All 6 Entries In The Scary Movie Franchise, Ranked

Before it became one of the best horror movies of all time, 1996's "Scream" was initially titled "Scary Movie," until the studio, Miramax, changed the name during production. Just a few years later, Miramax bought the rights to a pair of dueling screenplays that jokingly targeted the teen horror movie boom that "Scream" created. But rather than going with either of their equally convoluted titles, the big screen parody would come full circle by simply calling the film "Scary Movie." 

It only makes sense that the title ultimately went to a spoof of the satire that turned an entire genre on its head, which is exactly what Marlon and Shawn Wayans' winning script also set out to do, only through a slapstick angle. The result is a six-movie franchise that's been going for so long that it's able to have its own legacy sequel in 2026 called, well, "Scary Movie."

In spite of the 2000 comedy revitalizing the spoof movie subgenre throughout the following decade, what separates "Scary Movie" from the dreck that Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg made later on ("Epic Movie") was that there was usually some kind of an effort to meet the movies they made fun of on their level. Whether the different teams that made the six "Scary Movie" entries were actually funny is up for debate, with each of them having their own highs and frequently grating lows.

The success of last year's legacy sequel reboot of "The Naked Gun," coupled with nostalgia for the original "Scary Movie," proved that there's still a market for goofy slapstick vehicles, so let's take a look at every "Scary Movie" and see which one features the best hit-to-miss joke ratio.

• Cast: Simon Rex, Ashley French, Charlie Sheen
• Director: Malcolm D. Lee
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 86 minutes
• Where to Watch: Paramount+

Coming in at the very bottom is the only "Scary Movie" without the involvement of the Wayans, David Zucker, Anna Faris, or Regina Hall, and boy does it show. The first entry in the series in seven years, 2013's "Scary Movie V" falls victim to all the worst sins of the parody movie craze, simply hoping that making an easy reference to a horror movie or real-life celebrity scandal will suffice in place of a joke. 

The plot (if you can even call it that) centers on a couple taking care of two abandoned feral children found in the middle of the woods, only for erratic things to keep happening around the house. The two main parodies focus on "Mama" and "Paranormal Activity," yet "Scary Movie V" keeps veering off into bizarrely "timely" tangents spoofing "Black Swan," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and (checks notes) "Inception."

The only frame of reference this crew had for their jokes about 2013's "Evil Dead" were based on that movie's first trailer, if that's any indication of how the rest of this plays out. Even if "Scary Movie V" were more streamlined, the jokes are downright abysmal and the film looks aggressively cheap. Simon Rex and Charlie Sheen are the only returning figures in front of the camera, albeit as different characters, with the latter essentially playing on his disgraced persona. In fact, Sheen's presence led his co-star Lindsay Lohan to sign a weird release that a body double would kiss him in her place. It's no wonder this was the nail in the "Scary Movie" coffin for a very long time.

• Cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans
• Director: Michael Tiddes
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 95 minutes
• Where to Watch: In theaters now

Marlon, Shawn, and Keenen Ivory Wayans were all set to make another "Scary Movie" after the second one, but studio heads Harvey and Bob Weinstein ultimately booted them from their own franchise. Although directed by Michael Tiddes, "Scary Movie" (2026) is a Wayans family affair that serves as a reclamation of what they started over 25 years ago, albeit with less than stellar results.

Like the first two films, this works best when it's just a bunch of goofballs hanging out together, even if the delightful Cindy (Anna Faris) and Brenda (Regina Hall) aren't in this as much as you would hope. The "plot" is largely a beat-for-beat parody of 2022's "Scream," much like the first "Scary Movie" was for the original "Scream," with Cindy's daughter (Olivia Rose Keegan) in the Sam Carpenter role. But the film struggles whenever it veers outside this framework.

"Scary Movie" bafflingly falls prey to the Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer school of telling jokes where they reference something, whether it be a horror movie, meme, or hot button topic, and then explicitly state what they're making fun of. You can tell the Wayans want to make up for well over a decade's worth of things they never go to make fun of, like "Get Out," "Longlegs" and "The Substance," yet do so in a lazy manner. For all its bark about pushing the envelope, its bite is pretty predictable. With that said, it has a shockingly great ending and puts this year's interminable "Scream 7" to even further shame.

• Cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans
• Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 83 minutes
• Where to Watch: Kanopy, Paramount+

Considering the first "Scary Movie" made $278 million on a $19 million budget, it's a no-brainer that Miramax (via its Dimension arm) would want a sequel to capitalize on its success. Unfortunately, "Scary Movie 2" was rushed into production in order to be ready for the summer of 2001, and it shows. This one centers around parodying haunted house movies like "House on Haunted Hill" and "The Changeling," with Jan de Bont's terrible remake of "The Haunting" serving as its central narrative framework. 

Tim Curry's Professor Oldman and David Cross' wheelchair-bound Dwight recruit Cindy, Brenda, Shorty (Marlon Wayans) and Ray (Shawn Wayans), among others, to stay at the Hell House manor for a series of psychological experiments that blow the doors wide open for supernatural occurrences. Some folks will go to bat for it as a comedy sequel that's better than the original, but we see it as a major step down in every way.

"Scary Movie 2" is a great example of watching isolated clips of funny moments, like Cindy getting into a fist fight with a cat puppet or Shorty getting rolled up into a blunt, that makes you believe the movie is better than it actually is. This rushed sequel takes a scattershot approach to telling jokes and is frequently more mean-spirited than its predecessor, such as a tasteless gag where Ray sexually assaults the "Poltergeist" clown with his Mr. Fantastic penis. There's no real rhythm that makes it feel like you're watching a movie, with random references to "The Exorcist," "Hannibal" and "Charlie's Angels." When in doubt, bring out Chris Elliott and his warped prosthetic hand to stick in all the food.

• Cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Anthony Anderson
• Director: David Zucker
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 83 minutes
• Where to Watch: Paramount+

After "Scary Movie 3" proved that this series could survive at the box office without the Wayans, David Zucker returned, along with screenwriters Craig Mazin, Pat Proft, and Jim Abrahams, for "Scary Movie 4" in 2006. This entry has always been something of an odd duckling in the series' history, yet is surprisingly a lot better than you remember.

In typical "Scary Movie" fashion, the plot merges a bunch of different movies that were popular at the time like "Saw," "War of the Worlds," "The Grudge," and "The Village." This time, Cindy is reeling from the humiliating death of her husband George, which leads her to take a job as a caretaker. As a series of hauntings start happening all around her, it entrenches Cindy in a hilariously convoluted plot concerning an alien invasion, an isolated community, and the importance of family.

With a $45 million budget to its name, this contains a surprising amount of decent visual effects work for dumb sight gags like the iPod that reveals the alien ships. All of the "Saw" jokes are genuinely great. There are traps in here that John Kramer would be jealous that he didn't think of first. Even the bathroom set looks so good that the "Saw" creative team sought it out to replace the one that had been demolished prior to filming. "Scary Movie 4" is right down the middle when it comes to the hit-miss joke ratio, but when they work, they really work.

• Cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans
• Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 88 minutes
• Where to Watch: Kanopy, Paramount+

"Scary Movie" came along at the right time for silly slapstick parody movies, in the same vein as "Scream" giving slasher movies a shot in the arm. The general premise follows a bunch of horror movie teenage archetypes finding themselves at the mercy of a goofy masked killer slaughtering them one by one. The Wayans bring an infectious energy to their ribbing of films like "The Matrix," "The Blair Witch Project" and "The Usual Suspects," but the screenplay's greatest achievement is somehow weaving the 1996 Wes Craven classic and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" into a single narrative that makes them feel indistinguishable from each other. 

Some scenes even pull dialogue and shot compositions verbatim from what they're making fun of, which lends an air of credibility to the whole thing. When "Scary Movie" does miss the mark, it's a nuclear misfire, such as the case with the predatory transgender gym teacher Miss Mann (get it? ugh). Thankfully, the rest of the movie has more good jokes than bad, such as the "Scream 2" homage with Brenda getting stabbed for being an annoying moviegoer, or the over-the-top sex scene between Cindy and Bobby.

These movies truly live and breathe on the incredible comic chemistry between Anna Faris and Regina Hall, proving that they should have had their own line of buddy comedies. In the end, "Scary Movie" is one of the best spoof movies of all time for a reason, and definitely knows wazzzzzuuppp.

• Cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Simon Rex
• Director: David Zucker
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 84 minutes
• Where to Watch: Kanopy, Paramount+

There would be no "Scary Movie" franchise without the Wayans birthing it into existence, but with that said, "Scary Movie 3" remains the best one. David Zucker, the director behind "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun," ditches the more vulgar sensibilities of the previous films in favor of a spoof that aligns more with his brand of humor, and it holds up surprisingly well. Signs of an imminent alien invasion time perfectly with a cursed killer videotape that kills you in seven days. At the forefront is Anna Faris' Cindy trying to figure out what's going on, and save her psychic son Cody in the process.

Regina Hall's Brenda may only get a handful of scenes, but absolutely makes a meal out of lines like "the TV's leaking." Leslie Nielsen gets to slink back into "Naked Gun" mode as the very stupid President Harris, and Simon Rex gives a deeply funny performance as a farmer with aspirations of being a respected rapper. There's also Anthony Anderson and Kevin Hart as a buddy duo who bounce off each other like they've been friends their whole lives.

"Signs," "The Ring," and "8 Mile" couldn't be more different from one another but screenwriters Craig Mazin and Pat Proft somehow manage to weave all of these movies into a coherent story with momentum, a three-act structure, and loads of laughs. The references serve the characters rather than the other way around, which is why this has held up better than most of the other "Scary Movie" entries.