Haunted Mansion – Review
122 Minutes, Rated PG-13
Written by Katie Dippold
Directed by Justin Simien
**NOTE: You can read Mark’s review below, read Ryan’s review HERE (https://kutv.com/news/entertainment/disney-haunted-mansion-2023-rosario-dawson-lakeith-stanfield#) then listen (or watch) as they discuss the movie in more depth as part of a Horror Double Feature (with Talk To Me). Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
A single mom named Gabbie hires a tour guide, a psychic, a priest and a historian to help exorcise her newly bought mansion after discovering it is inhabited by ghosts.
Disney is at it again with another live-action adaptation of a theme park ride. Most successful with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, a previous attempt at bringing the Haunted Mansion (easily one of their most popular attractions) to the big screen was lackluster.
Can this version correct a recent run of less-than-spectacular releases by Disney?
In a word — and remember that I’ve been pretty down on Disney’s output lately — “Yes.”
I mean, it’s a qualified “yes,” but it’s a yes, nonetheless.
Where the ride doesn’t truly have an overarching story, but is instead simply an incredibly developed setting, this adaptation takes that setting and drops a family into it, giving us the necessary narrative underpinning to build a film around.
A family in peril, unable to leave the titular mansion, as the ghosts follow them, demanding they return.
The mystery here is why the spirits want them back. That Disney has put together a fairly no-nonsense way to explain that without overthinking it, by not trying to do too much or make some grandiose point that has nothing to do with the rest of the film, makes the film the one thing it needs to be in order to succeed: Fun.
I knew going in that if the film wasn’t fun it had no chance. But it is, in fact, fun overall, which, I’ll admit, surprised me a bit.
Pleasantly surprised me.
Is the film perfect? No, but few films truly are, but this one has got a decent story, backed by a lot of solid (and Fun!) performances (though Owen Wilson does begin to grate by the end of the film, to be honest) that are light when they need to be, and PG-13 dark enough when called for.
Rosario Dawson and LaKeith Stanfield work well together, and Haddish’s “medium” provides some much needed decompression from the harried mother and terminal skeptic.
Even the Hat Box Ghost casting can’t ruin it for me, and I will admit that he was played really well… and creepy.
Disney’s Haunted Mansion is a family film for basically everyone except the smallest kids, and even then there’re only a few spots they might find unsettling (and that may be a stretch).
This one is surprisingly easy to recommend.
Check it out.
Haunted Mansion begins haunting theaters this Friday and stars Rosario Dawson, LaKeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, and Danny DeVito.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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