Jackson Booth-Millard
I had not seen any trailers for this movie, I just knew that it was taking the mick of recent horror films, like Scary Movie and its sequels before, once I realised which movies were being mocked, I was hoping it would be worthwhile. This film predominantly parodies the "found footage", psychological and supernatural horror and thriller films, specifically the Paranormal Activity series, Sinister, Insidious, The Possession, The Rite, The Devil Inside and The Haunting of Molly Hartley, as well as spoofing or referencing The Blair Witch Project, (Rec), Quarantine, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Last Exorcism, the TV show Hoarders, Pulp Fiction, Monster's Ball, The Exorcist, Snakes on a Plane and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Basically the film is "found footage", set in August 2012, with young couple Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) and Kisha (Essence Atkins) moving in together, Malcolm is recording all events on his new camera. As Kisha arrives, she accidentally runs over and kills Malcolm's dog Shiloh, on the first night, Malcolm is kept awake by Kisha's constant loud farting. The next morning Kisha notices her keys have been moved, she tells Malcolm they may have a ghost, he invites over camera men Dan the Security Man (Final Destination 5's David Koechner) and his brother Bobby (Scary Movie's Dave Sheridan) to prove Kisha wrong. The next night, Malcolm tries to have sex with Kisha on camera, but she tells him to turn it off, before they really start, Malcolm turns the camera back on, in the morning Malcolm watches the footage, they both notice the door moving, Malcolm assumes it was his lovemaking. The next night, Malcolm notices paranormal activity and tries to move out, but he cannot sell the house in the current market. So they hire Chip the Psychic (Razzie nominated Nick Swardson) to investigate, Chip is immediately in love with Malcolm, Chip finds nothing wrong, but before he leaves, Kisha confesses she made a deal with the devil, for a pair of shoes. Chip tells them they are screwed and leaves, Kisha shows Malcolm video footage of her eighth birthday, in which she experienced paranormal activity, with a imaginary friend named Tony. The next night, Kisha appears to awaken and stands by the bed for several hours, and begins to dance, then Malcolm finds her in the kitchen and catches her eating uncooked food and drinking old milk, she screams crazily, but when she wakes from her trance, she does not remember anything. On another night, the couple hear strange noises, but it is the Hispanic housekeeper Rosa (Marlene Forte), who after a misunderstanding quits and leaves, to relieve their pain Malcolm and Kisha smoke marijuana, joined by the ghost. The next day, Malcolm's friend Steve (Andrew Daly) and his girlfriend Jenny (Alanna Ubach) bring a Ouija board to communicate with the ghost, it misspells ghost as "gost", they mock and laugh, the ghost throws the Ouija board, scaring Steve and Jennhy away. That night, Malcolm is dragged out of the room, while still asleep, by the ghost, it then has sex with Kisha, Malcolm finds out the next morning and calls his cousin Ray-Ray (Affion Crockett) to help, but flees immediately seeing the ghost's power. That night, Kisha waits for the ghost to return for sex, until it gets late, after she leaves the ghost rapes Malcolm. The next morning, Malcolm and Kisha anger the ghost by not getting scared, so it attacks Kisha in the evening, Malcolm cannot hear as he is listening to music. The next day, he notices something wrong with Kisha, so he calls Father Williams (Cedric the Entertainer) to perform an exorcism, it does not work, so Dan and Bobby are also called to help, and Chip rushes into the house as well. During the exorcism, Kisha is accidentally shot and killed, she then moves from the living room to the basement, the others follows and corner her, Kisha attacks Malcolm, so the whole group beat her up, apparently forcing the ghost out of her body, reviving her. The next night, Malcolm and Kisha have sex on camera for about three hours, then in the middle of the night Kisha gets up and stands up for a few hours, before walking out. There is a big crash, Malcolm hears her scream and runs out, he is thrown into the camera and knocked out, Kisha enters the room covered in blood, she crawls to Malcolm's body, sniffs him, and farts in his face, she takes on a demonic appearance and lunges at the camera, a minute later Malcolm wakes up telling everyone he survived, before Kisha reappears and he is pulled out the door screaming. Everyone will recognise the Paranormal Activity clichés that have through the series of sequels have become a mockery itself, as usual with parody movies before it relies a bit too much on toilet gags, but it definitely uses the found footage to its advantage to create good visual gags, it is not the most hilarious movie, but it is fairly enjoyable horror comedy spoof. Okay!
Bryan Kluger
I'll be honest, I was dreading going to see this film, despite its trailer looking decent. I mean, how often have we not laughed at recent comedy films with a Wayans brother attached to it. Back several years ago, I'm sure we would all agree they were making some of the funniest films out there, but as of recent, their movies have been lacking. But I'm very happy to say that after I walked out of the theater from viewing 'A Haunted House', my cheeks hurt from laughter. Yes, it's silly, stupid, and insane, but man, I laughed from start to finish, which is rare. I can easily say that 'A Haunted House' is the funniest film I've seen since 'Ted'.Now, this is not your typical 'Scary Movie' type of film. It's not even part of the Wayan's brothers duo. It simply stars Marlon Wayans, and is a found footage film that takes its cue from 'Paranormal Activity'. In fact, it is a direct spoof on the lucrative horror franchise complete with some of the same special effects, story lines, and characters. But add a heavy dose of raunchy comedy that will leave you in stitches and laughing about it for days after. With a solid supporting cast of comedians and hilarious dialogue, there is enough laughs to fit into two films.If you've seen any of the 'Paranormal Activity' films, especially the first one, you know the story. We focus on a young couple Malcolm (Wayans) and Kisha (Essence Atkins) who move in together to start the next chapter of their life. Very soon, Malcolm learns that Kisha has had a demon following her since she was little and it rears its ugly head and closes doors, moves objects, and flicks the lights on and off. In what could have been the shortest film ever, Malcolm screams like a little girl with a skinned knee, running around the house packing up his stuff and leaves his girl at the haunted house alone. I was on the floor, rolling with laughter, as this would be my plan of action. But, luckily he cannot go anywhere as all of his money is tied up in his house and home business, and he is forced to come back.Malcolm and Kisha's couples friends Steve (Andrew Daly) and Jenny (Alanna Ubach) are in love with with Malcolm and Kisha, enough to swing with them, and they are completely unaware by the hauntings at the house and offer no help. However a familiar character shows up in the form of a psychic medium, only this time played by the funny Nick Swardson, who like more to get Malcolm naked and his mouth than clean the house of evil. Then there is David Koechner who plays a security system installer who is making a pilot reality series similar to ghost hunters. Here is where Malcolm receives the camera setup in the house and we get that famous shot of a home video camera complete with time stamp that will detect paranormal activities. Towards the end of the film where Kisha is being possessed by the demon, Malcolm enlists the help of his priest Father Williams, played by the amazing Cedric the Entertainer who kept me gut busting with laughter every time he was on screen.From both Kisha and Malcolm getting sexually molested by the invisible demon to both of them getting high with the evil spirit, I laughed until I had tears. If you want a good laugh of mindless silly comedy, then 'A Haunted House' is the perfect comedy. If this is what we can expect from Marlon from now on, count me in 100,000%. I can't wait to see this again.
