Haunted Mansion Review: Full Of Tricks And Treats

In many ways, the "Haunted Mansion" movie will be familiar to the millions of people who've been on the attraction in Disneyland or the other Disney parks. But after a brief introduction to the house, it starts very differently. It's New Year's Eve, and LaKeith Stanfield's Ben is celebrating in a bar where he meets a woman. Sparks fly and it's obvious this relationship is going somewhere. Then the picture fast forwards to Ben alone and cantankerous inside his New Orleans home. In steps Father Kent (Owen Wilson), who asks Ben if he wants to be a hero for a woman with a haunted house. The answer is a firm "no," despite the camera he invented which is able to pick up ghosts. However, when Ben hears how much this woman is willing to pay, he changes his mind.

Thus, starts the adventure of "Haunted Mansion," a story familiar in all the right ways but not original enough in the way it puts all those elements together. Unlike the 2003 Eddie Murphy version, "The Haunted Mansion," it includes iconic characters like the Black Widow Bride and the Hatbox Ghost. While it's fun to see them in action in the film, the result isn't nearly as inspired as the movie would like. Still, the basics are there.

After Ben is recruited to Father Kent's cause, he gives the house a half-hearted once over and leaves, only to return after finding a ghost has followed him home. Now trapped in the house, he and the other supernatural investigators — which in addition to him and Father Kent include a medium, Harriet (Tiffany Haddish), and a professor, Bruce Davis (Danny DeVito) who's been waiting his whole life to go to this house — get to work figuring out what's going on. The group quickly digs up Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis) and learns that the Hatbox Ghost (Jared Leto) has been wreaking all sorts of havoc. While most of the ghosts there are actually nice, the Hatbox Ghost wants to do ... something evil, and all he needs is one more ghost to do it.

In between all of this is the story of Ben's grief over his wife — the aforementioned woman he met on New Year's Eve — and how he bonds with Gabbie (Rosario Dawson), the woman who owns the house, and especially Travis (Chase W. Dillon), her 9-year-old son. This gives the film a jolt and a deeper meaning as the plot unfolds. But with the movie struggling to cram everything in, it only gets so far with this plotline. I'm sure there's a version of this story that works, and this one almost does it — but it ultimately loses its mojo, especially in the climax.

Throughout the film, there are tons of references to the ride. Not only are the Black Widow Bride and the Hatbox Ghost depicted, there are numerous other ghosts too, including the caretaker and his dog, the Hitchhiking Ghosts, and of course, Madame Leota. In addition, the rooms in the house are mostly taken from the ride. The dining room is obvious enough but even the room where the group stays, with its familiar paintings, will ring a bell to the many who've been on the ride — and that's even before the room is closed off and starts to stretch in strange ways.

There are other details, too. For example, a floating candelabra tours the halls and a coat of armor ends up standing in weird places around the house. Not to mention, while the facade of the house the group is trying to relieve of ghosts is straight out of Disneyland, they go to another house at one point that bears a strong resemblance to Disney World's Haunted Mansion attraction.

The good news is that each of these references has a point. From the Hitchhiking Ghosts to the dining room, each one is used in a way that makes sense and doesn't come across as pandering (too much). When Ben goes to the attic and finds pictures of the Black Widow Bride and her husbands and soon finds himself at the Bride's mercy, it makes sense for the movie while giving those in the know about the attraction a certain thrill. This is when the movie is at its best.

The ultimate problem is the plot doesn't know how to wrap up, so it gives us a lot of spectacle with very little substance. The Hatbox Ghost's attempts to get that final ghost reaches its apex, but more seems to be less in this situation, and ultimately, the film suffers for it. It's not a fatal flaw and there are even pleasures to be found here, too — like the ghosts swarming the graveyard — but it does make the movie a lot less interesting.

It's worth noting that the film as a whole is more scary than funny, at least to a point. The people at Disney don't want to intimidate any youngsters so the movie is only so frightening. Still, there are more scares than laughs to be had. There are laughs, of course, but most of these are shown off in the trailer or otherwise may fly above little ones' heads. The frights, however, are aimed squarely at the younger demographic. Kids will understand the plot without being too terrified, and the adults won't be frightened at all. This is a double-edged sword as no one will be afraid to go see "Haunted Mansion," but the laughs aren't enough to keep adults and teenagers interested.

In the end, the plot doesn't have enough juice to make it memorable, yet there are things that do make the film watchable, from the many references to the ride to Ben's remembrances of his wife. While this may not ultimately satisfy people as a whole, there are enough bits and pieces here that the film is good enough. The leads are all good; Wilson, Stanfield, and Dillon, in particular, do a great job in their roles. And the allusions to the attraction are a lot of fun. So even if the movie proves to be less than the sum of its parts, there's still plenty to recommend in "Haunted Mansion." 

"Haunted Mansion" premieres exclusively in theaters July 28.

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being reviewed here wouldn't exist.