Haunted Mansion (2023) - Review: A Ride Based Film That's More Creaky Than Spooky

One of the greatest rides ever constructed by Disney Imagineering, The Haunted Mansion has been captivating and spooking attendees at any of Disney’s theme parks for decades and decades. The ride has itself become a property that could rival any of Disney’s other franchises, spawning television specials, merchandise, and numerous covers of that classic theme song. Now, Disney is attempting a second run at making a big-budget blockbuster out of its ghost-infested manor with the simply titled “Haunted Mansion.”

Directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People,” “Bad Hair”) and written by Katie Dippold (“The Heat (2013),” “Ghostbuster (2016)”), the film follows an ensemble cast of characters including LaKeith Stanfield (“Sorry to Bother You,” “Judas and the Black Messiah”) as Ben, a former astrophysicist turned New Orleans ghost tour guide, Tiffany Haddish (“Girls Trip,” “Night School”) as Harriet the psychic, Owen Wilson (“Cars,” “Wedding Crashers,”) as Father Kent, a local priest, and Danny DeVito (“Matilda,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) as Professor Bruce, a local historian obsessed with the mansion. They all team up to attempt to help Gabbie, played by Rosario Dawson (“Clerks II,” “Luke Cage”), and her son Travis, played by Chase W. Dillon (“Pinecone & Pony,” “The Underground Railroad”), exorcise their new mansion home from various ghosts lead by the Hatbox Ghost, voiced by Jared Leto (“House of Gucci,” “The Little Things”).

The overall story is fairly simple and that’s to the film’s advantage. There’s no weird curses or mystical supernatural experimentation or anything that could clutter a relatively simple premise. There are ghosts in this house, they want the ghosts out, the ghosts don’t want to leave. Chaos ensues. Dippold keeps things light throughout with a sense of breezy dialogue, peppered with pop-culture references and a simple sense of rapport between the main cast. It gets the job done, and while the dialogue might not be amazing, the overall story is wonderfully sweet. Stanfield in particular really takes the material and runs with it, not only commanding the film as its defacto protagonist, but also making the material better by virtue of his talents.

The rest of the cast are all silly and fine, each getting a little arc to themselves without cluttering the movie. Somehow, despite being an ensemble movie packed with celebrity faces, the movie doesn’t feel overstuffed or like it’s forgetting some characters in favor of others. That’s not to say it doesn’t drag, but it never feels overstuffed. It does, unfortunately, hit a moment towards the end of the second act where the location changes and virtually all of the energy is sucked out of the movie. It quickly returns once things return to the Haunted Mansion, but it’s a stretch that drags regardless.

Meanwhile, the Mansion itself looks incredible. This is an intricately built set that lets the actors really get to play with the space, cobwebs and all. It’s a great example of some fantastic production design, and most of the time the CGI ghosts and phantasmagorical elements help to build the atmosphere by layering over the physical mansion, not replacing it. One segment about halfway through involving said ghosts is the absolute best part of the film and easily could have been three times as long and still great. Even the Hatbox Ghost, while clearly being a CGI creation, looks great and a perfectly menacing reinterpretation of the ride’s classic character. The music, from composer Kris Bowers (“Green Book,” “Space Jam: A New Legacy”), is also great. Combining the original themes from the ride with a New Orleans flare and some electronic instruments creates a fun new take on those classic tunes heard for decades now.

However, all is not right in the mansion, as the third act really turns things around for the picture. It becomes a soupy visual effects mess, coming closer to a C-tier superhero movie than the semi-spooky horror-comedy seen thus far. Not only does it look remarkably worse compared to the physical mansion location, but it feels at odds with the rest of the movie. It’s as if someone came in just to rewrite the last thirty minutes and nothing else. It’s not just that it doesn’t look good, it doesn’t work with the rest of the film and its atmosphere or character arcs. Try as he might, not even Stanfield can save this last act.

Which leaves this new “Haunted Mansion” ending on a pretty sour note. The last few minutes are better, but the preceding thirty minutes take such a nosedive that it affects the rest of the film by extension. It’s not as if the film was Shakespeare besides that, but it certainly managed to be a relatively fun and spooky adventure led by a commanding Stanfield. It’s a shame that the last act feels so positively dreadful, and not in the way the Mansion normally does. 3/5