HallowScream - The Haunted Mansion (2003) - THREE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and it's officially the three-year anniversary of Chuck's Movie Breakdown. and this year, I'm taking a look at a movie that, while I enjoyed seeing it on the big screen, I look back on it and see some of its flaws, and that is the 2003 film The Haunted Mansion starring Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Nathaniel Parker, Marsha Thomason, and Jennifer Tilly and directed by Rob Minkoff. 

        Based on the Disney Parks amusement ride, The Haunted Mansion focuses on real estate agent Jim Evers, who struggles with splitting time between his real estate job and spending quality time with his wife, Sara, and their children, Megan and Michael. One night, Sara gets a call about a real estate deal, yeah both Jim and Sarah run the real estate agency Evers & Evers, about a massive mansion owned by Edward Gracey, who seeks to sell it due to the mansion's dark past. Taking their children along for the ride, Jim and Sara arrive at the Gracey Mansion, where over dinner they meet with Edward, as well as his butler Ramsley, and two servants named Emma and Ezra. And unfortunately, a storm that set in after the Evers family arrived has flooded the road, forcing the family to stay at the mansion for the night. 

        As the night goes on, we learn about just why the mansion is cursed, and we learn it both from Edward telling Sara, and Jim and the children discovering it for themselves with help from Emma, Ezra, and a gypsy woman in a glass ball named Madame Leota. It turns out that ages ago, Edward (who tells his story as that of his grandfather, but it's really just him) had fallen in love with a woman named Elizabeth (to whom Sara bears a striking resemblance), but the two were of different social statuses and she apparently took her life, leading him to end his own as to be with her. And now, several spirits now are trapped within the mansion's grounds, unable to ascend into Heaven. Madame Leota sends Jim and the children to find a key within the mausoleum in the cemetery outside, and this is where we see several more ghosts, including the see-saw ghosts, the hitchhiking ghosts, and several more. We also see the singing busts, who of course sing the song "Grim Grinning Ghosts" from the original ride. Jim and the children get the key, with Michael overcoming his own arachnophobia to save Jim and Megan. The key unlocks a trunk, in which is a letter from Elizabeth, declaring her love for Edward and her desire to marry him. It's ultimately revealed that Ramsley poisoned Elizabeth and gave Edward a forged letter, which set everything in motion. Ramsley locks the children in a trunk, and literally throws Jim out of the mansion. 

        Meanwhile, Edward tries to convince Sara that she's Elizabeth, and plans to marry her as to break the curse. Jim, with help from Leota, drives his car into the mansion, rescues the children, and arrives to stop the mannsion, giving Edward the real letter. Ramsley then lashes out at Edward for loving Elizabeth and summons several wraiths to attack the group. However, now that the truth is revealed, a fiery entity emerges and goes after Ramsley, dragging him to Hell. but Jim is saved by Edward as Ramsley attempts to take Jim down with him. Sara collapses from drinking Ramsley's poison, but a ball of ghostly light emerges and possesses Sara, revealing itself to be the spirit of Elizabeth, who'd been hiding in the form of a ghostly ball until the truth of her death was revealed. Edward thanks Jim, giving him the deed to the mansion as he, Elizabeth, Emma, Ezra, and all of the mansion's ghosts ascend into Heaven at long last. The movie ends with Jim, Sara (who was revived by Elizabeth), and the children driving down the highway with Madame Leota and the singing busts in tow.  

        Okay, so there were quite a few things to talk about with this movie. Some of it good and some of it not so good. For example, the performances of Terence Stamp as Ramsley, Marsha Thomason as Sara, Nathaniel Parker as Edward, Wallace Shawn as Ezra, and Dina Spybey as Emma. Unfortunately, the same can't quite be said about either Eddie Murphy as Jim or Jennifer Tilly as Madame Leota. With Eddie Murphy, I just think he tried to act scared, but it just came off as funny rather than feeling scared alongside him. as of Jennifer Tilly, don't get me wrong, she's a great actress and a hell of a poker player, but I don't buy her as a gypsy fortune teller. Honestly, there are a lot of actresses, all of whom have been famous for their involvement with the horror genre, that would have been more believable as Madame Leota. 

        Now, easily the best part is the visual design and the creature effects, which were done by Rick Baker. these did genuinely feel like the most terrifying parts of the movie, especially the mausoleum zombies. I also liked the various ride references, such as the Graveyard Ghosts, the Hitchhiking Ghosts, the Ballroom Ghosts, and even opening the movie with the voice of Corey Burton as the Ghost Host. That was a nice touch. Also, the design of the mansion itself was fantastic and true to the ride, although I should point out that, unlike the ride, the Dining Room and the Ballroom are split into two separate rooms in this movie. 

        The weakest point, at least to me, is the humor is too uneven. On one hand, when it tries to be scary it comes off as funny, and when it tries to be funny it comes off as ridiculous. Now, don't get me wrong, horror and comedy can mesh well, just look at movies like Beetlejuice, Casper, and Ghostbusters, for example. However, movies like those know how to strike that balance between funny and scary. I honestly don't know if Rob Minkoff know how to strike that chord with this movie, and another director like an Ivan Reitman or maybe even Frank Oz would have honestly been a better choice as a director. 

        Recently, however, this movie has gained something of a cult following, especially amongst those who were children when this movie hit theaters, and annual repeat viewings during Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween really helped make this movie more popular, similarly to how repeat viewing around Halloween did the same for Hocus Pocus. Personally, I enjoyed this movie more when I was a kid than I do now, but I still enjoy watching it around the time of Halloween. I'm giving The Haunted Mansion a rating of 3.95/5. Now, I would like to mention that next August, Disney and director Justin Simien are set to release a new film based on the Haunted Mansion ride, and I'm excited because a ride character that was omitted from the 2003 movie, the Hatbox Ghost, is set to be in the movie. Definitely looking forward to the new movie next year. Anyway, this is Chuck signing off, and stay tuned as Hallowscream continues with two brand new Halloween releases: Hocus Pocus 2 and Rob Zombie's The Munsters.