A Haunted House

A Haunted House
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Tiddes
Produced by	Marlon Wayans Michael Tiddes Rick Alvarez
Written by	Marlon Wayans Rick Alvarez
Starring	Marlon Wayans Essence Atkins Cedric the Entertainer Nick Swardson David Koechner Dave Sheridan
Cinematography	Steve Gainer
Edited by	Suzanne Hines
Production company	IM Global Octane Wayans Bros. Entertainment Baby Way Productions
Distributed by	Open Road Films Vertigo Films (United Kingdom and Ireland only)
Release dates	January 11, 2013 (2013-01-11)
Running time	86 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2.5 million[2]
Box office	$60.1 million[2]

A Haunted House is a 2013 American parody comedy film directed by Michael Tiddes and starring Marlon Wayans.^[3] It was released on January 11, 2013.^[4][5] The film is a parody of the "found footage" genre, such as the Paranormal Activity and The Devil Inside.

During interviews to promote the film, Styles explained "it's not exactly a parody" but rather a movie with funny characters doing the opposite of what typical people do in similar horror films.^[6][7] A sequel titled A Haunted House 2 was released on April 18, 2014.^[8]

Plot

The movie begins with the opening text stating that in October 2015, the footage was found at the home of Malcom Johnson and that the recordings are still unexplained.

In August 2015, a young couple, Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) and Kisha (Essence Atkins), move in together to start a new happy life. On the first day, as Kisha arrives, she kills Shiloh (Malcolm's Dog). Later on that night, Malcolm is waken by Kisha's noisy flatulating that drives him out of the room. When Kisha notices her keys on the floor she tries to tell Malcolm that they might have a ghost. To prove to Kisha that they do not have a ghost, Malcolm calls over some camera men, Dan the Security Man (David Koechner) and his brother Bobby (Dave Sheridan). On the fourth night Malcolm tries to have sex with the camera on, but Kisha tells him to turn it off. Before they really start, Malcolm turns the camera back on and records the whole thing. In the morning Malcolm and Kisha watch the video and notice that the door moved. Malcolm tries to convince Kisha that it had something to do with the vortex in which he moved his hips during sex last night.

The next night, Malcolm notices the paranormal activity and tries to move out of the house and leave Kisha. Since he can't sell his house in the current market, they call a psychic (Nick Swardson) over to check the house. As soon as Chip, the psychic, meets Malcolm, he begins to fall in love with him. Before Chip can leave, after finding nothing wrong, Kisha confesses to making a deal with the devil for a pair of shoes.Chip tells Kisha that she is screwed, and tries to invite Malcolm to a wrestling match with five guys. After Chip leaves, Kisha shows Malcolm a video of her eighth birthday in which she began to experience paranormal activity by her imaginary friend, Tony. On the next night, Kisha awakens in the middle of the night and stands next to the bed for a couple of hours until she begins to randomly dance for another hour and slaps Malcolm's face to awaken him. Malcolm wakes up and follows Kisha to the kitchen where he catches her eating uncooked food and drinking old milk. Kisha tells him that she's going to the store, but Malcolm tries to get her back to bed until she starts screaming crazily. In the morning, Kisha does not remember a thing from the prior night.

On another night, Kisha hears something and tells Malcolm to check it. But instead of a ghost it turns out to be Rosa (Marlene Forte), his Hispanic housekeeper. Rosa quits and Malcolm and Kisha smoke with the ghost to relieve their pain. The next day Malcolm's friend Steve and his girlfriend Jenny bring a ouija board to communicate with the ghost. When they ask if it is a ghost or a demon, it responds with misspelling, calling itself a "gost". Everyone begins to laugh and make fun of it until the ghost throws the ouija board across the room, scaring Jenny and Steve out of the house. That night, the ghost drags Malcolm out of the room and has sex with Kisha. The next day Malcolm finds out and calls his cousin Ray Ray (Affion Crockett). That same night, Kisha waits for the ghost until it gets late and leaves. After Kisha leaves, the ghost rapes Malcolm.

The next day Malcolm and Kisha make the ghost mad by not getting scared of what it does, leaving him to attack Kisha in the night while Malcolm listens to music on his computer. In the morning, Malcolm notices something's wrong with Kisha and calls Father Doug (Cedric the Entertainer) to do an exorcism. When it does not work (the ghost gives out clues of its plan) Makcolm calls Dan and Bobby to help. Chip also rushes into the house to help. During the exorcism, Kisha escapes and goes into the living room. Before Malcolm and Doug find her, Doug accidentally shoots Rosa, who had come to pick up her last check, and kills her. When they all meet in the living room, Kisha behaves very strangely and escapes to the basement. The group follows and finds her crying in a corner. When Malcolm reaches for her, she begins to attack him and the whole group begins to beat her up, apparently forcing the ghost out of her body.

The next night, Malcolm and Kisha have sex with the camera on for about 3 hours. In the middle of the night, Kisha wakes up and stands next to the bed for a few hours before walking out of the room and making a big crash and screaming Malcolm's name for him to investigate. When Malcolm comes out of his room, Kisha throws him back and he hits the camera, knocking him out. When Kisha enters the room her shirt is bloody. She crawls to Malcolm and sniffs his body until he farts in her face. As Kisha lunges at the camera, her face takes on a demonic appearance. Then, the title of the movie appears.

In a post credits scene, Malcolm wakes up and celebrates that he lived until Kisha comes back in and drags him into darkness, as Malcolm screams.

Cast

• Marlon Wayans as Malcolm Johnson
• Essence Atkins^[4] as Kisha Davis
• Cedric the Entertainer as Father Doug Williams
• Nick Swardson as Chip the Psychic, a gay psychic who lusts after Malcolm
• David Koechner as Dan "the Man" Kearney
• Dave Sheridan^[4] as Bob Kearney, Dan's illiterate brother/associate
• Marlene Forte as Rosa, Malcolm's Hispanic housekeeper
• Andrew Daly as Steve, Malcolm's exchanger friend
• Alanna Ubach as Jenny, Steve's wife
• Affion Crockett as Ray-Ray, Malcolm's gangster cousin
• Robin Thede and J.B. Smoove as Kisha's mother and stepfather

Reception

A Haunted House was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 10%, based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 2.6/10.^[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 20 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[10]

Nick Swardson was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.

Home media

A Haunted House was released on DVD, Blu-ray, Ultraviolet, and digital copy on April 23, 2013.

Sequel

On April 8, 2013, it was confirmed that Wayans, Open Road, and IM Global Octane will produce a sequel due to the financial success of the first film. The sequel had begun shooting in early July 2013.^[11] On April 18,2014 a sequel titled A Haunted House 2 was released.

References

External links

• A Haunted House at the Internet Movie Database
• A Haunted House at Box Office Mojo
• A Haunted House at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Haunted House at Metacritic