Film Review: A Haunted House (15)

In recent years, the fine art of the film spoof has been completely lost in a blitzkrieg of lazy, crass parodies lacking any subtlety or invention.
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SmartAss - 1050.NEF

The Scary Movie series, which began in 2000 and has somehow spluttered and wheezed to five instalments so far, is a lamentable case in point.

Actor Marlon Wayans, who has starred in and co-written a number of the Scary Movies, continues to lampoon the genre with this ham-fisted parody of Paranormal Activity, with occasional forays into The Devil Inside and similar found footage thrillers.

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A Haunted House scares perhaps one giggle in 85 lacklustre and occasionally offensive minutes, taking the concept of ‘things that go bump in the night’ to its raunchy conclusion.

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The ramshackle plot centres on Malcolm Johnson (Wayans), who moves into a new home with his girlfriend Kisha (Essence Atkins).

Surveillance cameras, installed predominantly to document their sexual shenanigans, reveal the presence of a malevolent force in house.

Psychic Chip (Nick Swardson) and Father Doug Williams (Cedric The Entertainer) are called in to help.

A sequel is already pencilled in for 2014.

Now’s that’s horrifying.