A Haunted House (2013)

A HAUNTED HOUSE is another horror spoof written by and starring Marlon Wayans, but the great news is that it's a lot funnier than his previous efforts, the overrated and pitiful SCARY MOVIE franchise. The ageless Wayans and his wife encounter bizarre events in their home and soon realise that a demon is responsible. It's an open spoof of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY with a little demonic possession material added to the mix. Wayans is actually funny here and a cast of quirky characters helps a fair bit. I was still repelled by the childish gross-out humour (such as fart jokes and the like) and it's a little too crude at times, but I did find some moments very funny indeed. It helps that the whole 'found footage' genre is ripe for spoofery which allows this film to hit the mark on occasion.

Wow, I'm almost lost for words... This is probably one of the most cringe worthy comedies I have ever seen. The entire movie is a one trick pony show. Here is how it works: The homosexual is funny because he's homosexual. The swingers are funny because the want to sleep with other people. The racist is funny because he's racist. That's it! Now, you take this and stretch scenes out to about 8 minutes of the same joke done 70 different ways and you've got a movie that is so unfunny, so demeaning to average intelligence, and so below par it quite literally digs a hole for itself. Then you have spontaneous scenes of Wayans making out with plush toys, defecating on the floor and wiping off in the curtains... because... reasons... Yes, this is one of the most embarrassing, low effort comedies I have ever seen.

I understand that parody movies have pretty much been on the way out since Scary Movie 2. That being said, this film was not as bad as most recent outings in the parody genre.Maybe it's my inner child that giggles most of the time, but most of this film had me in stitches. Granted, the flow is off and the writing can be cringe-worthy at times. However, it has been a long time since I've laughed at a film that uses a stale shtick like parodying more successful films.If you enjoy crude, childish humor and are not afraid to admit it, this film might be up your alley. But please take that thought with a grain of salt. If you don't enjoy this film in the first 15 minutes, you may as well stop watching then. It doesn't get any better.

I generally like the Wayans brothers comedy style but I absolutely hate the Paranormal movies. I think I would have liked it better if the single hand-held camera style wasn't used. It makes you a little dizzy and it's hard to follow. There were some funny moments but a lot of the movie is kinda awkward and uncomfortable. I think they put effort into the storyline (or lack thereof) but it feels forced and the humour is stale.Overall it had a good talented cast and normally I think I would have enjoyed something like this but I didn't like the paranormal activity influence. Nobody needs to rip-off the paranormal activity series as there have been enough stupid sequels from the original movie. Dull as hell and highly overrated.