A Haunted House

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is A Haunted House.

Directed by Michael Tiddes.

Written by Marlon Wayans & Rick Alvarez.

Review #202

MPAA Rating: Rated R for crude and sexual content, language and some drug use.

Run Time: 86 min

Cast

Marlon Wayans...Malcolm

Marlene Forte...Rosa

Essence Atkins...Kisha

David Koechner...Dan the Security Man

Dave Sheridan...Bob

Nick Swardson...Chip the Psychic

Alanna Ubach...Jenny

Andrew Daly...Steve

Cedric the Entertainer...Father Williams

Affion Crockett...Ray-Ray

J.B. Smoove...Kisha's Dad

Robin Thede...Kisha's Mom

Jordenn Thompson...Little Kisha

The parody film is not an easy one to crack. There has to be a very delicate balance with the films you blend together to make your parody story. The real good ones like the Airplane, Naked Gun and to a lesser extent Scary Movie franchise all did a good job of keeping things simple. What made those movies so funny was the expansive material to work off. For a while the genre has fallen into obscurity. Until now. I present to you the next wave of parody films that take aim at the Paranormal Activity films.

Good idea right? Not really.

Plot

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. 

The idea of poking fun at those films was a good one since they provide every reason to not take them seriously. That being said the biggest flaw with this movie is that it limits itself to just the Paranormal Activity films with a bit of The Devil Inside Me flick. This forces A Haunted House to be very one directional and flat. There's only so much you can do and show when you're bonded to one film franchise that employs one format. The found footage film craze for better or worse has dominated the horror genre. It's a big roll of the dice to try and duplicate that in parody form. This movie missed a lot more times than it hit.

Binding the story of A Haunted House to these ridiculous PA films gave me a less then stellar reception to some of the jokes. Sometimes with parody films some secondary characters can liven things up and give the film some punch. Here the supporting cast punches you in the nuts.

Unfunny. Unoriginal. Unforgivable.

The effort was there and there were some comical moments. Just not enough to sustain the entire run time.

On the 5 star scale. A Haunted House gets 1 star with a "Netflix It!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today.

Until Next Epiosde..."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"