Film buff, critic and enthusiast

A tongue in cheek review I wrote for A Haunted House:

A Haunted House is a disturbing character study of a young African American man and his girlfriend moving in together and struggling with societal expectations of them as well as the nature of their relationship as they are forced together due to circumstances out of their control. In their struggle to form a life together we touch upon such issues as feelings of inadequacy, loss of privacy, loss of loved ones, homophobia, racism, alternate lifestyles, immigration, integration, sexually transmitted diseases and many other hot button topics. Indeed the film is marked by a highly sophisticated approach in dealing with such issues never backing down from addressing the controversial matters while giving them the proper sensitive treatment they deserve.

The hero Malcolm is a young African American who yearns to fit in with the mostly White community around him which are typified by his friend Andrew Daly and Daly's girlfriend. These two serve as Malcolm's main connection to this world he desperately wants to be apart of. Sadly, however they are also symbolic representations of the oppressive societal climate which objectifies Malcom as a black male to his body parts and sexual prowess which Daly and Daly's girlfriend desperately desire to sample. Daly from his initial appearance attempts to negotiate a transfer of Malcolm into servitude for Daly's girlfriend who fetishes the African American male body. This role is later taken up by Nick Swardson who plays Chip the Psychic as well but I will dwell on that later.

Malcom's quest for acceptance is also frustrated by the daily reminder of his status as an outsider which is demonstrated by the character played by Dave Koechner who pokes Malcolm with references to hurtful stereotypes and the use of a certain word with a history of violent connotation. It is fitting then that Koechner later turns up as a ghost hunter as he personifies the ghosts of the past that chase Malcolm. Billing himself as the ghost hunter he is actually the ghost who is haunting Malcolm.

A major symbolic element of the film is the ghost that is said to be haunting the house. This is not simply a ghost in the purely horror sense it actually represents different things that Malcolm and his girlfriend feel like they've lost. To Malcolm it is the freedom he had as a single man. On its initial possession of Malcolm, Malcolm attempts to mark his territory in the house and demolish the most valued object of his girlfriend. This signals some deep seated issues on the part of Malcolm regarding his girlfriend moving in which he resents and internally he longs to reclaims his place in the home as the sole occupier. In contrast the girlfriend Kisha is haunted by the fear of being alone. Her possession brings her to her knees as she longs for companionship. Ultimately this couples into a sense of inadequacy that Kisha sees in Malcolm which leads Kisha to form a relationship with an imaginary force that had been with her from a young age. This force had been her primary companion in times of terrible hardship (child abuse at the hands of her father) and she retreats to the comfort of its bosom when she finds her relationship with Malcolm crumbling.

As promised, I will now touch upon the extraordinary performance of Nick Swardson as psychic Chip. Swardson's character is one of the most tragic heroes ever captured in our film as he struggles with a loss of impulse control that exposes his deep-seated love for Malcolm. A true romantic in every sense, the viewer will surely be brought to tears and identify with Nick's character as he attempts to gain something that we all long for -- companionship and love. :'(

Ultimately, Malcolm must come to terms with the ghosts that haunt him and he brings together the daily reminder of his status as the outside as well as the fetishization of him with a Priest to exorcise himself of them forever.

OR it's just a really bad movie that is aimed at the lowest common denominator but if I just said that this would be a really boring review. :p