Film review: A Haunted House

Too banal to be offensive, A Haunted House is certainly one to miss.

A scene from A Haunted House, starring Marlon Wayans and Essence Atkins. Courtesy Open Roads Films
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A Haunted House
Director: Michael Tiddes
Starring: Marlon Wayans, David Koechner, Nick Swardson
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The spoof-movie veteran Marlon Wayans stars as a beleaguered homeowner whose house comes under siege by ghosts when his girlfriend moves in. Taking almost all its cues from The Scary Movie franchise, the film starts off as a promising pastiche of the “found footage” horror sub-genre but soon falls back upon the laziest of comedy mainstays – toilet humour, sex jokes and broad racial stereotypes – to break the momentum. Wayans abandons all subtlety as the lead and is joined by a host of comedy actors with varying degrees of success. Anchorman’s David Koechner is a welcome comedic bull’s-eye as the eccentric security man and ghost hunter. Still, the spoof genre is dead, and one need only look to this disposable comedy as a reason why. Too banal to be offensive, it’s certainly one to miss.

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