The Reel Review
Shortly after arriving at their new dream home – an antebellum mansion outside of New Orleans – a mother and child are terrorized by ghostly apparitions. They turn to an assortment of individuals – a priest, a psychic medium, a historian and an astrophysicist – to help exorcise them, in this Black-led remake of the Disney film starring LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson and Tiffany Haddish.
Haunted Mansion is a breezy, kid-friendly and visually pleasing film. Fans of the iconic ride at the Disney theme parks will get a kick out of the many visual nods to the ride and its quirky, animated ghosts. Haddish and Jamie Lee Curtis, as Madama Leota, the medium trapped in her crystal ball, have the most fun of the big-name cast, which includes Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Jared Leto as Crump the villainous, top hat-wearing ghost.
The problem with Haunted Mansion is its phoned-in screenplay from Katie Dippold (2016’s Ghostbusters, The Heat, Parks and Recreation) and bloated, poorly paced direction from Justin Simien (Bad Hair, Dear White People). The jokes are corny, flimsy and flat. And while its themes, about the harnessing the power of love to overcome sorrow, are noble, the end result is a nice looking but bland film that is just too long and with too many slow moments.
REEL FACTS
• The film’s nods to the Haunted Mansion ride, which debuted in 1969, include the expanding walls at the entrance, the Doom Buggies, the 13th hour on the clock and the wallpaper in the Corridor of Doors. One of the songs heard on the ride, Grim Grinning Ghosts, is also featured in the movie and the entire Ballroom Sequence features identically at the end.
• Eddie Murphy, star of Disney’s 2003 The Haunted Mansion, was offered a cameo appearance in this film but was turned down after he demanded $500k for a day’s work. This film comes just two years after Muppets Haunted Mansion.
• A remake of The Haunted Mansion had been a passion project for Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro for many years until he backed out of the project in 2020. Word is, his version was too scary for Disney.
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