Mainly as a response to 1996's Scream and 1997's I Know What You Did Last Summer, 2000's Scary Movie provided a spoof of these sorts of horror flicks. It took in $278 million worldwide on a budget of only $19 million, a profit that ensured a franchise, with 2026's identically-titled reboot/sequel Scary Movie as the sixth in the series.

Over the years, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) and her pals fended off all sorts of violent killers. She finally feels free of these threats.

Unfortunately, Cindy's peace doesn't last long. A new "Ghostface" emerges and puts Cindy and friends through the ringer as they attempt to stay alive yet again.

As mentioned, the 2000 Scary Movie sold a lot of tickets and that led to three sequels through 2006, all of which did pretty well at the box office. However, after 2006's Scary Movie 4, the franchise went dormant until 2013's Scary Movie 5.

With a worldwide gross of $78 million and a $20 million budget, it turned a profit. However, that demonstrated a pretty steep decline compared to the first four, a factor that appears to explain the 13-year gap between Scary 5 and this reboot/sequel.

The 2026 flick only cost $30 million and boasted an overall take of $231 million. One assumes this means more Scary Movie entries at multiplexes soon.

Will I watch them? Probably, if just out of a sense of morbid curiosity.

I found the first five flicks varying levels of awful and went into the 2026 Scary without much hope of improvement. This expectation proved accurate, as the reboot/sequel suffers from all the rampant flaws of the prior efforts.

In theory, the biggest source of appeal from Scary 2026 stems from its “the gang’s all here” atmosphere. Whereas the first two flicks came from the Wayans family, David Zucker took over for the third and fourth efforts and Malcolm D. Lee directed the fifth.

Faris and Regina Hall appeared in the first four but for obvious reasons, neither Shawn nor Marlon Wayans reprised their parts from the initial pair of flicks. Scary 2026 essentially pretends films three through five don’t exist and it acts as a “spiritual sequel” to 2001’s Scary 2.

I guess this reunion helped sell tickets. Or maybe an entirely new generation came out for Scary 2026.

Unfortunately, as indicated earlier, I find nothing in Scary 2026 to make it better than its fairly terrible predecessors. While not actually worse than those flicks, it comes with a sad sense of déjà vu.

I feel that way not just because Scary 2026 comes with the same kinds of cheap and lazy gags. Like the earlier films, it does little more than produce allusions to other horror productions and alter them with either sex or drug references and slapstick.

These bits didn’t amuse 26 years ago and they don’t work better now. They seem like cheap and easy “laughs” without real creativity.

The bigger issue comes from the sense that Scary 2026 seems stuck in amber. Although the comedic sensibilities of the early 2000s now can feel outdated – and often offensive - Scary 2026 doesn’t give the impression that anyone involved attempted to update it for the modern era.

That means lots of gags that revolve around homosexual, transgender and racial stereotypes. Again, I didn’t think these worked two decades ago, but they now feel both stupid and out of touch.

Scary 2026 does bring a pretty good cast but it wastes them entirely. Witless and tasteless, the franchise sequel/reboot flops.

Footnote: a fake trailer for a different movie appears early in the end credits and a tag scene shows up a couple minutes later. Nothing else pops up after that.

Scary Movie appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. A native 4K production, expect a lively Dolby Vision presentation.

Overall sharpness worked fine. No softness cropped up in this tight presentation.

Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects impacted the proceedings, and I witnessed no edge haloes. Source flaws also stayed absent.

Scary Movie opted for a palette that leaned toward amber/orange and teal, though it also broadened at times. The hues appeared well-represented given those stylistic decisions and HDR added some impact to the tones.

Blacks felt deep and dense while low-light elements offered appealing clarity. HDR brought vivacity to whites and contrast. Ultimately, I found myself very pleased with the visuals.

Even with all the comedy, the film’s Dolby Atmos audio went with a fairly standard horror soundscape. This meant an emphasis on creepy atmosphere.

This works fine for the tale at hand, as the elements flesh out the room in a positive manner. Throw in occasional louder action moments and the soundfield satisfied.

Audio quality came across well, with music that seemed full and rich. Speech remained natural and distinctive, without edginess or other problems.

Effects boasted solid bite and impact, with nice low-end as well. Though not especially ambitious, the soundtrack suited the film.

Four featurettes appear, and Scream Together goes for eight minutes, nine seconds. It offers comments from writers/actors Shawn and Marlon Wayans, director Michael Tiddes and actors Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Lochly Munro and Dave Sheridan.

The reel looks at elements of the first movie's creation as well as the franchise's revival. We get a couple minor insight but most of "Together" leans toward fluff.

Fresh Meat spans six minutes, one second. This one involves Tiddes, Marlon Wayans, Faris, Hall, Sheridan, and actors Olivia Rose Keegan, Cameron Scott Roberts, Gregg Wayans, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif.

The show covers new cast and characters. It delivers little more than happy talk.

Next comes Wayans World. The show occupies four minutes, 34 seconds and brings notes from Marlon Wayans, Tiddes, Shawn Wayans, Faris, Gregg Wayans, Munro, writer/actor Craig Wayans, walkie production assistant/actor Shawn Howell Wayans, camera production assistant/actor Ilia Wayans, and actors Kim Wayans, Mar Wayans, and Jon Abrahams.

We hear about all the Wayans family members involved in the movie. Basically we get a summary of the talents of the Wayans clan and little substance.

Finally, a Scene Dissection lasts nine minutes, 29 seconds. Here we find remarks from Tiddes, choreographer Dondraico Johnson, and actors Teyana Taylor, Deon Cole, and Heidi Gardner.

The reel gives us closer thoughts about a few sequences. Unsurprisingly, we get little more than superficial remarks, as Tiddes mainly simply tells us what he likes.

If you expect the 2026 Scary Movie to improve on its largely awful predecessors, I bear bad news. A collection of cheap horror references and puerile gags, it wastes a good cast and becomes nothing more than a witless drag. The 4K UHD brings excellent visuals and positive audio along with a forgettable selection of supplements. Six films into the franchise and I give up hope that any of these entries will ever rise above the level of terrible.