Movie Review: Haunted Mansion

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

A delightful horror/comedy from Disney. 

As a huge Disney fan, I am delighted to see one of my favorite Disneyland rides get a very fun feature film based off of it. Naturally one of my favorite things about the movie was to see so many parts of the beloved ride, truly come to life on the screen. It is obvious that director Justin Simien (who has directed another horror/comedy movie with Bad Hair (2020)) and writer Katie Dippold (who co-wrote the spooky comedy, Ghost Busters (2016)) have a real fondness for the ride. So much of this film is a love filled tribute to the ride, that go beyond simple Easter Eggs. Yet there is much more to enjoy about the film than just its tribute to the ride. Surprisingly this movie has a pretty good storyline. Not only is this story a lot of fun but it is also surprisingly emotional at times. I did not come into this movie excepting it to pull on my heartstrings. However it did just that. The emotional moments in this movie never feel forced or needlessly sentimental but instead simply seem to flow naturally from the storyline. You get an emotional connection with some of these characters and when these emotional scenes come up, I would not blame anyone who gets a little teary-eyed. Speaking of the characters, these characters are great. While, as excepted from this type of comedy, the characters are often over the top and eccentric, they never become caricatures. Instead there is something more to the majority of these characters that makes them feel emotionally grounded. This movie also benefits from a wonderful sense of atmosphere. While tame compared to many horror movies today, this film does keep a genuinely creepy feel for much of its runtime. Like the ride itself this atmosphere feels both creepy and playful at the same time and there is something about this mixture that is simply hard to resist. There are even a couple of genuine scares in this movie (the scene in the attic for instance). What adds to this atmosphere is that this movie adds some lore to various of the ride's haunts and this lore is actually quite well written. 

The humor can be a bit hit and miss here. There are quite a few comedic sequences that simply fall flat. However there are also some really good laugh out loud moments here. Some of these moments simply cracked me up (as well as many others in the theater with me). Even some of the jokes that were funny in the trailers are even funnier here. This fully makes up for the comedic moments that don't work. 

Unfortunately this movie is longer than it needs to be and the pacing can feel a little off at times. This can cause certain scenes to drag a little and for the excitement to be lost a few times. Also some of the CGI is honestly not that great and feels like it belongs in a movie from 20 years ago. There are also quite a few moments that feel maybe a bit too similar to many other movies we have seen before. 

Despite any faults though this movie is a pure delight to watch. 

By the way Jared Leto pretty much perfectly captured the voice that Paul Frees does for The Ghost Host on the ride.