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Disney’s Haunted Mansion is slick and decently made, but it lacks the chills or personality to become a breakout hit.

PLOT: A woman and her son enlist a paranormal tour guide/inventor to help them rid their new home of an evil spirit.

REVIEW: Disney’s Haunted Mansion is another attempt to build a franchise out of one of their most famous rides. It worked well for Pirates Of The Caribbean, and – to some extent – Jungle cruise. This is not the first Haunted mansion film. Eddie Murphy starred in a comedy version of this movie in 2003. Justin Simien’s movie is more serious, but still has a comic feel. It aims to deliver some real thrills and chills. Like many other Disney movies lately, it’s decent enough, even if it lacks the attitude to make an impact, as there’s nothing here you haven’t seen before.

Simien made a decent horror movie a couple of years ago called Bad Hair, which sadly didn’t have the crossover appeal of his first movie, Dear White People. It’s a safe, bland comedy that lacks any edge. It’s a horror movie for kids, with a few mild jump scares but nothing that will give them nightmares. It’s a horror movie for kids, with a few mild jump scares but nothing that will give them nightmares.Haunted Mansion suffers from coming out hot on the heels of

Barbie, which seems primed to grab the tween audience that might have made this a hit (Disney should have released this closer to Halloween). LaKeith Stanfield plays a scientist who has discovered a lens capable of photographing ghosts. He is particularly interested in the paranormal because his wife died recently. He spends most of his time yelling and screaming at tourists on his New Orleans ghost tour. Stanfield is not only a great character actor but also a low-key one, making him an odd choice for a horror comedy. He gives a nuanced and emotional performance that grounds the film. This is a bold choice, especially for a film like this. He makes it work despite the fact that he appears to be miscast in a high-energy role. Rosario Dawson, who plays Gabbie, is given very little to do, as she and her son Travis are haunted by the paranormal. She’s such a good actress that one wonders what the movie might have been like had she and Stanfield swapped parts, making her the paranormal investigator and him the concerned parent.Everyone else plays to type, with Owen Wilson, a spacey priest helping Dawson and her son, while Danny DeVito plays a PG-rated version of Frank from It’s Always Sunny

. Both of them do the same thing you’ve seen them do a million other times. Wilson is able to keep his cool this time around, since he did not do so well in the previous haunted-house movie. Tiffany Haddish, who plays a sort-of fake psychic, is the star of the show. She gives a broad performance that a movie such as this needs but also has a touch of pathos. Jamie Lee Curtis is a good ghost, but she’s a bit of a cameo. Jared Leto is the main villain (*The Hatbox Ghost”) a fallen aristocrat seeking revenge on society for shunning him. It’s hard to imagine him making a big impact in this role, given that the CGI is so heavy and he uses an “affected” voice. There’s no need for a movie to last over two hours or for scenes to drag. The movie Haunted Mansion should do well on Disney Plus, but it is unlikely to draw people to the theatres. Releasing it in the thick of the summer movie season was a bad move, but were this a little tighter and a bit scarier, it could have been a good Halloween family flick.

5

Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch