The Haunted Mansion

What's the Plot?

Estate agent Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is a man who's job is in overdrive. He and his wife and business partner, Sara (Marsha Thomason), are on a roll, with non-work related issues such as anniversaries, being put on the back burner. Finally though, Jim promises to spend a weekend by the lake with his family until Sara receives a call to view a property - the Gracey mansion; a once stately ante-bellum palace that hosted all of New Orleans wealthiest. Smelling the biggest deal of their career's, Jim tells the family that they go to the lake, via a quick stop at the mansion. Once there, Jim, Sara and the two kids - Michael (Marc John Jefferies) and Megan (Aree Davis) - are met by Ramsley the Butler (Terrance Stamp) who was only expecting Sara. Despite this "inconvenience", he leads them in to dinner with Edward Gracy (Nathaniel Parker), the Master of the House. Whilst dining, a torrential thunderstorm of mysterious origin strands the Evers family in the mansion along with Gracy and his tales of ghosts and hauntings, which Jim has no time for. However, before the night is through, Jim will become to believe in it all when his family, especially Sara, are in trouble of becoming permanent additions to the mansion and it's 999 ghostly inhabitants.

The Review

Like Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy has treaded the road of mediocrity of late, turning up in some dull, drab and dreadful flicks - Pluto Nash, Metro and The Nutty Professor 1+ 2. His latest outing, unfortunately, does little to repair his street cred, but no doubt will add to his box-office total. With it's release date for half term and it's promise of ghosts and the man who was Dr. Doolittle (at least to the younger generation), The Haunted Mansion should do relatively well with the PG certificate audiences. People who remember the foul-mouthed, wise-cracking Murphy of yesteryear, will not want to watch his latest cinema outing. In fairness to him though, it's not entirely his fault.

Much of that lies on the doorstep of the script and it's execution (pun intended). It can't make up it's mind whether it's a scary movie or a family flick, and a confused film equals a confused audience. In that respect, the movie interpretation is a lot like the Disney theme park ride itself: fun in parts, but ultimately neither scary or entertaining. As with The Pirates Of The Caribbean, nods are made to it's ride origins, but here there are a lot more, giving it a feeling of "padding out the running time" rather than genuine affection for it's roots.

Hitch-hiking ghouls; the singing busts; Jennifer Tilly as the "spooky" head in the crystal ball; all are present and correct but none of them further the story in any way, leaving them fairly redundant.. The kids will find it amusing in parts but, as happens in many celluloid creations, adults will not find it so enthralling. That award still rests squarely with the Pixar people and their Toy Story's and Finding Nemo. Apart from a quickfire The Sixth Sense joke, there's nothing for the accompanying adults to relate to, leaving them cold - like the crypt - to yet another Murphy "mainstream, family-friend" flick. Parents, beware.

STEVE'S SCORE