'A Haunted House 2' Conjures Up Improvisation
Marlon Wayans loves comedy.
And in his new movie, “A Haunted House 2,” his physical comedy knows no bounds. Prior to the Wednesday premiere screening of the pic, Wayans told the packed Regal L.A. Live theater that the movie would be “87 minutes of raucous laughter.” Wayans typically spoofs several horror films in the “Haunted House” franchise, but this sequel predominantly parodies “The Conjuring.” But even though the movies are comedies, he starts each project by asking what’s the next best move for his characters.
“At first I didn’t want to approach it as ‘What’s the new parody to base this stuff on?’ I wanted to actually go, ‘What’s a good character progression for Malcolm?’”
“I wanted it to be a horror comedy with parody elements,” he added. “I want to let it breathe and let the characters be a little bit more grounded.”
His answer: Malcolm, played by Wayans, is in an interracial relationship with step kids. But when the family discovers the house is haunted, the demons possess them into doing some strange things. For example, Malcolm begins a sexual relationship with a terrifying-looking doll, which made for some scenes that castmembers thought were the best in the movie.
“Weirdly enough, Marlon having sex with the doll was the craziest scene in the movie, and I mean, he really gets free,” said Cedric the Entertainer.
With every haunting comes some sort of exorcism, which is where Cedric the Entertainer’s character Father Williams came into play. The exorcism scene was largely improvised, he said, and a lot of the time he has no idea where his skills come from.
“I call it ‘Rain Manning,’” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to come out.”
Jaime Pressly, who plays Wayans’ wife in the movie, had never worked with Wayans before even though they’re good friends. She also enjoyed being able to improvise more than strict script-following on TV.
“Cedric is genuinely the King of Comedy,” Pressly said. “He’s a genius. Being around that is not only inspiring, but it’s really hard to keep a straight face.”
Open Road releases “A Haunted House 2″ on Friday.
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