Starring: Marlon Wayans, Jaime Pressly, Essence Atkins, Gabriel Iglesias, and Cedric the Entertainer
I've been loathing this weekend on my review calendar for quite some time, for quite some time. I knew that the completely unwarranted follow-up to Marlon Wayans's A Haunted House would be arriving in theaters on this weekend. I knew that a horrendous, trashy film was on my docket. I knew that I'd be a simultaneously embarrassed and pissed off moviegoer for 90 minutes on this Easter weekend. A Haunted House 2 symbolizes everything that's wrong with mainstream cinema today, and this shitty film is what's on my plate unfortunately.
Malcolm Johnson (Marlon Wayans) leaves his possessed girlfriend Kisha (Essence Atkins) in a ditch to die. A year later, he's moved on with his life and is dating a woman named Megan (Jaime Pressly). They move into a new house with her kids her daughter Becky (Ashley Rickards) and son Wyatt (Steele Stebbins). Very quickly, bad things start happening at this new home despite the fact that Malcolm is far more prepared this time around with cameras everywhere. Malcolm's dog Shiloh Jr. is crushed like a pancake. Becky becomes enamored with this box she finds in the basement. Malcolm starts sexing a doll named Abigail (similar to Annabelle in The Conjuring). Malcolm even finds footage of old murders by a demon named Agouhl (Dave Sheridan) and watches them in his study (in the tradition of Insidious: Chapter 2). As the film progresses, Malcolm begins to believe that there's an evil presence in the house.
I've never said this about anyone in the film community, but I pray that Marlon Wayans never makes another movie again. With all his disgusting, attention-grabbing antics on screen as Malcolm in A Haunted House 2, it's abundantly clear that he's lost all respect for the art of comedy. For a man who was in the very first Scary Movie and had a decent sitcom on the WB back in the day, it's genuinely shocking to see how far he's fallen into the tasteless. When a man has to have sex with a doll on screen to appeal to his audience, something is truly awry. This forever immature comedian should step away from the world of entertainment and leave it to the grown-ups.
I've never said this about a modern film either, but I think A Haunted House 2 is racist. Wayans loves to throw out racial jokes "in jest" all too often. Dropping the n-word frequently (in different languages in fact), talking about the black community in very poor fashion, and even glowingly perpetuating stereotypes about blacks, whites, and Hispanics, Wayans goes entirely too far. Race isn't something that should be ignored, and it's been used by some of the best comedians to great effect over the years. However, Wayans uses it as a cheap, racist gimmick, and his film should be shunned for this very reason.
I'm sure you know where I'm going with this review. The only remedy to the abomination that is A Haunted House 2 is mystery shots. Marlon Wayans's latest gets a wasted rating. Let me reiterate that I hope Wayans never makes another movie again!
