Movie Information
Release Date: April 18, 2014
Director: Michael Tiddes
Writer: Marlon Wayans, Rick Alvarez
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Rick Alvarez, Jaime Pressly, Essence Atkins, Gabriel Iglesisa, Missi Pyle, Ashley Rickards, Affion Crockett, Steel Stebbins, Rick Overton, Hayes MacArthur, Dave Sheridan, Cedric the Entertainer, Kurt Carley, Tom Virtue, Kym Whitley, Gregg Wayans, Mikal Kartvedt, Mark Henry, Iva La’Shawn, Taylor John Smith
MPAA Rating: R Runtime: 87 Minutes
Production Company: Automatik Entertainment, IM Global Octane, Wayans Bros. Entertainment
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Language: English
Country: USA
It will be a very long time before we witness spoof greats like the Naked Gun series or Airplane from the 80’s and 90’s. Back then studios took their time combining comedic greats into a mixed bag of over the top silliness, to warrant laughs of guilty pleasures. That’s no longer the case, where the market has been saturated with titles that are meant to be a mature style of stupidity, but turn into disastrous embarrassments that beg for the audience’s attention. A haunted house 2 isn’t an embarrassment in the least bit. Following its 2013 prequel that’s easily forgotten, A Haunted House 2 is a breath of fresh air in the sequel realm of spoof films that does deserve praise. It’s funny, crude, loud, and obnoxious, and that’s exactly what’s expected from this particular genre of entertainment. What’s most notable is the form of found footage the camera work used. This format has been done time and time again, but here we get a fresh perspective. The film picks up right where the last left off, but doesn’t feel like a sequel. You’re immediately graced with characters you may know and see today with their own twist of exaggerated urban dialogue. One example is the term “homey” being used repeatedly. Marlon Wayans is perfect for these types of films because the content flows out of him so naturally. He could easily be portraying himself in his private life, only with a camera recording, and there won’t be a difference. There are two levels of comedy here. The first are the actual jokes that are written into the context of the film, and the other is just how ridiculously bold Marlon Wayans is. Some scenes are just funny for the sake of being funny, and the others, you’re in disbelief because you can’t believe how far he went in his portrayal. I’m still shaking my head as I’m writing this saying to myself, “I can’t believe he took it that far.” With that being said, this definitely isn’t for everyone. If toilet humor or sex with wooden dolls offends you this isn’t for you. On a negative note, some of the scenes are a little lengthy making the jokes/gags tire out. Initially, they’re laugh out loud funny, but in the end become repetitive. What is surprising is the amount of jump scares and thrills throughout. This is titled ‘A Haunted House’ but seeing that it’s a comedy spoof I wasn’t expecting the amount of chills that rushed through my body. I wouldn’t say one needs to rush to the theater with this being the next classic spoof film. That would be extremely over the top. Once upon a time the Wayans shined light on a dying genre of comedy with ‘Scary Movie’, and a few sequels to follow. It was proof that films like these still work, and will gain profit at the box office. Somewhere along that line studios got ahead of themselves dishing out carbon copies of popular media with no real effort. It left a bad taste in audience’s mouths, leaving no promise of a healthy resurrection. Marlon Wayans and company took their time preparing not a fantastic film, but one with a ton of one liners that will have you quoting for years to come. It stands a worthy attempt in the silly genre of comedy spoof films.