Aside from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Disney hasn't had much luck with feature-film adaptations of its theme park attractions, including The Country Bears, Tomorrowland, Jungle Cruise, and 2003's The Haunted Mansion. That last one gets a do-over in the new Haunted Mansion, which represents a marginal improvement over the Eddie Murphy-starring original, but still fails to capture the charm of the classic ride or establish a distinctive identity of its own.
While the 2003 film was a family-driven comedy, the new Haunted Mansion is more of an ensemble piece, led by glum paranormal investigator and former astrophysicist Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield). After the death of his wife, Ben has given up on his science career and taken a job leading historical walking tours in New Orleans, while strenuously denying the existence of ghosts. Still, Ben's invention of a camera that can supposedly capture true images of the paranormal attracts the attention of local priest Father Kent (Owen Wilson), who's been recruited to help doctor and single mother Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) with her... well... haunted mansion.
Gabbie and her young son, Travis (Chase Dillon), bought the dilapidated property and were immediately held hostage by the many specters inhabiting the house, who eventually also ensnare Ben, Father Kent, psychic medium Harriet (Tiffany Haddish) and history professor Bruce Davis (Danny DeVito). Unable to leave without being pursued by spirits, they must discover the secrets of the house and rid it of the evil presence tormenting anyone who sets foot inside.
The explanation for who is haunting the mansion and why is convoluted and not particularly interesting, incorporating narrative elements from the ride along with contributions from screenwriter Katie Dippold (The Heat, 2016's Ghostbusters). Thematically, Dippold and director Justin Simien focus on the grieving process, which is fitting for a story about ghosts but drags down a movie that's meant to be a family-friendly horror comedy.
Stanfield effectively conveys Ben's sadness, but that just makes him a bummer in the midst of all the theme-park silliness. Stanfield and Dawson are stuck carrying the movie's weak emotional core, which lets Wilson, Haddish and DeVito cut loose with the comedy, and they each get a handful of amusing moments. Winona Ryder nearly steals the show in a single-scene appearance as a deadpan, uniquely unhelpful bed-and-breakfast proprietor at a separate historical mansion with a troubled past. Her attention-grabbing performance points to a more oddball version of the movie that might be less beholden to Disneyland fan service and closer to Simien's stylish 2020 horror comedy, Bad Hair.
In that movie, Simien put together a sometimes unwieldy but entertaining blend of satire and supernatural threats. There are no such hints of social commentary in Haunted Mansion, which is superficial and rarely clever, and even the incorporation of familiar set pieces from the ride feels rote rather than inventive. After the cultural specificity that Simien brought to Bad Hair, set at an "urban" music video channel in 1989, he offers no particular vision for Haunted Mansion, which never comes off as anything more than a corporate brand extension. Its approach more closely resembles throwaway late '90s/early '00s schlock-horror remakes like House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts than the spooky classics that inspired its source material.
The Pirates of the Caribbean movies owe their success to the initially refreshing creation of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, but there's no equivalent standout character in Haunted Mansion. With its passable special effects, mild humor, solid performances and perfunctory life lessons, Haunted Mansion is a mostly tolerable way to spend two hours, but it's not nearly as memorable as a 10-minute theme park ride. ♦
HAUNTED MANSION
