Seeking help, the principals recruit a not-exactly-dream-team consisting of a psychic ( Tiffany Haddish) and historian (Danny DeVito), which sounds as much like a haunted “Gilligan’s Island” as anything else. Dillon), who have acquired a very haunted mansion that she had hoped to turn into a bed and breakfast.īen quickly overcomes his skepticism, realizing that there are indeed ghosts in the mansion, as well as a darker presence holding them there. He’s recruited by a priest (Owen Wilson) on behalf of Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her young son (Chase W. Set in New Orleans, the story hinges on an astrophysicist, Ben (LaKeith Stanfield), who has developed a camera theoretically capable of capturing ghostly images. This latest version – directed by Justin Simien (of the Netflix series “Dear White People” and comedy-horror film “Bad Hair”) from a screenplay by Katie Dippold (whose credits include the female “Ghostbusters” reboot) – exhibits greater ambition and a somewhat more adult sensibility, exploring themes of loss and grief amid the homages to stretching rooms and hitchhiking ghosts. While it performed reasonably well at the box office, the one-two punch spoke to the limits of spinning magic out of Disneyland attractions. The last “Haunted Mansion,” from 2003, came a few months after the success of “Pirates of the Caribbean” (which spawned four sequels). Yet even with a solid cast yielding good moments, there’s a general flatness to it, and a sense the movie is seeking to scare up what it can in theaters before settling into its natural haunting grounds on Disney+.
Disney’s latest renovation of “Haunted Mansion” is certainly clever in building off the foundation of the theme-park ride, with a darker streak than the last stab 20 years ago that starred Eddie Murphy.
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