The reasoning for initially supposing that THE HAUNTED MANSION might be a good movie has more loops than the roller-coaster track for Space Mountain (who knows, perhaps coming soon to a theatre near you), but bear with it for a moment. Not long ago, common wisdom dictated that a movie based on an amusement park ride would by definition have to be creatively bankrupt. Then PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN was released and audiences (and most reviewers) saw that it was actually an entertaining, funny, inventive swashbuckler that shrewdly incorporated key elements of the ride into the spine of the plot, using them not as hindrances but as actual points of inspiration. Well, if one theme park attraction can be turned into a fun, successful theatrical release, why cant another? No reason except that THE HAUNTED MANSION lacks PIRATES understanding of a) story and b) the difference between working something familiar into the plot and simply tossing elements into the mix without any idea of how or even whether they can be used.
HAUNTED MANSION gets off to an atmospheric start, with an under-the-credits sumptuous masked ball that sets up the tragic love of estate owner Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker) and Elizabeth she dies of poison and he hangs himself in despair soon afterwards, both in the vast Gracey mansion. Cut to the present: Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) and wife Sara (Marsha Thomason) have a successful New Orleans realty business. Alas, Jim, like many a dad in a "family film" before him, is well-meaning but keeps putting work before his wife and two kids, brainy 13-year-old Megan (Aree Davis) and phobic 10-year-old Michael (Marc John Jefferies). Jim is such a workaholic that when Sara receives a somewhat odd summons to come alone to discuss the sale of an incredible old estate guess which one he insists on delaying the familys weekend vacation in the hopes that he and Sara can represent the property. Its not long before the house starts acting up
The storytelling in HAUNTED MANSION is so disjointed that one suspects major cuts in the script by David Berenbaum, rather than holes in the original narrative fabric. Theres an urgent ticking clock established by Terence Stamps sinister butler, but we never find out whats causing the countdown. Likewise, while we can easily figure out why Master Gracey is still haunting the house, it is never explained why the place is chock-full of other spirits.
Theres also something of a tonal problem, which may have to do with a crowded marketplace. PIRATES had an open sea, so to speak it wasnt bumping into popular perceptions of other contemporary pirate comedies but HAUNTED MANSION must contend with the specters of everything from GHOSTBUSTERS to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER in terms of other supernatural humor. Theres no novelty to fall back on here, and HAUNTED MANSION doesnt seem particularly committed to being scary or breathlessly funny in fact, it feels like a more expensive version of a made-for-TV kids special. One exception is a sequence in a crypt with rotting zombies, where director Rob Minkoff and special makeup effects wizard Rick Baker really go to town with the horror. Its Lucio Fulci time, minus the blood -- the rating lets us know that nobody is going to get chomped, but there are a few genuinely suspenseful minutes and kids unused to decomposing, ambulatory corpses are in for a salutary horror experience.
Otherwise, Murphys slick, indignant persona is as good an archetype as any to contrast with the ectoplasmic goings-on, but most of the jokes feel a bit worn and the movie is never clever about integrating key elements of the theme park attraction into the framework. Stamp appears to be having a swell time as the last word in formidable household help, and Parker is appropriately tragic and dashing. Thomason has a fairly thankless role but acquits herself well and Davis and Jefferies display good timing.
THE HAUNTED MANSION isnt actually bad -- its competently made and watchable -- but the lack of overall originality and the structural lapses give it a sense of mustiness that suits its environment rather than its audience.
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