A Haunted House (2013)
Directed by Michael Tiddes
Malcolm and Kisha move into their dream home, but soon learn a demon also resides there. When Kisha becomes possessed, Malcolm - determined to keep his sex life on track - turns to a priest, a psychic, and a team of ghost-busters for help in this spoof of all the "found-footage/documentary style" films released in recent years.
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Not one to let a lucrative business rest, Wayans, along with co-writer Rick Alvarez and director Michael Tiddes, tackle the latest current hot fadsupernatural found-footage thrillers a 'la 2009's " Paranormal Activity "for raunch-laden yuks with "A Haunted House."
Seven weeks after the release of Scary Movie 5 we have A Haunted House, a faithful but rarely amusing take on Paranormal Activity (and, when they exhaust found footage/reality TV, The Exorcist ).
House takes its direct cues from the Paranormal Activity series, in which a couple are haunted by an unseen ghost.
Released to coincide with Marlon Wayans's stand-up tour in Australia, this latest, flatulence-flavoured swipe at Paranormal Activity and The Devil Inside, among other titles, offers nothing that its cousin Scary Movie V did so dreadfully barely a month ago.
The movie should have taken a more scattershot approach and not just satirize one film (“Paranormal Activity”).
Ripping off films like The Devil Inside, The Last Exorcism, Paranormal Activity, so on and so on, this Marlon Wayans vessel might dive to even lower depths than some of the shite films mentioned above.
Such is the case with "A Haunted House," which additionally references 1999's " The Blair Witch Project ," 2010's " The Last Exorcism ," and, oddly, 1997's " I Know What You Did Last Summer " without knowing the first thing about subverting expectations or bringing clever or savvy twists to their shout-outs.
Naturally, the subgenre of so-called ''found footage'' horror - popularised by The Blair Witch Project and now ubiquitous - is placed front and centre, where un-PC gags fall flatter than a pancake.
The hit-to-miss ratio is less than impressive throughout "A Haunted House," a frenetic and freewheeling satirical comedy that only sporadically scores a bull's-eye while aiming at easy targets: found-footage thrillers in the vein of "Paranormal Activity," "The Devil Inside" and the granddaddy of them all, "The Blair Witch Project."
Token allusions to The Exorcist and The Blair Witch Project aside, there's no mistaking this as an excuse to trot out recycled jokes that are only frightening in how lame they are.
Seven weeks after the release of Scary Movie 5 we have A Haunted House, a faithful but rarely amusing take on Paranormal Activity (and, when they exhaust found footage/reality TV, The Exorcist ).
Occupying the cultural space that exists at the intersection of the least developed idea anybody in the Wayans family ever had, the greatest, best-try comedic strivings of the Epic Movie and Date Movie guys, that floating island of plastic garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and whatever the physical manifestation of absolute boredom and uselessness might look like, the film is a first draft parody of Paranormal Activity, The Devil Inside, The Exorcist and The Last Exorcism.
Ghost Hunters and The Exorcist are some of the eye-rolling springboards for parody, while Wayans and co-writer Rick Alvarez flog gross stereotypes about gender and race (Mandingo parties are a recurring theme) to zero comedic effect.
Token allusions to The Exorcist and The Blair Witch Project aside, there's no mistaking this as an excuse to trot out recycled jokes that are only frightening in how lame they are.
If you already saw the titles referenced here, mostly the "Paranormal Activity" films, the otherwise forgotten "The Devil Inside" and kind of "The Exorcist" — the crucifix but not the pea soup — there may be a certain passing feeling of being in on the joke.
To a large degree, "A Haunted House" plays like a feature-length riff on a classic Eddie Murphy stand-up routine inspired by "Poltergeist" ("Why don't white people just leave the house when there's a ghost in the house?").
Eddie Murphy made the joke about horror movies and race best back in 1983, talking about Poltergeist: “Why don’t white people just leave the house when there’s a ghost in the house?
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Such is the case with "A Haunted House," which additionally references 1999's " The Blair Witch Project ," 2010's " The Last Exorcism ," and, oddly, 1997's " I Know What You Did Last Summer " without knowing the first thing about subverting expectations or bringing clever or savvy twists to their shout-outs.
Such is the case with "A Haunted House," which additionally references 1999's " The Blair Witch Project ," 2010's " The Last Exorcism ," and, oddly, 1997's " I Know What You Did Last Summer " without knowing the first thing about subverting expectations or bringing clever or savvy twists to their shout-outs.
It isn't that those things aren't funny in the hands of funny people -- indeed, about 80 percent of the elements listed above are hilarious in " Blazing Saddles " -- but Alvarez and Wayans aren't Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor , and Wayans and Atkins aren't Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder .
In a recent interview with HitFix, Marlon Wayans used the similarly timed releases of his found-footage horror comedy A Haunted House and the fourth Scary Movie sequel as an excuse to rant against the franchise he helped launch.
Since the “Scary Movie” brand is now someone else’s property (since that series is so genius), we now have “A Haunted House” a movie so bereft or wit or actual comedy, that it’s embarrassing.
In his career, Marlon Wayans has found success spoofing socially conscious black dramas (1996's "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood"), "Scream"-style horror films (2000's " Scary Movie "), haunted house pics (2001's " Scary Movie 2 "), and dance flicks (2009's, uh, " Dance Flick ").
Some of the Scary Movie series’ architects reassemble here for a joylessly raunchy comedy about a ghost causing trouble for couple Malcolm (Wayans) and Kisha (Atkins).
This doesn’t bode well for a “Scary Movie” type of film, with Keenan Ivory off doing god knows what.
Written by Marlon Wayans and Rick Alvarez and not so much directed as vaguely steered by Michael Tiddes, "A Haunted House" is a ramshackle parody of recent found-footage horror movies in the vein of the "Scary Movie" movies.
In his career, Marlon Wayans has found success spoofing socially conscious black dramas (1996's "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood"), "Scream"-style horror films (2000's " Scary Movie "), haunted house pics (2001's " Scary Movie 2 "), and dance flicks (2009's, uh, " Dance Flick ").
A Haunted House really just feels like Scary Movie 4.5, substituting a tad more (just as terrible) story work for random "celebrity" cameos and pop-culture jabs.
Yet another spoof from Wayans and Alvarez, this movie isn't nearly as bad as it could have been (they also produced the resolutely unfunny Scary Movie 2 and Dance Flick).
Considering Marlon Wayans’ crummy track record (Dance Flick, Little Man, White Chicks), it’s amazing how laugh-out-loud funny A Haunted House turns out to be.
Previous send-ups such as White Chicks have been counterbalanced with straighter roles in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
A Haunted House is written by and stars Marlon Wayans of Scary Movie, Dance Flick and White Chicks fame.
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In his career, Marlon Wayans has found success spoofing socially conscious black dramas (1996's "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood"), "Scream"-style horror films (2000's " Scary Movie "), haunted house pics (2001's " Scary Movie 2 "), and dance flicks (2009's, uh, " Dance Flick ").
After ostensibly spoofing the " Scream " franchise and their ilk in the appallingly unamusing " Scary Movie " franchise, Marlon Wayans has sensed a turning of the cultural tide and now gives us " A Haunted House ," a riff on the " Paranormal Activity " films.
A little more inspired is the work of Marlene Forte (2009's " Star Trek ") as Spanish housekeeper Rosa, up to no good at all whenever Malcolm and Kisha leave the house, and the usually underutilized Alanna Ubach (2011's " Bad Teacher ") as one-half of a swinging couple out to swap with their haunted friends.