Haunted Mansion Movie Review
Haunted Mansion - The Spooky Story
It seems that Gracie Manor was once a very wealthy estate - complete with masquerade parties and rich guests - but fell on hard times (and was cursed). Now it lies broken and crumbling, shrouded in mystery. After real estate agent Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy, the donkey in Shrek) and his family get stranded in it, they discover that they are most definitely not alone. Along with a crazy psychic (Jennifer Tilly, Celia from Monsters Inc), Jim and his family have to deal with disappearing rooms, ghastly ghouls, possessed musical instruments, and a supernatural butler. If that's not enough, they've got to break the curse before time runs out and the clock strikes thirteen.
Haunted Mansion - Screaming Good
Haunted Mansion starts fast and drops you into the action almost immediately. It gives the background story of the curse in the opening credits, and then we're off. The movie has just the right amount of laughs, and there are quite a few thrills. First, the mansion itself really looks like a haunted house, full of sliding doors, secret hallways, spider webs and candles. It's a totally creepy set. Totally. The chase scene - with Jim and his daughter - is pretty wicked, especially if you like walking skeletons, locked doors and creepy spiders - and who doesn't?
Haunted Mansion - Frighteningly Bad
As much as the flick is fun and has some thrills, it doesn't have enough real scares in it, which is a bummer for a movie based on a theme park thrill ride. Also, the story is pretty thin in places, sort of like Disney wasn't sure what to do next, so they just didn't do anything. The whole ending feels like they added it in because they couldn't think of something better. It comes out of nowhere and doesn't really do much, other than end the movie abruptly with a big, old side of cheese.
Haunted Mansion - Bottom Line
Overall, Disney's Haunted Mansion is pretty good fun and has the occasional scare, but leaves you wishing they'd spent a little more time on the thrill-factor. It holds together well, but if you're looking for a real scream, this ain't it.
Haunted Mansion Rating:
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