It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Eddie Murphy’s ‘Haunted Mansion’ was unleashed onto cinemas. Based on the Disney theme park ride, ‘Haunted Mansion’ has been a beloved property for thousands of fans around the world and remains one of the most visited Disney attractions of all time. It’s safe to say that the 2003 film didn’t live up to its potential so here we go again – two decades later and having surely learnt from their mistakes, right? 2023’s ‘Haunted Mansion’ has some nice ideas and an amazing cast who all pull together to make this an entertaining watch, but it still falls short of delivering on the potential of this untapped Disney gem.
The plot is an original story based on a single mother named Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her young son Travis (Chase Dillon) who find that spooky things are happening within the walls of their new home. When they can’t escape the hauntings even when the move away, they enlist the help of a local tour guide named Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield). He has developed a camera that can literally take pictures of ghosts, so together with a rag-tag group of individuals including Father Kent (Owen Wilson), Harriet (Tiffany Haddish) and Bruce (Danny DeVito), they attempt to exorcise the creepiness that has taken over the Haunted Mansion.
The film is noticeably different in its scope and ambition, and that’s to be applauded here. Whilst the 2003 effort was more faithful to the ride’s original backstory, this version takes those same elements but expands it out and adds a nice sub-story. As mentioned before, this ensemble is very good and with talent like this you are always going to get engaging performances. LaKeith Stanfield is excellent here, and really leads the film well. Rosario Dawson is her usual, brilliant self. Young Chase Dillon hands in a very impressive performance. Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Tiffany Haddish are on-hand for all the comedy requirements, with Wilson stealing all of his scenes in his unmistakable style. Jared Leto brings a nice spookiness to The Hatbox Ghost whilst Jamie Lee Curtis is sadly let down with poor CGI as Madame Leota.
So it’s not the cast or the general scope of the story that’s the problem here. It’s the execution, which varies wildly in tone and visual excellence. The film is perhaps a bit too scary for little kids, but after the 2003 effort came out as too tame, I don’t have a problem with that. ‘Haunted Mansion’ should be a bit creepy in its approach. But tonally, some elements of the script feel too timid and not in line with the potential of this new story. Visually, the house looks great and does the concept justice, but some of the more effects-heavy set pieces feel unfinished. The special effects really are a mixed bag in ‘Haunted Mansion’. The ghosts themselves look good, and especially Jared Leto as the infamous Hatbox Ghost. They conjure up the necessary spookiness to sell the concept and pay rightful homage to their theme park ride counterparts. But Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota looks like mid-90s CGI. It’s truly awful and really detracts from her performance, which is a shame.
They still haven’t got it quite right with ‘Haunted Mansion’ but its making progress. Maybe in another 20 years we’ll have the definitive version. But let’s hope we aren’t waiting that long, because this is a franchise that deserves a big audience. In the meantime, this version of ‘Haunted Mansion’ is fine and has some memorable moments. The cast really makes this entertaining and for an early Halloween mood-setter, the film does its job. It’s just a shame it couldn’t really commit to being the film us ‘Haunted Mansion’ fans have waited so long for.
Cast: LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Chase Dillon, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Jared Leto, Jamie Lee Curtis Director: Justin Simien Writer: Katie Dippold Certificate: 12A Duration: 123 mins Released by: Disney Release date: 11th August 2023
