Archives For A Haunted House 2

February Film Round Up

February 28, 2018 — Leave a comment

Here’s a round up of everything I’ve written in February.

A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018, Dir: David Wain) – ‘There’s always the nagging feeling that it could be trying harder.’

A Haunted House 2 (2014, Dir: Michael Tiddes) – ‘Racist, sexist and homophobic.’

American Satan (2017, Dir: Ash Avildsen) – ‘Heil Satan! Heil yourselves!’

Batman: Year One (2011, Dir: Sam Liu, Lauren Montgomery) – ‘Moody.’

Black Panther (2018, Dir: Ryan Coogler) – ‘If only every Marvel film could be like this.’ 

Curse of Chucky (2013, Dir: Don Mancini) – ‘It does reinvent the franchise.’ 

Grabbers (2012, Dir: Jon Wright) – ‘A booze and blood soaked comedy.’

Howling 3: The Marsupials (1987, Dir: Phillipe Mora) – ‘No one is laughing and there’s a deep concern for all involved.’ 

I, Tonya (2018, Dir: Craig Gillespie) – ‘Stick to a tone.’

Marina Abramović In Brazil: The Space In Between (2018, Dir: Marco Del Fiol) – ‘A fascinating journey in lifestyles we likely don’t see too much, regardless of how well travelled we see ourselves.’ 

Menashe (2017, Dir: Joshua Z Weinstein) – ‘A sweet-natured film.’ 

Padman (2018, Dir: R. Balki) – ‘if it can make at least one person change their habits, that’s got to be a good thing.’ 

Playground [Plac Zabaw] (2016, Dir: Bartosz M Kowalski) – ‘Shock tactics for the sake of shock tactics.’ 

Primal Rage (2018, Dir: Patrick Magee) – ‘Primal Rage is… a helluva ride.’ 

Sherlock: Case of Evil (2002, Dir: Graham Theakston) – ‘Move along, nothing to see.’ 

St. Elmo’s Fire (1985, Dir: Joel Schumacer) – ‘Teenagers or sociopaths?’ 

That’s Not My Dog (2018, Dir: Dean Murphy) – ‘…this kind of venture is probably best reserved for television than the cinema.’ 

The End of the F***ing World (2017, Dir: Jonathan Entwistle, Lucy Tcherniak) – ‘Strangely uplifting.’ 

The People Vs George Lucas (2011, Dir: Alexandre O. Philippe) – ‘A monument to the kind of overgrown children who ruin any kind of fandom.’ 

The Rizen (2017, Dir: Matt Mitchell) – ‘The film’s pacing is completely off.’ 

The Workshop (2017, Dir: Laurent Cantet) – ‘Naturalistic performances, gorgeous provincial scenery and healthy debates are reason enough to be engaged by The Workshop.’

Werewolves of the Third Reich (2017, Dir: Andrew Jones) – ‘Werewolves of the Third Reich is amusing, but severely lacking.’ 

White Collar Hooligan 2 (2013, Dir: Paul Tanter) – ‘Rough and ready charm.’ 

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A Haunted House 2 (2014)

February 14, 2018 — Leave a comment

Despite the challenge of finding one person to admit they liked Marlon Wayans’ found footage parody, A Haunted House, it made enough of its money back to fastrack a sequel. And here it is. A Haunted House 2: a retirement home where jokes and artistic integrity go to die.

Following on from the ‘plot’ of the first, Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) has started a relationship with a single mother of two children played by a frustratingly wasted Jaime Pressly. Their idyllic lifestyle is mitigated when Malcolm finds a series of snuff films in his attic and his step-daughter becomes possessed.

It’s not just the fact that this film has been thrown together to make a quick buck that offends the most. It’s the racist, sexist and homophobic epithets sprinkled throughout the script like hundreds and thousands on fairy bread. Really offensive fairy bread. Many bad taste comedies are successful because at their heart there is sense of irony and, importantly, intelligence. This film has neither.

Perhaps A Haunted House 2 can best can be surmised by the scene where Wayans has sex with the doll from The Conjuring. Nobody asked to see it. Nobody wants to see it.

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