If you close your eyes and think of 2013, you probably see neon high-top sneakers, hear "Harlem Shake" videos playing in the background, and remember the strange period where every celebrity was trying to "break" their Disney image. Enter Ashley Tisdale. After years of playing the iconic, pink-clad Sharpay Evans, she stepped into a franchise known for toilet humor and total absurdity. Scary Movie 5 was supposed to be the big reboot, the passing of the torch from Anna Faris to a new generation of parody.
Honestly? It was a wild ride. People often forget that this wasn't just another sequel; it was a bizarre cultural crossroads where High School Musical met Charlie Sheen and a very confused Mike Tyson.
What Actually Happens in Scary Movie 5?
The plot is a messy, hilarious collage. Basically, Ashley plays Jody Sanders, a woman who, along with her husband Dan (played by Simon Rex), adopts three feral children found in a cabin. If that sounds familiar, it's because the movie leans heavily on Mama and the Paranormal Activity franchise.
But it doesn't stop there.
While they're dealing with "Mama" (a ghostly entity that is mostly just an excuse for slapstick), Jody is also trying to make it as a prima ballerina. This gives the writers a chance to rip into Black Swan. Watching Ashley Tisdale parody Natalie Portman’s intense psychological descent while competing against a rival played by Erica Ash is, frankly, one of the more underrated comedic performances of that era.
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The Cameos That Defined a Decade
One of the reasons this scary movie with Ashley Tisdale stays in people's minds is the sheer "how did they get them to do this?" factor of the cast.
- Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan: They play themselves in the opening scene, poking fun at their own tabloid reputations. It’s meta, it’s cringey, and it’s perfectly 2013.
- Snoop Dogg and Mac Miller: They show up in a Cabin in the Woods segment that feels like a completely different movie but somehow fits the chaotic energy.
- Katt Williams: He brings his signature high-energy chaos as a fake psychic.
The movie was directed by Malcolm D. Lee, who did Undercover Brother, and written by David Zucker of Airplane! fame. You’d think that pedigree would make it a masterpiece of wit, but instead, they leaned into the "gross-out" humor that the franchise is famous for.
Ashley’s Transition from East High to Horror-Comedy
For Ashley, this was a massive shift. She’s talked in interviews about how nerve-racking it was to take over a franchise that Anna Faris had carried for four films. In an interview with RadioFree.com, she mentioned that the physical comedy was actually pretty brutal. There’s a scene where a hardwood chair is supposed to be "attacking" her from behind—standard haunted house stuff—but the prop guy was hitting her so hard she ended up with actual bruises.
"I wish there was a camera on the prop guy who was probably, like, jamming it behind me!" she laughed. She also had to deal with a sinus infection during filming, which meant a lot of her dialogue had to be re-recorded in post-production (ADR).
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She really went for it. She humped a potted plant. She had a "lesbian" dance-off that got heavily edited to keep the PG-13 rating. She even did a scene with a microwave. It was a far cry from "We're All in This Together," and you have to respect the commitment to the bit.
Why the Critics Hated It (and Fans... Well, Also Sorta Hated It)
Let’s be real. The movie didn't exactly win any Oscars. On Rotten Tomatoes, it sits at a measly 4%.
Critics felt the parody genre was dying. By 2013, the internet was moving so fast that by the time a movie could spoof a trend, the trend was already a year old. Parodying Inception or Black Swan in late 2013 felt a bit like telling a joke everyone had already heard on Twitter months prior.
The box office reflected that too. While the first Scary Movie made over $150 million domestically, this one pulled in about $32 million. It wasn't a total flop—it still made money against its $20 million budget—but it signaled the end of an era for the franchise. We haven't had a Scary Movie 6 since.
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Why It’s Still Worth a Rewatch
Despite the low scores, there’s a certain nostalgia to watching a scary movie with Ashley Tisdale now. It captures a specific moment in Hollywood history.
- The Physicality: Ashley is a genuinely good physical comedian. Her facial expressions during the Black Swan segments are gold.
- The Absurdity: Sometimes you just want to see a movie where apes fling feces and people fall into toilets. It’s "brain-off" entertainment.
- The Time Capsule: Seeing Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen together feels like looking at a museum exhibit of the early 2010s gossip cycle.
What to Do if You’re a Tisdale Fan Today
If you’ve revisited this movie and found yourself missing Ashley on your screen, she’s been busy. She’s since moved into the wellness space with her brand Being Frenshe and has mostly stepped away from the "raunchy comedy" scene. However, she’s back voicing Candace in the Phineas and Ferb revival, proving she hasn't lost that comedic timing.
To get the most out of your 2013 nostalgia trip, try this:
- Watch the "Unrated" Version: If you want to see the gags that were too much for theaters, the home release has extra footage of the dance-off and the opening Sheen/Lohan sequence.
- Pair it with the Originals: Watch it back-to-back with Mama or Sinister. You’ll realize just how many tiny details they actually managed to lampoon.
- Follow her current journey: Check out her "Being Frenshe" content to see the massive contrast between her current "wellness guru" persona and the girl who humped a plant for a paycheck in 2013.
It’s easy to dismiss these movies as "bad," but they’re a specific kind of art form. They don't try to be deep. They just try to make you laugh at the things that scared you. In that regard, Ashley Tisdale did exactly what she was hired to do.
The era of the "spoof movie" might be over for now, but this weird, messy, bruised-butt chapter of Ashley’s career remains a fascinating piece of pop culture history.
Practical Next Step: If you're looking for where to stream it, check platforms like Max or look for it on VOD. Most of the Scary Movie library rotates through the major streaming services every few months. Look for the "Unrated" cut if you want the full, unfiltered experience of the reshoots Ashley mentioned in her interviews.