Haunted Mansion

There are many reasons why Disney Studios are not performing financially well--the list is endless, however their inability to produce original work is certainly one of them. To make a profit, they have no qualms in reproducing one of their many films--animated to live-action, reboots, sequels, you get the hint. So, now we have yet another film based on their 'ride' at Disneyland called "Haunted Mansion". Hey, it worked for "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Not being from the New Orleans area, a single mom, Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) hires a tour guide, Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield), a psychic, Harriet (Tiffany Haddish), a priest, Father Kent (Owen Wilson) and an historian, Bruce Davis (Danny DeVito) to exorcise her newly purchased mansion after discovering it is inhabited by ghosts. It turns out that one of the elite people back in the day who killed many, ended up haunting the mansion. This ghost, Alistair Crump (Jared Leto) needs one more death to complete the 1000 ghosts within the mansion by the next full moon--which is in four days. These ghosts, once reaching the magic number 1000, won't be able to go to their respective place of rest if that 1000 count is met. So, can a tour guide, psychic, priest and historian conquer Crump so as to have order back in the mansion?

Others to round out the cast are Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota, Chase Dillon as Travis, Gabbie's son, J.R. Adduci as William Gracey, Charity Jordan as Alyssa, Creek Wilson as Mariner ghost, Ben Bladon as Hatchet ghost, Lindsay Lamb as The Bride, Fedor Steer as Ezra, Mike Benitez as Gus and Terence Rosemore as Phineas. 

This was fairly well directed by Justin Simien ("Dear White People" '14, "Bad Hair" '20) plus TV, shorts and a music video. Unfortunately, the staging in this was a bit stiff and the scenes became, after a point , a bit disjointed. This filmmaker doesn't have a plethora of experience, even with the TV work, but there were areas that definitely kept me interested. The element of realizing more about Ben's life and how it intertwined with his stint at the mansion was interesting, but overall, a more seasoned director would've helped. It was executed fairly well by writer Katie Dippold ("The Heat" '13, "Ghostbusters" '16, "Snatched" '17) plus TV, based on Disneyland's "Haunted Mansion" 'ride'. I've never been to the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, but I suspect that the lead characters in this film are not part of the 'ride' at Disneyland. Assuming this is true, at least the characters are original, whereas the mansion obviously is not. I can certainly understand why the writer chose New Orleans to house the mansion, since that city is kind of creepy anyway, but the story did have a tendency to become choppy and disjointed as the script unfolded. The best part of the film was congregating the different characters to be a part of this 'exorcism'--the development and process they went through to become a team at the mansion if you will, was intriguing. Was it a total wash? Absolutely not. It was a hoot, but about all one could expect considering it was based on a 'ride'. The characters were fun, and it was quite the roller coaster ride. And while the visual effects predominantly designed by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic) and DNEG (Double Negative) were aplenty, they certainly made it fun to see on the large screen.

If you enjoyed the ride at Disneyland, you will undoubtedly like this rendition of that. However, if you never went on the ride, as I hadn't, it is, and can be fun, adventurous and a feast for the eyes given the plethora of visuals and special effects makeup galore. It's the quintessential popcorn flick. Have fun. 

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                                   Rated: PG-13                                      123mins.