Haunted Mansion (2023)

By: Mike Ward on Thursday, July 27

PG-13 Running Time: 122 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

Rebooting the poorly received 2003 film of the same name, Haunted Mansion boasts a strong cast and acclaimed director in a film inspired by the Disney amusement park ride.
Largely scare-free for older children and teens, Haunted Mansion has enough humor and visual flair to likely be a nice escape for a couple of hours.
Feels like something of a throwback to a movie experience from the 1980s. Some older viewers will appreciate the nostalgia vibes the film achieves at certain moments.

NO

Ultimately, the negatives tip the scale away from the positives - Haunted Mansion never finds a tone and struggles in shifting from drama to comedy to suspense to supernatural hijinks.
Oddly, the two main characters seem to not lead the film. LaKeith Stanfield and Rosario Dawson are strong, talented performers who simply become swallowed up by an over-the-top ensemble, reliance on visual effects, and an inability to decide how light-hearted or intense the film wants to be.
Parents/guardians of younger viewers should be aware that the film touches on themes of grief, loss, depression, with one character drinking a lot. This could spur some conversations that people may not be expecting with the latest Disney movie.

OUR REVIEW

Harmless, a bit silly, and struggling to find itself, Haunted Mansion is the second Disney-produced film inspired by the Disneyland amusement park ride of the same name. The ride, first opened in 1969 was initially adapted for the big screen in 2003. Eddie Murphy was the star of that movie and it was so memorable for me, I had to be reminded by my wife that I actually watched it.

This time around, director Justin Simien (Dear White People) frames his haunted house story around a man reeling from personal tragedy. Former astrophysicist Ben (LaKeith Stanfield) is giving haunted house tours and does not believe in ghosts, despite once creating a “spectral camera” designed to capture apparitions all around us. Buried in a bottle and spiraling into depression, Ben is contacted by local priest, Father Kent (Owen Wilson), who has been contacted by a family believing their new house is haunted. Aware of Ben’s invention, he pays a hefty sum of money to convince Ben to go and document the paranormal activity at the home.

That home, the proverbial haunted mansion, is every Gothic-looking estate you have ever seen in a horror movie - full of dusty rugs, cobwebs in every corner, poor lighting and expansive space. There are secret passageways, and countless rooms, and some clever trickery with hallways and depth of field trickery, established effectively by Simien’s effects team and cinematographer Jeffrey Waldron.

The massive home has recently been purchased by Gabbie (Rosario Dawson), a doctor relocating to the area with 9-year-old son Travis (Chase W. Dillon). Eventually, she hopes to convert the residence into a bed-and-breakfast destination. However, strange occurrences and situations start immediately happening, forcing them to sleep in a tent in the living room and believing the ghostly presence around them will not let them leave.

The production design for the film is naturally inspired by the Disney attraction, but the home, where most of the film takes place, retains some unique characteristics that make it something of a character in its own right. Simien has fun with the nooks and crannies of his cinematic playground, but the film falls into an uneven mix of sight gags, one-liners, forced humor, ghostly imagery and an attempt to throw some jumpscares at an unsuspecting audience.

Wilson seems to be having a lot of fun. He learns, as several individuals do, that once you enter the home, a ghost latches on to you. This correlates to roughly the same concept in the Disney ride, expounded on with a screenplay written by Katie Dippold (Snatched, The Heat). Additionally, it brings together Wilson and Danny DeVito, who portrays a college professor, and Tiffany Haddish as a psychic attempting to connect with the spectral haunts at play.

As Gabbie assembles this makeshift team to drive the ghosts away, Haunted Mansion explores some intriguing ideas on grief and loss. Dillon’s performance is quite good, showing a balance between dramatic substance, over-the-top reactions, and comedic instincts. However, the film never really gets the best of Stanfield and Dawson, who end up being overshadowed and engulfed by bigger, more scenery-chewing performances flying all around them.

Ultimately, this reboot is fine enough I suppose, just unremarkable. Overlong at 122 minutes, Simien seems too settled and complacent, the film lacking a sense of urgency outside of a haphazardly edited prologue which sets the film, at least thematically, into a fairly dark place. The film’s PG-13 rating seems to be borne from themes of death, loss, and alcoholism, and far less to do with scares, frights, or terror and horror.

By the time Jamie Lee Curtis (or at least her head) arrives inside a crystal ball as clairvoyant ghostly medium Madame Leota, the film seems unsure of how to steady itself. While not particularly frightening, some jump scares may jolt some young viewers and parents may want to prepare themselves for conversations around death, the afterlife, single-parent families and the pain of losing someone close to them.

This Haunted Mansion deserves credit for some lofty ambition, strong casting, and some entertaining moments. However, the film remains stuck in place, never quite achieving the bigger, more meaningful tone Simien seeks but can never quite get to materialize.

CAST & CREW

Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Chase Dillon, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Jamie Lee Curtis, J.R. Adduci, Hasan Minhaj, Daniel Levy, Winona Ryder, Jared Leto

Director: Justin Simien
Written by: Katie Dippold
Release Date: July 28, 2023
Walt Disney Studios

Rebooting the poorly received 2003 film of the same name, Haunted Mansion boasts a strong cast and acclaimed director in a film inspired by the Disney amusement park ride.

Largely scare-free for older children and teens, Haunted Mansion has enough humor and visual flair to likely be a nice escape for a couple of hours.

Feels like something of a throwback to a movie experience from the 1980s. Some older viewers will appreciate the nostalgia vibes the film achieves at certain moments.

Ultimately, the negatives tip the scale away from the positives - Haunted Mansion never finds a tone and struggles in shifting from drama to comedy to suspense to supernatural hijinks.

Oddly, the two main characters seem to not lead the film. LaKeith Stanfield and Rosario Dawson are strong, talented performers who simply become swallowed up by an over-the-top ensemble, reliance on visual effects, and an inability to decide how light-hearted or intense the film wants to be.

Parents/guardians of younger viewers should be aware that the film touches on themes of grief, loss, depression, with one character drinking a lot. This could spur some conversations that people may not be expecting with the latest Disney movie.