Review of A Haunted House (1975) by Thomas W — 16 Jul 2013
In an attempt to cash-in on the burgeoning number of horror films in theaters today, the makers of A Haunted House have decided the almost-overused genre full of screams, terror and horror was ripe for a cinematic send up.
Never minding that this made their very own movie another unwelcome addition to yet another overused -- well beyond overused to be exact -- genre ... the spoof. It also does not help that the very films spoofed here are also widely used in the highly similar Scary Movie 5 -- another Wayans vehicle -- which was also released in theaters within months of one another.
This film won slight higher critical praise (?!) but I am assuming it is for the mere reason "it came first". Malcolm (Marlon Wayans - Scary Movie) and Kisha (Essence Atkins - Are We There Yet?) move into their dream home and quickly discover that they are not alone .
.. ala Paranormal Activity. The film's one laugh is the showcasing of how ridiculous these "hand-held", discovered footage films have (nearly) all become. To battle these other mysterious forces, Malcolm finds a variety of individuals who can help him cleanse the house of all bad-things including a priest (Cedric the Entertainer - Larry Crowne), a gay psychic (Nick Swardson - Bucky Larson) who cannot stop eyeing or hoping to put the moves on Malcolm, and some security officers (one is David Koechner - Waiting .
..) who attempt to make the house safer. While the film pretends to be a spoof on these horror films, it is more of a veiled attempt at making a comedy all about sex. There are more sex jokes and innuendo and blatant sexual charades onscreen here than anything else .
.. and it wears very thin. It doesn't help that I find Swardson as one of the most annoying and repulsive people to EVER be onscreen -- I'd rather listen to Jennifer Tilly on helium for an hour and a half than ever see Swardson in any film.
The film is stupid, cheap, amateurish, crude and immature. It is not for me ... and I kind of hope it isn't for you either.
This review of A Haunted House (1975) was written by Thomas W on 16 Jul 2013.
A Haunted House has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
