{"id":22564,"date":"2016-10-01T22:24:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-02T02:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=22564"},"modified":"2023-07-27T11:16:29","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T15:16:29","slug":"the-haunted-mansion-2003","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/01\/the-haunted-mansion-2003\/","title":{"rendered":"The Haunted Mansion (2003)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hauntedmansion\"<\/a>It is a shame that \u201cThe Haunted Mansion\u201d has the Eddie Murphy taint all over it. I think there\u2019s a good movie to be made about \u201cThe Haunted Mansion\u201d and it doesn\u2019t involve the same old Eddie Murphy tropes we\u2019ve seen in the past fifteen years. Eddie Murphy is once again a dopey work a day man who babbles to himself, and is so self involved he can\u2019t notice his family is right in front of him. It\u2019s the same goofy plot points that count as conflict in Eddie Murphy movies these days. Murphy is one note yet again as workaholic dad Jim Evers, a dopey real estate agent impossibly married to a beautiful woman who is, as always, put upon and ever patient toward his priorities of choosing work over family. When Jim\u2019s wife Sara is called to an old mansion to oversee the property, Jim tags along hoping to garner a sale.<\/p>\n

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Gradually, Jim and his family realize the people within the mansion are ghosts and the owner of the mansion Nathaniel has plans for Sara. I was never too clear on the specifics of the mansions curse. All we\u2019re told is that the people within are cursed, and owner Nathaniel must marry Sara (who is a descendant of his long lost wife Elizabeth, conveniently) in order to allow the ghosts to move on. It\u2019s all masterminded by Nathaniel\u2019s butler Ramsley, for some reason. It\u2019s never explained why Elizabeth inexplicably shows up in the end, or what leads to Ramsley\u2019s ultimate undoing in the finale. That said, the whole family nonsense just feels completely tacked on and is even more ill fitted in a movie about a gigantic haunted mansion that has to do with one of Disney World\u2019s most iconic attractions.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s shocking this is a movie with Rick Baker behind it, and yet his work is lost in a hail of bad writing, nonsensical narrative, and Murphy\u2019s painful comical over acting. Baker\u2019s make up is the only aspect of \u201cThe Haunted Mansion\u201d that shines. His make up and prosthetics are just on point and incredible to look at on screen, especially during a moment when decrepit zombies begin creeping from their tombs to terrorize Murphy\u2019s character. Everyone else seems about as forced as possible, including Terrence Stamp who recites every line of dialogue as if he\u2019s at gun point. Meanwhile Eddie Murphy is somewhere between Donkey from \u201cShrek,\u201d and Don Knotts in \u201cThe Ghost and Mr. Chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone else is just about lost in the shuffle, including talented character actors like Wallace Shawn and Dina Waters. Murphy has zero chemistry with his co-stars, and spends a lot of the time chewing the scenery alongside Stamp. \u201cThe Haunted Mansion\u201d garners some wonderful set design, excellent cinematography, and brilliant make up effects by Rick Baker. These are ingredients for a gloriously dark fantasy in the vein of \u201cPan\u2019s Labyrinth.\u201d Sadly, it\u2019s all reduced to an inferior bit of dull, tedious, and plodding family fare. Maybe someday when Disney is done feeding us unnecessary remakes of their classic animated movies, maybe they can give this vehicle a much deserved reboot.<\/p>\n