In Haunted Mansion, single mother Gabbie and her son Travis move into their new home, Gracey Manor. However, while this should be a joyous occasion and the beginning of a new chapter in their lives, they soon discover the manor is haunted.
Terrified by the spooky situation, Gabbie calls in a priest called Father Kent to remove the ghosts from the house. But when this proves unsuccessful, he hires Ben Matthias – a tour guide and former astrophysicist with a dark matter camera – to complete the job.
Upon arrival at Gracey Manor, Ben meets Gabbie and Travis, then begins to take a few photos with his camera. Yet despite the stories that Gabbie tells him about the ghosts, Ben remains dismissive of the whole thing and returns home.
However, Ben soon discovers the ghosts are real and he himself is now the subject of a haunting. A ghost has followed him home and forces him to return to the mansion, where he learns that Gabbie, Travis, and Father Kent are all being continually haunted.
The only way to get rid of the ghosts, is to learn more about them. However, to get to the bottom of the hauntings the quartet are going to need further assistance from a psychic and a college professor.
Directed by Justin Simien, Haunted Mansion is a supernatural horror comedy starring LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVito, Jared Leto, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The movie is based on the Disney theme park ride of the same name, and is also a remake of the 2003 Eddie Murphy movie, The Haunted Mansion.
Released in the US back in July, Haunted Mansion makes its UK debut this month. The film will hit UK cinemas on Friday 11th August, arriving mid-way through the summer holidays, a couple of weeks before the kids go back to school.
Is this the best time to release Haunted Mansion in the UK? Absolutely not – and releasing the movie in the US back in July was a mistake too. This film is ready made for Halloween, so the timing of this film’s release is more than a little off.
I’ll talk about the movie itself in a moment, but I think it’s important to say that Haunted Mansion is currently bombing in the US, and I’m not convinced it’ll do big numbers over here either. There are a couple of reasons for the film’s poor performance overseas, but I expect the most obvious reason is because this is a Halloween-style movie, which is (bizarrely) being released during the summer.
I’m not quite sure what possessed Disney to release Haunted Mansion in July/August, rather than in October, but I suspect it has something to do with Disney+. The studio most likely wants this film out of cinemas and onto streaming in time for Halloween, which is why this film’s theatrical release has been completely and utterly fudged.
Would Haunted Mansion do better in October? I would say ‘yes’ and I would even put money on it.
But would a change in the release date make any difference to the movie itself? Nope, because Haunted Mansion is what it is – and what it is, is only a so-so film at best.
To be clear, I don’t think Haunted Mansion is a particularly bad movie, but I do feel that it is a very underwhelming movie. The film is no better than the Eddie Murphy version from twenty years ago, and even then, that movie was only ever OK.
The problem is, watching Haunted Mansion is kind of like being on the ride. Things happen here and there, and occasionally you’re engaged in the spectacle, but it all feels sort of hollow.
The story moves the characters from A to B, but at no point will you feel invested in the material. It also doesn’t help that many of the jokes fall flat, and at two-hours long it does run out of steam in places.
I’m also not entirely sure who this film is aimed at. Haunted Mansion is a touch too dark for youngsters, yet not interesting or scary enough for anyone else, so it kind of exists in this slightly odd space.
On a more positive note, where Haunted Mansion works best is in the set design, the costuming, and some of the performances. The spooky aesthetic is rather good, and the likes of Danny DeVito, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tiffany Haddish, and LaKeith Stanfield do bring some sparkle to the story.
Stanfield in particular proves to be a good lead for the film, and he brings the heart and emotional weight. Meanwhile, the entire ensemble of players in Haunted Mansion appear to be having fun hamming things up, and this does come across quite frequently.
The film also has a few enjoyable set pieces and a spooky villain. Despite the slightly confusing tone of the film, Haunted Mansion does have a Scooby-doo-style vibe about it, and this is something I can get on board.
Overall, Haunted Mansion is a bit of a mixed bag, that is neither amazing, nor is it dreadful. My general feeling is this is yet another example of a Disney remake that didn’t need to happen, but it could have been worse.
It’s not great, but despite its issues when it works it is quite fun and there is something in here which will entertain some audiences. I expect it will do better on streaming later in the year (AT HALLOWEEN!), but for now it will offer a bit of spooky fun if that’s what you desire.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this review on It’s A Stampede!. For more reviews, check out the recommended reads below.
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