Haunted Mansion Review: Hauntings and Heart!
It has been 20 years since Eddie Murphy starred in The Haunted Mansion, the first live action adaptation of the beloved Disney World and Disneyland ride. As Disney has been creating live action adaptations of their older animated classics, it was a bit of a surprise that The Haunted Mansion would be getting the same treatment, given it had its own film years ago.
However, after the success and love for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the second ride-to-film adaptation it would make sense to give this spooky attraction another shot. Needless to say, not every Disney tale needs a revamp, some should have probably stayed in the past. However, Haunted Mansion is a film that surpassed expectations of being a fun filled adventure, opting for deeper themes on grief and death that certainly followed this critic home in the best way.
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Ben (LaKeith Stanfield), astrophysicist turned paranormal tour guide, is grieving the death of his wife Alyssa (Charity Jordan). As he takes over Alyssa’s tour guide business, he creates the first ever spectral camera that can capture images of spirits unseen to the human eye. Upon discovering this priest Father Kent (Owen Wilson) talks Ben into taking a job to help Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her son Travis (Chase W. Dillon) find evidence of ghosts living inside their new mansion. However what Ben doesn’t realize is once he steps foot into the mansion, there is no turning back.
Haunted Mansion utilizes its story to capture the deep and complex stages of grief through Ben’s character. Feeling as if he doesn’t have the will to live an eventful life without the love of his life, Ben finds himself drowning in sorrow and pain. The way the film encapsulates the reality of loss by using the haunted mansion and the spirits we all know from the attraction is an incredible balance of homage to the trademark while also developing a human story that is relatable to anyone going through this difficult process.
A new poster for Disney’s ‘HAUNTED MANSION’ has been released. #HauntedMansion pic.twitter.com/sxThIPVMby
— PrimeTime Films (@PrimeTimeFilms_) July 27, 2023
Ben is able to learn that through processing his grief he can begin to start anew, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he has to move on until he is ready. The film paints a gray area around the theme without an easy before and after outcome. In the same way the ghosts are trapped because of their unfortunate ends, the audience is shown that sometimes being free of immense sorrow is only the first step in starting a new chapter.
Haunted Mansion uses all of its characters, including Harriet (Tiffany Haddish) as a psychic and a hilarious Danny Devito as Professor Bruce Davis, to create a story about a group of ostracized people looking for support from a new found family. The movie even touches on feelings of inadequacy and doubting one’s own abilities in the face of criticism from not just society, but family as well. There are a number of valuable lessons in this movie that seem to lack in films designed for younger viewers today that were unexpected.
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The production design is joyous, capturing the architecture we know and love with a number of nods to characters famous from the Disney ride. The original theme music is reimagined beautifully by Kris Bowers with various renditions throughout. LaKeith Stanfield gives a standout performance in the film, which was no surprise given his previous line of work.
At times it would have been nicer to see this film thrive in the direction it was going without the typical Disney one liners and studio hands all over the script but for what it was, Haunted Mansion is a tragic and uplifting story that captures the pain and beauty of loss and love that defied all expectations.
‘Haunted Mansion’ Rating – 4/5
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