Original release date: November 26, 2003.

Rating: PG

Length: 1 hour, 29 minutes

Background:

Welcome, foolish mortals… to the Haunted Mansion.

That’s what you hear at the beginning of this movie as well as your entry into the Haunted Mansion theme park attraction, the basis that led to this movie.

The attraction first opened in 1969 in California’s Disneyland, followed by versions at Florida’s Magic Kingdom in 1971 and Tokyo Disneyland in 1983. Originally thought of as a walk-through haunted house by Walt Disney, it morphed into a ride-through attraction that is one of the most beloved attractions in all of Disney. It’s my favorite.

The early 2000s brought the idea of making movies out of several Disney theme park attractions. One – “Pirates of the Caribbean” – spawned a blockbuster series. Another, “The Country Bears,” was…. well, it happened. “The Haunted Mansion” landed somewhere in the middle ground. (A “Tower of Terror” film started it all in 1997 and hasn’t landed on Disney+ yet and is generally not spoken of.)

The big draw for the movie was Eddie Murphy, who spent most of the 1990s and 2000s in family films. He acted in the “Nutty Professor” series as well as “Dr. Doolittle,” and voiced popular characters in “Mulan” and the “Shrek” series (The Shrek Cinematic Universe).

Besides that, the store itself was expected to be the draw. It’s based on the amazing theme park ride. It’ll be great, right?

Critics and viewers mostly panned it. It did double its budget, therefore technically making it a success, but has largely been forgotten.

A reboot was announced at San Diego’s Comic Con in 2010 but, ten years later, has yet to surface. Gulliermo del Toro, an Academy Award winner for fantasy films, has been attached to it and, as recently as 2019, still has interest.

An animated series was announced for Disney Channel and Disney XD in 2014 but was later cancelled before production.

Review:

Foolish mortals will note how great the film does look in HD. The mansion – which is the star of the movie – looks amazing. The set designers and prop teams did a thorough job in making it look old and haunted.

The actual movie, though.. well, it certainly is a movie.

The cast – especially Eddie Murphy as Jim Evers as well as the entire Evers family – do the best they can with what they have to work with. They don’t have much to work with, however.

The writing is fairly boring, with the occasional goofy comedy and a little ghostly romance thrown in. The ten minute theme park ride has a better story than the half hour movie.

Theme park fans will be happy to see some characters make appearances. Master Gracey, mansion owner, is around. Jennifer Tilly portrays Madame Leota, the floating gypsy head in the crystal ball, while Disney Parks favorites the Dapper Dans appear as the singing graveyard busts.

The enormous Haunted Mansion fan in me walked away from this viewing – and many other viewers – disappointed. It’s fine. It’s a good enough movie. It isn’t great. Nobody is going to hype it up as amazing, but it’s a decent use of an hour and a half.

Extras:

All you get is a one minute clip of the movie.

Should you watch it?

Just as a fan, I’m going to go with watch it. It isn’t amazing, but it’s a good little family film with roots in Disney history. Eddie Murphy really tried.