Haunted Mansion (2023)

[Eric Duncan]

Discuss

[DAJK]

The most mid movie I think I've seen this year. It is aggressively middle-of-the-road, with a few cool standout moments/performances offset by a shockingly convoluted plot and lack of real urgency or excitement. 

 

DeVito's "cholesterol" line got some good laughs, but that's also due to how strong Stanfield's performance in the scene leading up to it was. Great use of building and breaking tension.

Edited July 29, 2023 by DAJK

[filmlover]

Mildly diverting but bland and forgettable, and never even close to being scary. It's better than the lame Eddie Murphy movie from the early aughts but it's ultimately undone by an undercooked screenplay that doesn't explore any of its potentially interesting storylines very well. Strong production values on the mansion itself (despite some really iffy CGI at times for such an expensive movie), but this ultimately comes across as little more than a giant commercial for the Disney Parks ride (fans of the ride will certainly enjoy spotting all the easter eggs found within). Pirates of the Caribbean 1 remains the gold standard as to how it is possible to use a Disney attraction as the basis for an exciting motion picture.

 

The talented (and quite frankly, overqualified) cast is fairly solid if going through the motions, though LaKeith Stanfield gives a far more nuanced performance than the material probably deserves.

 

C+

[baumer]

Maybe I was just in the right frame of mind or in the perfect mood or something but I really enjoyed this movie. I didn't really find it convoluted or hard to understand. There's a ghost who used to be a really bad man back in the day and he needs one more willing soul to die in order for him to come back to life.

 

I enjoyed Lakeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson and pretty much everybody else that was in the cast. Jamie Lee Curtis' small cameo was enjoyable as well. I didn't think it was anything outstanding and I probably wouldn't give it anything more than an eight out of 10 but I had a good time watching it, I thought the comedy was perfectly timed and the ending with the sort of ghost Battle Royale was pretty cool. 

[CJohn]

Lakeith deserves a better leading role in a blockbuster. He acted circles around everyone.

[The GOAT]

Lakeith Stanfield was horribly miscasted. With how outlandish the movie and dialogue was going to be, They should’ve hired a comedian. Or at least someone that could sell/exaggerate fear. A better director, editor, writer also would’ve helped.