July 26, 2023
A single mother, Dr. Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her son (Chase W. Dillon) just moved into an old mansion in the outskirts of New Orleans. On their very first night, they realized this mansion was haunted and were able to immediately drive off. However, no matter where they went, the house and its multiple spirits still compelled them to come back. They contact exorcist Fr. Kent (Owen Wilson) to help them with their big problem.
Kent in turn contacted Ben (LaKeith Stanfield), a cynical tour guide who had invented a camera that can take photographs of ghosts. They then invited Ms. Harriet (Tiffany Haddish), a psychic medium to communicate with the spirits. They also called in Bruce (Danny de Vito), a professor familiar with the history of that locality. They make contact with a spirit of Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis), a previous medium who has been trapped in her crystal ball.
This is a reboot of "The Haunted Mansion" which Disney released in 2003, based on their popular theme park attraction. It starred Eddie Murphy as a real estate agent whose family was trapped inside the haunted Gracey mansion one stormy night. The only hold-overs from the original film were Mr. Gracey and Madame Leota (still inside her crystal ball), all the other characters and the whole story is totally different.
One of the biggest differences between the original and this reboot is the over-reliance on computer-generated special effects for the ghostly appearances and events in this new one, while the first movie had more practical stunts and effects. One of the highlights of first movie was the mausoleum scene which had Murphy and his kids being attacked by skeletal zombies, all designed by no less than Academy-award-winning makeup artist Rick Baker.
While the comedy of the first movie mainly relied on Eddie Murphy and his facial expressions, the comedy of this new film was an ensemble effort, with Wilson, Haddish, De Vito and Curtis taking the lead. Stanfield was not obviously not a natural comic, but his dramatic scenes certainly connected. While Dillon was excellent in "Underground Railroad," but here, he, at 13, looked and felt too mature to be 9 years old child.
Overall, this film was a lot more fun and entertaining than I was expecting. It feels like a theme park ride at times with the ghostly voice-overs and all the dimensional shifting involved, and that is just how one should watch this. It was also able to give the characters some closure with the issues in their lives. One would wonder why a movie like this is being released in summer instead of Halloween when its theme seemed more appropriate. 7/10.
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