One of my own, as well as many others, favorite Disney rides, has been put to film yet again. How well does this new version stand up to the rest and can it capture the feeling of the ride?
A single mom “Gabbie” and her son “Travis” are looking to start a new life. They are now the owners of a slightly rundown mansion in New Orleans. The first time the step into the house, they discover that not only did they get more than they bargained for, but it is extremely haunted. Looking to get more insight into their special predicament, they look to hire someone who is used to spirits and ghosts.
Ben is a previous astrophysicist who, along with his now sadly deceased Fiance, created a camera that could capture or potentially capture the image of a ghost in a photograph. After his fiance’s tragic death in a car crash, he quit everything to continue her business of giving ghost tours around New Orleans. Gabbie attempts to hire Ben to help her with her problem as he has a specific set of skills that may allow them to see the ghosts and solve their mystery. Unfortunately Ben is a HUGE skeptic of ghosts, spirits, and poltergeists. From the moment he sets foot in the house he doesn’t give it the respect he should and “plays along” with Gabbie and Travis as they tour the house. Ben tells her that she is stressed out from the move and the new life and basically just needs to calm down. He leaves and takes with him all his preconceived notions about haunted houses with him. Little does he know that he also is taking a ghost home with him. One that will not let him rest until he returns to the mansion.
I don’t know if I have specifically professed my love of Disneyworld on this site before, but it is safe to say that I have a pretty healthy (unhealthy?) love of all things Disneyworld. I have been probably more than 10 times to the park and as someone that lives hours and hours away, that’s a big deal. Secondly, when I do visit the park, the Magic Kingdom especially, I always make a point to go and ride the Haunted Mansion ride. I have loved it since I was a kid and it is still one of my favorite rides in the park. I say all this to set the base for my review of this movie.
There have been several Haunted Mansion movies made, two of which have been made in the last couple of years. ( I don’t want to talk about how the third is now TWENTY years old.) I was a bit trepidatious about watching this one seeing as how it is (again) about one of my favorite rides made into a film and also it’s rated PG-13 and I wanted to watch it with my youngest (who is NOT 13). I didn’t want to see them make a wreck of the ride or even the story that they portrayed IN the ride. I knew that it had a pretty good cast (Danny DeVito? Come on.) and seemed to be approaching the writing and dialog in a way that did the ride and its history justice. Even as the movie began I still wasn’t sure. However, once it really started humming along it became clear that they were treating it the right way. By the end of the movie, I was pleased with what they had put together.
I was both surprised and happy to see the subtlety with which they used the ride both as a basis for the story and an anchor for the visuals. Sure, there were more than a few overt homages to the ride, because they just had to. (I’m assuming everyone reading this has some basis for the ride, so you’ll have to forgive me for that.) The movie wouldn’t have been right if there wasn’t the dining room dance, the stretching room, and the crystal ball with Madame Leota’s head in it. However, it was the little things that did it for me. The nod to the “Doom Buggys”, the characters that aren’t central to the plot like the gravedigger and his dog, and the floating candelabra. It all fit nicely with the rest of the film and never stood out in a way that took away from the “feel” of it all.
Of the two that I have seen… between this one and The Muppet Haunted Mansion, I would have to say that I liked the Muppet version more. Now that might be just because I will ALWAYS have a soft spot in my heart for any movie that has Gonzo and Pepe the Prawn as the leads. However, this production of the ride-turned-movie is still pretty great. My kids liked it. My nine-year-old was a little freaked out by the bride in the attic who wanted to kill all her husbands with an ax, but he managed. Hell, even my almost 15-year-old sat through it and enjoyed it, and he NEVER does that anymore. Does this fit the mold of basically any movie I have watched this year? No, but it can still be considered a scary movie, and really who cares? It’s a fun watch and I recommend it if you have Disney +.
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