This article contains spoilers for Scream 7 and Scary Movie.
The Scream franchise has been acclaimed for many reasons: its witty deconstruction of the horror genre (and slashers in particular), its satire of Hollywood and film industry cliches, its exploration of the blurred lines between reality and fiction, its tense action sequences and inventive kills, and its detective structure, where the killer behind the Ghostface mask is different every time. The Scary Movie franchise may have begun as a direct parody of Scream, but it has forged its own unique path, transcending the confines of a single series or horror subgenre and parodying whatever it pleases while simultaneously poking fun at the latest horror hits. Beyond their similar source material, the two series shouldn't compete with each other, as one aims to scare and thrill, while the other tries to make people laugh by any means necessary.
However, just like a pet and its owner eventually become more like each other, Scream and Scary Movie have switched places. It could be argued that Scream 3 is a more successful comedy than, say, the first Scary Movie. Now that the new Scary Movie is once again satirizing a long-running horror franchise (using 2022's Scream as a base), it manages to do something unexpected: it handles the Ghostface revelation better than the supposedly more respectable sequel, Scream 7. To be fair, Scary Movie operates on a different level; it's a parody film, and so the plot is intentionally added later. And while there's little logic to the Ghostface revelation, it's far more entertaining and satisfying than the drawn-out and lackluster ending of Scream 7.
Read also: Sci-fi movies are so bad they were pulled from distribution.
Unlike Scream 7, Scary Movie has a satisfying ending.
Shorty, Brenda and Ray are the keepers of tradition in Scary Movie (Paramount Pictures).
Beyond all the usual pitfalls of diminishing returns in any long-running franchise, the Scream series has struggled, constantly finding ways to make its Ghostface killers relevant to both contemporary Hollywood trends and the horror genre of the time, as well as its protagonists. Scream (the fifth) and Scream VI reinvigorated the series by introducing a cast of new characters whose motivations could be tied to both these new characters and the original films and the surviving heroes. Scream 7 jettisons much of this, venerating Sidney Prescott and actress Neve Campbell, and the film serves as one big apology for Sidney's omission from Scream VI. To add drama, the film introduces the idea of Ghostface using artificial intelligence to torture Sidney using the faces of her past tormentors. As such, Matthew Lillard, Laurie Metcalf, Scott Foley, and others make cameo appearances. However, the real Ghostfaces turn out to be just Sydney's new neighbor, Jessica (Anna Camp), and her boss at the mental hospital (Ethan Embry), both of whom have rather questionable motives.
The 2026 film "Scary Movie" follows the plot of the 2022 film "Scream" almost exactly. Thus, the first people audiences see as Ghostfaces are his boyfriend (Cameron Scott Roberts) and a party girl (Ruby Snowber). However, they are quickly dispatched by the real Ghostfaces: Ray (Shawn Wayans), Shorty (Marlon Wayans), Anthony Anderson, and Shaquille O'Neal. Unlike "Scream 7," which clumsily elevated a couple of new characters to killer status, "Scary Movie" casts some of its most famous actors, past and present, as killers.
The reveal of Ghostface's identity in Scary Movie is a clever callback to the first film.
Shorty and Ghostface Host an Online Party in 'Scary Movie' - Paramount Pictures
The appearance of a few famous actors in cameo roles in Scary Movie wouldn't necessarily have made the Ghostface reveal any better. What makes this comedy better than Scream 7 is that the very appearance of Ray, Shorty, Anthony, and Shaq (who says he's there representing Kevin Hart because the comedian declined to appear) serves as a meta-commentary on the revenge of the black sidekicks for being sidelined (mostly with the exception of Regina Hall's Brenda) by the franchise's white leads. Then comes the third plot twist, in which Ray and Shorty embrace their real-life identities as Shawn and Marlon Wayans and rebel against Anthony Anderson and Shaq for taking their place in the David Zucker-directed Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4, which the Wayans were absent from. This is a reference to the moment when Ray and Bobby (Jon Abrahams) were revealed to be the Ghostfaces from the original Scary Movie, where Ray/Shawn talks about how upset he was about the cancellation of the 1995 sitcom The Wayans Bros.
Righteous indignation then gives way to a fourth plot twist, when Ray and Shorty decide to team up with Cindy (Anna Faris) and Brenda to kill Cindy's daughters, Sarah (Olivia Rose Keegan) and Tuesday (Savannah Lee Nassif), thereby cementing their position as the true heirs of the franchise over the younger, newer cast. Is this a deliberate satire of the subtext of Scream 7, sidelining Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega? Or is it a genuine desire on the part of Faris, Hall, and the Wayans? Perhaps both, or even neither, given how loosely Scary Movie's storyline is. One thing is clear: the parody film has surpassed the franchise it parodies. How ridiculous!
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.