The Haunted Mansion (2003)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Rob Minkoff

Writer (WGA):

David Berenbaum (written by)

Release Date:

26 November 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Check your pulse at the door... if you have one.

Plot:

Workaholic Jim Evers, his wife/business partner and their two kids are summoned to a mansion. When they discover that the place is haunted, Jim discovers an important lesson about the family he's neglected as they attempt to escape.

Plot Keywords:

Mansion | Ghost | Butler | Real Estate Agent | Haunted House

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Eddie Murphy	...	Jim Evers
Terence Stamp	...	Ramsley
Nathaniel Parker	...	Master Gracey
Marsha Thomason	...	Sara Evers
Jennifer Tilly	...	Madame Leota
Wallace Shawn	...	Ezra
Dina Waters	...	Emma
Marc John Jefferies	...	Michael
Aree Davis	...	Megan
Jim Doughan	...	Mr. Coleman
Rachael Harris	...	Mrs. Coleman (as Rachel Harris)
Steve Hytner	...	Mr. Silverman
Heather Juergensen	...	Mrs. Silverman
Jeremy Howard	...	Hitchhiking Ghost
Deep Roy	...	Hitchhiking Ghost

Also Known As:

Disney's The Haunted Mansion (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for frightening images, thematic elements and language.

Runtime:

99 min | UK:87 min | USA:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:10 | Iceland:L (video rating) | Malaysia:U | Australia:M (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | USA:PG (certificate #40325) | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG (re-rating on appeal) | Brazil:12 | Canada:PG | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

When the two new homeowners start singing: "Happy Anniversary!" and Jim reacts very annoyed, it's a tongue-in-cheek joke about a commercial that aired on the radio for the Disneyland theme park anniversary, sung the exact same way by a child. The commercial was reacted to badly by listeners because it was so obnoxious and eventually pulled.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ramsley throws Jim out of the mansion, the ground Jim lands on is dry though there had been a flood earlier that same day.

Quotes:

[Ramsley has just revealed what really happened to Elisabeth]
Ramsley: The Master must never know. Edward and his love will be reunited and this curse will be broken.
Jim: That's not her, that's my wife!
Ramsley: And what she sees in you, I'll never know.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Haunting (1963/I)

Soundtrack:

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

bland, halfhearted throwaway from Murphy

'The Haunted Mansion,' a film 'inspired' by the Disney theme-park attraction of the same name, feels like a cross between 'The Haunting' and 'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.' Eddie Murphy is a real estate agent working in tandem with his wife, Marsha Thomason. One day she receives a call from a mysterious stranger asking her to check out some property he wants to put up for sale. Even though the caller specifically asks that she come alone, Murphy decides to go along with her, bringing their two young children as well. When they arrive on the scene, the family finds a mansion replete with all the paraphernalia common to a conventional haunted house - sliding panels, hidden passageways, a graveyard in the backyard, an eccentric owner, a creepy butler (played with delicious relish by Terence Stamp) and, of course, a houseful of unruly and unsettled resident ghosts. Once ensconced inside, the family discovers – much like homeowners in a buyer's market - that it's always easier to get into a haunted house than it is to get out of one.

Murphy assumes the Bob Hope role of the comical skeptic who meets each and every danger with a defiant wisecrack and clever quip. Unfortunately, even Murphy, for all his talent, can't rescue material that doesn't have anything much there to begin with. The story is predictable and silly and the dialogue woefully bereft of laughs. There's also one glaring plot hole that should not go unremarked upon. Thomason is supposed to be a (pardon the pun) dead-ringer for a woman who killed herself a hundred and fifty years ago, yet there is no way that, in the context of that time, that woman could ever possibly have been black. Colorblindness is generally a good thing, but in this instance, it strikes at the very core of the story's internal credibility. The film's visual imagery does indeed derive from the Disney attraction – statues whose eyes follow people around the room, dancing transparent ghosts, singing disembodied heads – but there's a world of difference between a 5-minute amusement-park ride and an 85-minute full-length feature film. Before green-lighting the project, didn't any of the executives over at Disney ask if anyone had come up with a movie worth making? Given the results we see on screen, the answer is 'apparently not.'

There's no point here in launching into our perpetual lament over the downward spiral that Eddie Murphy's career continues to take. After all, if he isn't worried about the squandering of his once notable talent, why should we be? Life is just too short for that.