Haunted Mansion review

HAUNTED MANSION: 

STAR-STUDDED CAST BREATHES LIFE INTO GENERIC SPOOK-FEST! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

DISNEY

Danny DeVito in Disney’s Haunted Mansion

 

            A group of people find themselves in a creepy old mansion filled with ghosts in Haunted Mansion, the new film based on the Disneyland attraction of the same name and second adaptation of the ride after the 2003 movie starring Eddie Murphy. The 2003 film version of The Haunted Mansion was desperately trying to recapture the success of Pirates of the Caribbean (Which came out earlier that year) but fell extremely flat on just about every level. 

            Now, we have this new film based on the ride with Justin Simien (Dear White People, Bad Hair) helming it and featuring an all-star cast which I was open to when I first heard it was being made. The Eddie Murphy movie was awful, but the Haunted Mansion attraction has tons of imaginative characters and ideas that could potentially make for an enjoyable feature film. 

            So, I got my ticket and sat down to watch the movie and I can say that this new film version of the Haunted Mansion is…okay. It’s way better than the Eddie Murphy film by comparison and there are a lot of aspects about it to appreciate, but it still doesn’t quite live up to the full potential of its concept. 

            The film follows a widowed mother named Gabbie (Rosario Dawson-Men in Black II, Sin City 1 and 2, Clerks II) and her son Travis (Newcomer, Chase W. Dillon) moving into an old mansion in hopes of starting a new life. When they discover the mansion is haunted and inhabited by ghosts, they assemble a motley crew of spiritual experts consisting of astrophysicist Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield-Selma, Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), psychic Harriet (Tiffany Haddish-Girls Trip, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent), priest Father Kent (Owen Wilson-Zoolander 1 and 2, Starsky & Hutch, Loki), and college historian Professor Bruce Davis (Danny DeVito-Batman Returns, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Jumanji: The Next Level) to rid their home of these paranormal entities including the most powerful and terrifying of them all, The Hatbox Ghost (voiced by Jared Leto-Dallas Buyers Club, DC Extended Universe, Blade Runner 2049). 

            The film also stars Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween, Freaky Friday (2003), Everything Everywhere All at Once) as Madame Leota. 

            Overall, Haunted Mansion can’t quite recapture the magic of the ride that inspired it, but it should serve as a decent enough spooky family night. It does fall into the same problem as the Eddie Murphy version where it’s heavily focused on the people alive rather than the ghosts which isn’t as fun, but at least I was invested in the living characters in this one which is helped by the film’s spectacular cast. 

            LaKeith Stanfield is a massive improvement over Eddie Murphy as the leading man, instead of a usually talented comedian desperately trying to deliver laughs we have a washed-up and depressed tour guide and astrophysicist grieving over the death of his wife. He does a great job selling this somewhat smart-ass personality, but never to the point where he becomes unlikable and the flashbacks of his and his wife are the emotional highlight of the film. 

            Tiffany Haddish is also a standout as this eccentric psychic who communicates with the ghosts. The humor is rather hit-or-miss, but I found many of Haddish’s moments and line deliveries to be genuinely funny. 

            The rest of the characters don’t quite leave as big an impact as Stanfield, but for the most part they’re quite likable and fun to watch. Nobody gives a bad performance despite being given rather middling material to work with, the cast does an admirable job breathing life into the film. 

            While I wasn’t really getting wrapped up in the story all that much, I was marveling at the truly spectacular production design. The film is drenched in beautifully gothic atmosphere that’s bursting with creative ghost designs that retain the cartoony nature of the source material, fun creepy visuals, and phenomenal camera work and editing reminiscent of a classic haunted house film, ironically when the movie takes place in this house filled with dead spirits that’s when it comes alive. 

            The scenes that take place in the mansion is when the film is at its best, unfortunately it takes a dive when it turns into a McGuffin hunt outside the mansion. It’s the least interesting and most dragged-out part of this 2-hour movie that could have easily been trimmed down or just taken out entirely. 

            Haunted Mansion is a perfectly serviceable horror-comedy for kids and families that has some laughs, spooks, and impressive production design even if it’s short on engaging storytelling (Aside from certain elements of it). It’s no Pirates of the Caribbean, but it is better than some of Disney’s other attempts at turning their theme park rides into movies.