Rotten Tomatoes
4%
Charlie Sanders and his girlfriend Lindsay set up more than 20 cameras in his bedroom to make a sex tape. They try gymnastics, a horse and a troupe of clowns. Then an unseen force lifts Charlie into the air and slams him into the walls, shelves and doors before dropping him back on the bed. Lindsay decides to go home, but she gets lifted up too. Possessed, she throws Charlie into a camera and kills him. Text on screen says his body was found that day, though he did not stop partying until days later. His three children have gone missing, Lindsay has been arrested again, and there is a reward out for the kids.
Months later, Ja'Marcus and D'Andre are poking around the woods of Humboldt County, California, looking for marijuana to steal. They duck into a cabin and find three feral little creatures inside. These are Charlie's kids, Kathy, Lily and Aidan. The two of them turn the children in for the reward. The children spend a few months at a child development research center until they are well enough to go to family.
Charlie's estranged brother Dan and Dan's wife Jody take them in. The deal comes with a big suburban house wired with security cameras. Jody is not keen at first but comes around. She auditions for the lead in a production of Swan Lake and gets the part of the Swan Queen, a Black Swan parody that runs through the rest of the film.
Strange things keep happening in the house. The children explain that it is Mama, their real mother, who is under a curse and wants them back so she can sacrifice herself and them. Maria, the live-in housekeeper, is terrified and keeps trying rituals, Catholic and otherwise, to clear the house. At work, Dan runs a primate intelligence lab and is too dim to notice that his chimpanzee Caesar has become much smarter than he is. One night the pool drain throws a party, and in the morning Maria's latest ritual gets her fired. Their shouting, since Dan cannot understand her Spanish, ends with every ape in the lab getting loose.
Jody and Dan, with help from Jody's ballet friend Kendra Brooks, try to lift the curse. A psychic named Blaine Fulda turns out to be a fraud. A dream extractor named Dom Kolb, a spoof of Inception, points them to a book called the Book of the Evil. At a cabin, Jody and Kendra read the book in the basement without understanding it. One passage, gort klaatu barada nikto, unleashes demons and sends the four young friends upstairs into a bloody self-mutilating frenzy. The other passage puts them back to normal. The two women keep reading them back and forth.
Mama takes the children to a cliff to sacrifice them. The book does not work, but Jody manages to knock Mama off the edge. Mama survives the fall by landing in the pool on Ja'Marcus and D'Andre's yacht, where a shark eats her.
Jody decides that loving her new children is what matters and gives the Swan Queen role to Kendra, who dances it like a stripper to a standing ovation from Jody, Dan, the kids, Kendra's family and Madea. Caesar turns out to have been narrating the whole film. He closes by telling the audience that the apes will take over someday, so humans should enjoy the time they have left.
Story notes
- Parodies: Paranormal Activity. The cold open, Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan filming themselves, and the house later rigged with cameras.
- Parodies: Mama, 2013. The main plot and the ending at the cliff. Zucker said this material was added late, during post production shooting.
- Parodies: Black Swan, 2010. Jody and Kendra auditioning for Swan Lake. Ashley Tisdale trained in ballet for it.
- Parodies: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 2011. Dan works at an ape research facility, and Caesar ends up narrating the film.
- Parodies: Evil Dead, 2013. The cabin, the Book of Evil and the basement.
- Parodies: Fifty Shades of Grey. Jerry O’Connell as Christian Grey opposite Tisdale, with leather clad goats, industrial quantities of lubricant, and Mike Tyson turning up to punch him.
- Parodies: Sinister, Insidious, The Cabin in the Woods, The Help, Madea, Titanic, 127 Hours, The Hunger Games and Inception all appear, though the Inception material that was all over the trailers is not in the unrated Blu-ray cut, and the Ted parody is only on the unrated DVD.
- The weakest entry, and it shows in where it did not open. There was no French cinema release and no Japanese cinema releasetwo of the franchise's historically strongest markets both passed. South Korea and Malaysia waited a year.
- Titles stayed as before: Brazil Todo Mundo em Pânico 5, Poland Straszny film 5, Ukraine Дуже страшне кіно 5, Quebec Film de peur V. Greece and Italy used the Roman numeral, Scary Movie V.
- Australia opened first on April 11, 2013, then America, the UK and Ireland on the 12th, Italy on the 18th, Germany and Russia on the 25th, Spain on May 1, Brazil in June, Mexico in July.
- Britain rated it 15, Ireland 15A, Germany 12 for both the theatrical and unrated cuts. Greece said 15, Russia 16.
- Germany was the biggest foreign market on 7,624,898 dollars, then Italy 4,211,478, Russia 3,902,832, the UK 3,824,691 and Australia 3,335,873. Forty four countries reported figures, the smallest being Malaysia at 13,255 dollars. Foreign business was 59.2 percent of the total, the highest share in the series.
Release facts
- Runtime: 86 minutes (BBFC, 85:46); the unrated cut runs about 88 minutes
The film premiered at the ArcLight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood on April 11, 2013, and opened in the United States on April 12. Australia, New Zealand, Greece and Portugal got it on April 11, the United Kingdom and Ireland on April 12, Italy on April 18, Germany and Russia on April 25, and Spain on May 1. Mexico waited until July 26. Malaysia did not get it until April 2014, and South Korea until July 2014. TMDB lists no French theatrical date, only a physical release there in 2016.
It was not screened for critics. It opened in second place behind 42 with $14,157,367, the lowest opening in the series. Forecasts had it around $17 million. It dropped to fourth in its second weekend with about $6.3 million, then seventh, ninth, 13th and 15th. It ended with $32,015,787 in the United States and $46,362,957 overseas, $78,378,744 in all, the lowest total in the series. Overseas money made up 59.2 percent of the gross.
Germany was the biggest foreign market at $7,624,898, then Italy at $4,211,478, Russia and the CIS at $3,902,832, the United Kingdom at $3,824,691 and Australia at $3,335,873. Brazil brought in $2,603,027. Malaysia, the late release, made just $13,255.
Critics hated it. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 4 percent from 51 reviews with an average of 2.3 out of 10. The site's summary calls it juvenile even for this series. Metacritic gives it 11 out of 100 from 16 critics, which the site calls overwhelming dislike. CinemaScore audiences gave it a C minus.
IGN gave it 1 out of 10. Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post gave it zero stars and said she left wondering whether one solid joke was too much to ask. Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News gave it one star but gave credit to Snoop Dogg, Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan for breaking up the boredom. Rafer Guzman of Newsday said even the talented people get chewed up. Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly missed Anna Faris. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter said spending so much time on Mama showed how desperate the filmmakers were.
At the 34th Golden Raspberry Awards it was nominated for Worst Supporting Actress (Lindsay Lohan), Worst Screen Combo (Lohan and Charlie Sheen) and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel. It did not win any of them.
Malcolm D. Lee later disowned it. In a 2018 California Sunday Magazine profile he called it just a bad movie and told people not to bother seeing or renting it.
Ratings abroad included 15 in the United Kingdom, 15A in Ireland, 12 in Germany, MA15+ in Australia, K-15 in Greece, 16+ in Russia, 16 in Spain and Brazil, and 19 in South Korea.
Four percent on Rotten Tomatoes and eleven on Metacritic put this among the worst reviewed wide releases of 2013. Stephanie Merry in the Washington Post gave it zero stars and called it a lazy, boring, vile and tragically unfunny attempt at a horror film spoof, and said it was so appalling she was left wondering if one solid joke was too much to ask. The A.V. Club noted the comic sensibility is so retro that the film pays tribute to The Benny Hill Show. The Los Angeles Times wrote that if you think three months is an impossible amount of time to write and produce a feature film, well, it is. The New York Times pointed out that Marlon Wayans’ own A Haunted House had got to Paranormal Activity first, for a much smaller budget, and was funnier.
Scores
Metacritic
11
CinemaScore
C−
Deleted Scenes & Trivia
- The unrated cut is about 1 minute 56 seconds longer than the theatrical cut. Schnittberichte.com counted 30 differences: 19 extended scenes, 5 alternate lines of dialogue, 3 scenes using alternate footage, 2 extended scenes with alternate footage, and 1 added sound effect.
- A parody of Ted appears only in the unrated DVD version.
- A full Hunger Games parody was shot and cut. Zucker said it pulled the story too far off track.
- A ballet dance number Ashley Tisdale spent a month training for was cut.
- Chris Elliott was edited out of the film entirely, according to Simon Rex.
- Deleted and extended scenes on the Blu-ray include Heather vs. Truck, a Molly Shannon scene, and an extended Fifty Shades of Grey sequence.
- The poster uses the stylized title Scary MoVie.
Trivia
- It is the only film in the series without Cindy Campbell or Brenda Meeks.
- It is the only film in the series not involving Miramax, and the second and last distributed by The Weinstein Company.
- It was not screened in advance for critics.
- It has the lowest opening, the lowest total and the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score in the series.
- Director Malcolm D. Lee later told people not to see it.
- David Zucker makes an uncredited cameo as a Green Bay Packers fan.
- The poster stylizes the title as Scary MoVie, hiding the Roman numeral five inside the word.
- Evil Dead, one of the films it spoofs, opened in theaters just one week earlier.
- Films spoofed include Paranormal Activity, Mama, Black Swan, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Evil Dead, The Cabin in the Woods, Sinister, Inception, Insidious, The Help, and the Fifty Shades of Grey books, plus Ted in the unrated DVD.
- Sources disagree on a few character names. Wikipedia has Molly Shannon as Heather Darcy and Kate Walsh as Mal Colb, while TMDB has Heather Daltry and just Mal.
- Sources also disagree on Brazil's release. TMDB lists April 12, 2013, and Box Office Mojo lists June 28, 2013.
- Mexico's DVD title is Scary Movie 5: El mal ya viene. In Quebec it is Film de peur V.
- Sources give different reasons for Anna Faris's absence. A 2012 blackfilm.com production report said it was because she had just had her first child. In 2026 Faris said she was simply never asked.
- It was not screened for critics before release.
- Lowest opening weekend and lowest total in the history of the series.
- Three Razzie nominations and no wins: worst supporting actress for Lindsay Lohan, worst screen combo for Lohan and Charlie Sheen, and worst prequel, remake, rip off or sequel.
- Charlie Sheen’s character dies and the film puts text on screen joking that his body was found that day but he did not stop partying until days later.
- The director disowned it. Malcolm D. Lee, speaking to The California Sunday Magazine in August 2018: it was just a bad movie, believe me, do not bother going to see that movie, or renting it, or anything, it is not worth your time.
- The only entry with neither Cindy Campbell nor Brenda Meeks.
- The only entry in the franchise not involving Miramax.
- Director Malcolm D. Lee later disowned it outright: "It was just a bad movie. Believe me. Don't bother going to see that movie."
- Marlon Wayans claimed The Weinstein Company offered to buy and shelve his film A Haunted House in order to use its concepts here; the offer was rejected.
- Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen play fictionalised versions of themselves in the opening sequence.
- The Ted parody exists only on the unrated DVD.
- Its $78.6 million worldwide is the lowest in the series, on a budget of $20 million, the smallest since the original.
- The Washington Post gave it zero stars.
- It received three Golden Raspberry Award nominations in 2014.
- Tyler Posey appears here and, six years later, in Scream: Resurrection, a rare crossover between the two subjects of this brief.
Connections
- Standalone sequel to Scary Movie 4 (2006).
- Charlie Sheen played Tom Logan in Scary Movie 3 and 4 and plays Charlie Sanders here. Simon Rex played George Logan in 3 and 4 and plays Dan Sanders here. Molly Shannon played Marilyn in Scary Movie 4 and plays Heather Darcy here. Darrell Hammond also returns in a new role as Dr. Hall.
- Followed by Scary Movie (2026), which brings back the Wayans brothers, Anna Faris and Regina Hall.
- Marlon Wayans's A Haunted House (2013) got to the Paranormal Activity spoof first, and Wayans has said The Weinstein Company tried to buy and bury it.
- Madea appears in the final ballet audience, played by Lewis Thompson.
Sources
- Scary Movie 5 - Wikipedia
- AFI Catalog: Scary Movie V
- Scary Movie 5 cast and crew - TMDB
- Scary Movie 5 release dates - TMDB
- Scary Movie 5 alternative titles - TMDB
- Scary Movie 5 - Box Office Mojo
- Scary Movie 5 Blu-ray - Blu-ray.com
- A chat with Ashley Tisdale and Simon Rex - Bullz-Eye
- Interview: Writer-Producer David Zucker Talks Scary Movie V - ComingSoon
- Anna Faris and Regina Hall reveal why they didn't return for Scary Movie 5 - AOL
- Scary Movie 5 Filming in Atlanta Ballet Studios - Atlanta Ballet
- Scary Movie 5 begins production - blackfilm.com
- Scary Movie 5 Begins Production - CinemaBlend
- Scary Movie 5 cut comparison - Schnittberichte.com
- Official Scary Movie 5 poster - SheKnows
- Review: Scary Movie 5 - ScreenAnarchy
- Malcolm D. Lee profile - The California Sunday Magazine
