Haunted Mansion: Film Review
Justin Simien‘s remake of Haunted Mansion, which is based on the Disneyland ride of the same name, has received a lot of bad reviews but I personally don’t get the hate.
The film follows Ben (LaKeith Stanfield), a grieving widow who is hired to snap photos of ghouls using his ghost camera at said haunted mansion, which is inhibited by Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her son Travis (Chase W. Dillon). With the additional help of Father Kent (Owen Wilson), medium Harriet (Tiffany Haddish) and college professor Bruce (Danny DeVito), they try to find out why the ghosts are haunting the property in order to get rid of them once and for all.
This story will mean more to people who know the ride’s lore well and understand all the Easter Eggs and references. They’ll probably follow the story better too – I didn’t find the mystery of the Hatbox Ghost (voiced by Jared Leto) particularly clear, even though there are big exposition dumps to try and explain everything. The story is fine enough but it could have been funnier and slightly scarier and the characters (except Ben) needed more substance.
Sure, the film is unevenly paced, slightly too long and the CGI is weak. But despite this, I still enjoyed it. I had a good time watching them exploring the mansion and discovering new ghosts, communicating with the spirits in the seance room, and the ghosts following them if they try to leave. It’s nothing spectacular but it’s still a pleasant watch.
The performances helped a lot. Wilson is hilarious as the weirdest priest ever, DeVito is amusing (but not at the height of his comedy game) and Haddish cracked me up as the psychic. I’ve seen reviews calling them all unfunny but that was not my experience. However, they could have been given stronger, more effective jokes. Jamie Lee Curtis is also great fun as the camp and OTT Madame Leota and there are some entertaining cameos I won’t spoil.
Stanfield gets given more substance than the others thanks to Ben’s grief. He adds depth and vulnerability to the character and hits emotional beats at the end. The weakest of the bunch is actually Dawson, but it’s not her fault. Gabbie is underwritten and given very little to do.
Haunted Mansion has been absolutely slated by some but I wouldn’t go that far. I thought it was perfectly harmless and enjoyable enough.
In cinemas from Friday 11th August