Director: Michael Tiddes
Writers: Marlon Wayans and Rick Alvarez
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Cedric the Entertainer, Jaime Pressly, Gabriel Iglesias and Missi Pyle
Studio: Open Road
“A Haunted House 2″ is garbage. While the first one wasn’t Shakespeare, at least it stuck most of the parodies. The sequel just exists in the same vacuum that “Grown Ups 2″occupied. A group of friends coming together for easy jokes and crass sexual humor. I love terrible humor and vulgar displays, but there has to be a reason for in the narrative. Then, there’s Cedric the Entertainer. Playing a character that’s a parody of a parody of a parody.
Why this got an Easter weekend release is beyond. Anytime there is a big Holiday weekend, studios usually want to lead off with their best films. How is this their best films? “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” proved that you get audiences in mass numbers to attend off-season event movies. “A Haunted House 2” belongs DTV and even then, I’d still judge based on what I’ve been showed so far. I’m not saying that if a Wayans would’ve directed it, that it would’ve ended up any better.
In fact, the Wayans media gravy train needs to end. While it was fresh and funny with “In Living Color”, they’ve turn into some urban ZAZ monster that doesn’t understand humor. If you’re poking fun at a construct in popular fiction, then the parody needs to say something about what it’s targeting. This film could’ve assaulted bias in gender and racial makeup of popular horror movies, but that would’ve flown over the target audience’s head. So, the end result is a fail-safe stop to try and give the dumbest people what they want. I know that this is a democracy, but what about producing art that matters? This isn’t art, it’s a product. One that needs to be recalled.
RELEASE DATE: 04/18/2014