If you’re like me, you’re far more afraid of potential upcoming horror movie parodies than you are of any actual horror movies. Marlon Wayans has somehow concretely established himself as the go-to guy when it comes to making fun of modern horror, even though nobody really voted him into that spot. He and co-writer Rick Alvarez are really taking The Conjuring to task with their upcoming sequel A Haunted House 2. At least that’s the feeling conveyed by the film’s theatrical trailer, seen above. With any luck, this may be the most of this movie any of us see this year. (Ghostly rim shot.)
The first film was an exercise in stupidity and witless comedy, though one that incited quite a few intoxicated chuckles from me. But still, the movie didn’t spoof horror as much as it directly aped most of the memorable scenes in the Paranormal Activity franchise, among other recent thrillers. Now they’re going full force with their use of the Annabelle doll in James Wan’s The Conjuring, which makes me wonder what they’ll possibly do once that upcoming spinoff comes out.
Via Yahoo! Movies, this trailer doesn’t have "highlights" so much as it features "thinly crafted racial jokes." It was obvious when comedian Gabriel Iglesias joined the cast that a good portion of the script would be spent drawing attention to the fact that he’s of Hispanic descent, but it’s painful to see it show up here for the grass cutting joke, especially after the first trailer already featured a stereotype driven gag or twelve. And we’ve also got black imaginary friends, white dogs and a black guy with a gun scaring off a white guy. I mean, at least we didn’t see a black guy doing anything crazy like eating fried chicken or anything…Oh wait, that does happen.
Still, I appreciate any film willing to take things back to the Looney Tunes era for a falling safe gag, regardless of how well it’s delivered. And I’m always partial to watching a grown man fight with a fake chicken, even if it draws immediate comparisons to the man/fowl battles that Family Guy returns to occasionally. That feeling is balanced by the fact that the chicken actually looks like the one shot with an arrow in Hot Shots! Part Deux. Even if it’s only a brief quasi-reference to a far, far better spoof movie, it’s a step in the right direction.
Also starring Dave Sheridan, Affion Crockett and Jamie Pressley, A Haunted House 2 will play hide-and-seek with audiences when it hits theaters on March 28. Check out the scream-filled first trailer below if you have a pair of earplugs nearby.
