure.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Scary Movie film without taking aim at every horror movie within arm’s reach and after thirteen years away there is certainly no shortage of material. This is where Scary Movie 6 is at its strongest. The film does a surprisingly good job of weaving references to Sinners, Weapons, Get Out, Longlegs and countless others into the story without completely derailing the already chaotic pacing. There are even a couple of left-field surprises that nobody will see coming and they end up being among the highlights of the entire film.

The problem is that for a Scary Movie film to work, it actually has to make you laugh and sadly that’s where this latest instalment struggles. Maybe that’s simply a case of getting older and finding different things amusing, but far too many of the jokes miss the mark entirely. There are simply too many stretches of the already brief runtime where genuine laughs are in desperately short supply. If anything, the humour feels stale and uninspired which, for a franchise that once thrived on being the complete opposite, is hugely disappointing.

The idea of mocking absolutely everyone regardless of race, gender or sexuality is fair game in principle, but the relentless fixation on pronouns and transgender jokes quickly wears out its welcome. What starts as satire eventually descends into repetition, becoming less funny with every callback until it reaches the point of outright awkwardness. It also feels destined to spark the exhausting “you’re woke if you don’t find this funny” discourse that somehow accompanies every comedy release these days.

That’s not to suggest the film is completely devoid of laughs. There are a handful of genuinely clever jokes scattered throughout and when they hit, they hit hard. In particular, the film finds plenty of success poking fun at American politics and some of the more controversial public figures dominating headlines today. Those moments feel far sharper than most of the horror parodies and will probably hold up best years from now when people look back and wonder how society managed to become quite this ridiculous.

The reunion of the Wayans brothers alongside Regina Hall and Anna Faris is undoubtedly one of the film’s biggest selling points and it’s clear they are having fun sharing the screen again. Unfortunately though, from the onset it becomes painfully obvious that certain pauses have been inserted purely to give audiences time to react to their appearances. Rather than feeling remotely organic, those moments come across as desperate attempts to manufacture applause. 

There are however a few cameos thrown into the mix that are likely to evoke some sort of reaction. Credit where it’s due, the Wayans brothers have somehow managed to pluck out a few surprises along the way, with one in particular that is shocking for all the right reasons.

Ultimately, while Scary Movie 6 swings wildly in an effort to recapture the magic of the original films, it never comes remotely close to reaching those heights. Most of the bargain-bin humour misses the mark and the nostalgia often feels manufactured rather than earned. As much as it pains me to say it, Scary Movie 6 is the sort of film you watch once, chuckle at a few isolated moments and then promptly forget ever existed.