“Pass me a bat.”
      “A bat? You’re going to use a bat on a ghost?”
“I’m sorry. I left my proton pack in the car.”

 
Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) has decided to ask his girlfriend Kisha (Essence Atkins) to move into his home. He assures his friends that nothing will change, and plans to use his video camera 24/7 in order to document the proof. However, from the minute Kisha pulls into his driveway bad things start to happen. At first Kisha suspects they have a thief in the house, and she blames the maid, Rosa (Marlene Forte). So Malcolm calls in Dan the Security Man (David Koechner) and his partner Bob (Dave Sheridan) to outfit the entire house with security cameras. The two men also have their own amateur ghost hunting reality show.

Malcolm and Kisha soon discover that their problem is of the supernatural kind and that Kisha had brought along a ghost from her past when she moved into the house. They first try to make peace with their new roommate, but after he proves to be a bit of a pervert, Malcolm and Kisha seek the help of Chip the Psychic (Nick Swardson) and convict-turned-priest Father Williams (Cedric the Entertainer) to evict their unwanted guest.

The film started off great, with some fun horror-film style scares as camera cuts to unexpected close-ups of the maid, and an opening sequence that had me laughing the entire time. This gave me high hopes that this film wouldn’t be like the lowbrow, crude and raunchy humor of the Scary Movie franchise—but those hopes were quickly dashed. A Haunted House quickly devolves into a never-ending series of fart, sex and racial stereotype jokes—and even includes a scene involving one character literally taking a dump on the floor!

While there was still a lot about the film that I found funny, just as I was laughing, the scene would push things a bit too far and spoil the mood. For example, there was some fun stuff involving Chip the Psychic being obsessed with Malcolm and trying to “out” him. However, once this devolved into Nick Swardson running around naked in dark, I was over it. There was also the constant use of the N-word, which just made me feel uncomfortable, like an outsider not invited to enjoy the film. Plus there were quite a few lines that just made jokes that reinforced racial stereotypes (mostly black and Mexican).

As for the parody aspect of the film, I have never seen Paranormal Activity, so I can’t speak to specific instances. However, I thought most of the paranormal items in the film worked quite well (when not too raunchy) and were quite funny parodies of the genre in general. Although the final act of the film didn’t work nearly as well, and become more of a frenetic, crazy mess that seemed more geared towards checkboxing iconic scenes from various horror/possession films rather than having an actual story or flow.

Overall, I did find a lot of humor in A Haunted House, and I thought Marlon Wayans was great, but most of it was a little too crude for my taste. That said, I can still see this film being a big hit for fans of that style of humor. However, seeing as the bonus features contained on this Blu-ray combo pack consist only of a 2-minute promo for the film, I would suggest renting before buying.

What’s Included:

Film (1:26:25)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
• English SDH, Spanish, French subtitles

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DD 5.1
• English SDH, Spanish, French subtitles

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline Not Listed):

• Digital Copy

(iTunes, Windows Media or Amazon)

• Ultraviolet Copy

(Universal, Flixster or Vudu)

Extras:

• How to Survive a Paranormal Presence (2:07)
  In this 2-minute ad for the movie, actors Marlon Wayans, Essence Atkins, Nick Swarsden, David Koechner and Cedric the Entertainer talk about the plot of the film.

Final Thoughts:

While I have no complaints about the quality of the picture and sound on the blu-ray, I find the lack of bonus materials to be unacceptable for such a new release. All that is on the disc is a 2-minute ad for the film. With a comedy like this there should have been plenty of material for deleted scenes or a gag reel. A true behind-the-scenes featurette or audio commentary on how the movie was made would have been interesting.

While I have never seen Paranormal Activity, I don’t think it is necessary to enjoy this film as the parody that it is. There were several parts that I thought were really funny. However, just as I was smiling, the film would push things a little too far and overall I found it to be a too rude and crude for my taste. There were just too many fart and sex jokes, plus an excessive use of the N word and racial stereotype jokes just made it feel very inaccessible. However, I could definitely see how some folks could really laugh out loud non stop, if they are into this crude style of humor. Due to the lack of bonus features, and possibly polarizing crudeness, I would recommend renting before buying.