The words “based on the Disney theme park ride” do not make me anticipate a great film, especially after the increasingly dreadful Pirates of the Caribbean series. However, I did enjoy Jungle Cruise in 2021, so I tried to go into Haunted Mansion with an open mind.
In this second attempt to make a movie from the ride, LaKeith Stanfield stars as Ben Matthiad, an astrophysicist who takes over his wife’s paranormal walking tour business in New Orleans after she dies. Needing cash, he is persuaded by Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) to investigate ghostly presences in the old house she has recently moved into.
It has been over 30 years since I have been on the ride, but I did recognise some of the ghosts and the scenes shown. Stanfield is too classy for the material with Danny DeVito hamming it up marvellously as a professor who assists Ben and Gabbie.
However, at over two hours it is too long, the plot overly contrived and for a comedy horror it is neither funny nor scary enough.
Rating: 5 out of 10