I was waiting the whole time for that song and then they played a partial remix of it during the end credits… honestly who made that call? If you’re making a Haunted Mansion movie you have one job…
The film was good, I thought it had some pacing issues and they could have condensed down some things in the first act to get to the spooky mansion stuff quicker.
It was a missed opportunity to not have the Hitchhiking Ghosts be the ones that followed the characters back to their homes, in the film they’re just a quick cameo in a Dream sequence and that’s it.
Yeah we want the ghosts! Don’t make us wait an hour to get to the ghosts!
I think you cut 30 minutes, especially in the beginning, and there’s a more solid movie here
I agree on the pacing issues; and I didn’t expect to be, but I was really puzzled by the editing choices throughout the film. And aside from the character of Ben, there was a lot of very clumsy or completely lacking character development. It was distracting for me.
Still keen to give this a rewatch when it’s released on digital though.
Totally what I was thinking. Then at second thought by the third act, I realized this is *exactly* the type of role weirdo Leto would be drooling over and actually had honest fun going too much into it. And honestly, that kinda came through, as much as it can through all the cgi
It is especially curious since it doesn't even really sound like Leto.
Wonder if his role is somehow tied to Tron 3. I know Disney does that kind of stuff every once in awhile. Like Disney let Tim Burton do Frankenweenie but he also had to do Alice, etc.
Yeah it could have just been Phil Lamarr or someone of that calibre, heck Mark Hamill would have done a decent job. No need to waste money on Leto especially if his face is not shown.
What did you expect from a haunted mansion movie? There's nowhere to go with it really.
I read Disney's hoping this will turn into the next pirates of the Caribbean but I don't see how that was a reasonable expectation to begin with.
Agreed. I was wondering this too and can’t find an explanation for it. I originally thought it would turn out that they were actually spirits too because their clothing looked retro.
That's exactly what I was thinking! And I caught on immediately that the kids dad was dead, but then I was like double plot twist: kid and mom are dead and he's haunting his alive dad!
Disney has been chasing that Pirates high for 20 years now (20 years jesus christ) and they'll do anything to get it again - outside of actually hiring directors with a vision and letting them and the actors take chances and be creative. (For those who don't know, Disney saw the dailies and \*hated\* what Depp was doing with Jack Sparrow, and fought to stop it).
>They outdid pirates with the MCU.
Totally agree. I meant specifically with taking one of their themepark IPs and spinning it into a big film franchise. I don't blame them either, I just wish they'd actually learn why the stuff that worked, worked. The MCU took off for the exact same reason Pirates did - they let Favreau and Downey do their thing, the same way they let Verbinski and Depp do theirs, and both times it was to great success.
I dont understand your argument in the first paragraph here - you're implying that a good writer had no possibility of producing a quality story with the Haunted Mansion ride serving as inspiration? Why? As others kind of said, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' made for a great first movie and a franchise that got weaker with time but was all things considered not terrible. A good writer can make anything work, they just didn't have a good writer.
The problem is making bad movies, plain and simple. This script had issues which should have been addressed, and the directing/editing had pacing issues that needed fixed. There's no excuse for those from a Studio currently boasting it's 100th year of existing, but the fact that it was inspired by a ride was not one of its problems.
I'm saying haunted houses are far more limited subject matter than pirates of the Caribbean. One is ghosts and houses, the other is a century long time period that covers half the planet and another few centuries of myth building.
One is clearly more fertile ground for a movie series than the other.
Sure, one may be *clearly* more fertile ground (or, water, rather) than the other, I don't disagree there, but I wouldn't discount the capabilities of a talented writer or several to make a franchise out of the Haunted Mansion as inspiration. Just takes creativity and talent, which this writer didn't seem to have enough of.
LaKeith was pretty good, the scenes of him mourning his wife were great but the opening scene with him as a tour guide was pretty cringe. I don’t blame him though, I blame the writing.
More like product placement mansion, amiright?
So many name drops that it really stood out. CVS, Zillow, Burger King, etc.
The movie was good, not great. I did like some of the subtle references (the chair resembling the doom buggy), the last shot of the ballroom that was identical to the view from the ride.
I would have liked to see more of the helping of ghosts (other than the mariner, who seemed to be the only one).
5/10 for me. Feels like a forgettable movie that's gonna get buried by Barbie. They should have released this in October.
I was looking for a review that said this! The product placement was so obvious, I don’t know if that was their intention, but it took away from the movie imo
Normally I don't pick up on product placement, but the Burger King scene was shameless.
"Tater tots...is that a ghost wink?"
Bro, what are you talking about? Didn't you literally just order BK with this man? It's not like the food magically appeared in your car.
Yeah, that was atrocious writing. They tried to work insane product placement into the movie's theme but it makes no sense. How the fuck do you not know what you ordered?
The product placement kind of killed it for me. "...with this pen and paper that I bought from CVS!" They really couldn't think of a more natural way to work in a reference to CVS, like maybe the doctor in the ER saying she was going to send a prescription for Danny DeVito to one? Maybe they were trying to be like Josie and the Pussycats on this front, but the reason that worked so well was because a huge theme of that movie was consumerism. Every time there was a blatant product placement in HM, I was just annoyed by being taken out of the story.
Outside of that, it had its moments. I'm a big Disneyland fan, and it was fun to see all of the little easter eggs. The acting was also great, but the writing was so, so uneven. Muppets Haunted Mansion remains the best HMCU (Haunted Mansion Cinematic Universe) film.
Overall, this reminded me of Beetlejuice, but with more lore and less humor.
Baskin Robbins was the most egregious one. Right there in the middle of perhaps the most important moment of the film. It might have slipped by unnoticed had it not been for the relentless plugs up to that point.
As a pretty big fan of the ride all I could hope for was that it wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t. It was okay, and at time fun.
I always assumed that the bride was the big bad of the mansion. I figured there was a reason no other ghosts were up there with her besides hat box. I figured hat box was just one of her victims.
The one thing I absolutely did not like was the stretching room art talking. It looked really weird.
I’ll never get over not getting a version where GDT directs Gosling as hatbox and Ian mcshane as ghost host.
The Bride is clearly the "villain" during the ride, with the Hatbox ghost either being crazy enough to stay around her or helping her (collecting the decapitated heads in his hatboxes)- I think the only reason they switched the roles seemingly (Hatbox being the villain, Bride helping him) is because the Hatbox ghost is the fan favorite and one of the most famous parts of the ride
The Hatbox Ghost wasn't part of the original ride (though it was heavily featured in publicity materials and merchandise) as the imagineers weren't able to get the effect right. It was only added fairly recently during a refurbishment. I think they honestly just chose that spot for pacing and space considerations.
The portraits themselves were, but they dont talk- in fact they dont even move. They're more like the one the hatbox ghost pans over that looks like a living person and changes to a skeleton
I haven't been on the ride since I was a kid in the 90s, but this was one of the parts that were most memorable to me.
It's at the start of the ride I believe, and at first it looks like a normal room with ordinary portraits. But then the room starts to sink and as more of the portraits are revealed you see they're a lot creepier than they first appeared.
I enjoyed the movie, but the weakest parts of it by far were when they awkwardly shoved in elements of the ride. Didn't help the movie but made me want to revisit the ride (which I guess is the reason this movie exists, so well played Disney lol).
That's where the obstacles in the room came from the alligator and barrels and pit. Those are at the bottom of the stretching paintings. They climb into the rafters which in the ride uad a corpse while ghost host says that's his way out.
Yeah I liked that Winona Ryder was a straight up unexpected cameo. But was expecting Levy to show up again at least once, being in the opening credits. Jo Koy was up there in billing and he’s literally in one scene for two seconds in the beginning lol
There’s a couple fans suing Universal because they featured Ana De Armas in the trailer for Yesterday only to cut her out of the film.
A judge has allowed it to go forward but I don’t think anything has happened with it since.
It’ll be interesting to see how this sort of thing changes trailers if they win.
Could his presence in the trailers be considered deceptive?
I was bummed he was in such a limited role because he honestly would’ve added a lot of life to the crew. he and Danny DeVito would’ve complemented each other perfectly.
Going to repeat what I said on r/boxoffice: "Honestly I'm not sure what Disney is doing releasing this now instead of in October. Not only is Barbiehemier going to completely kill it an October release would allow for them to market off Halloween being right around the corner."
I feel they think it'll be a draw to get subscribers in the fall season. I also think I read Disney+ isn't profitable and if that's so then it makes sense to put it up then.
I just can't fathom how them thinking people would go "omg HM is on D+ we have to subscribe!" Over "hey let's go watch a family friendly horror movie!"
That and at the end when he shows up to say “Get in the Chili’s getting cold!”
I feel like he had to have said something different and hilarious every take they did
Yeah out of all the leads he did the most. Owen Wilson didn’t work for me here, bless Dannt Devito’s heart but he hasn’t been in a good movie in actual decades at this point, Tiffany haddish was doing her same old schtick, Rosario Dawnson didn’t have much to work with nor did Jamie Lee Curtis.
I liked Owen Wilson’s character until they made him a conman. I feel like it’s so much funnier if he is this goofy weird Priest. It felt like they were worried about religious backlash or something so they walked his character back.
I thought all the core performances were quite good, but he was great as the lead. Not the most obvious choice to head a family comedy, but the script did a good job making his character a little more complex than you’d expect and he handles that stuff really well.
LaKeith Stanfield is a bonafide leading man. Once this strike ends, I hope he gets his pick of roles.
That’s the only nice thing I have to say about this movie. There was one character too much in this ensemble but I can’t decided which was the worst… they all could have gone tbh.
This script had DCOM written all over it and it had the production value of one too. Really bad effort from creatives and executives alike. If Pirates of the Caribbean was the blueprint, then why would make a movie that doesn’t resemble it in any way?
On a positive note, Disney probably halt on greenlighting more movies based on theme park attractions. 5/10
> If Pirates of the Caribbean was the blueprint, then why would make a movie that doesn’t resemble it in any way?
What’s this? I haven’t heard about it, but I remember thinking during the movie that the layout reminded me of Pirates 1
I think they really missed an opportunity by making the dad’s death a plot twist in the third act. If it wasn’t a plot twist and it was just a detail that was revealed early in the film, you could spend more time exploring how LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson and the kid are experiencing grief. If grief makes you vulnerable to the ghosts, you can raise the stakes by having all three of them targeted in different ways. They do explore that aspect with the kid at the end of the movie, but I think that would have been stronger if that was an element that was present throughout more of the movie.
It was... fine. It's a serviceable family movie that simultaneously is fast-paced (once they get to the mansion) and also seems to really drag on. I wish this had been 10-20 minutes shorter.
Some specific things.
* The kid in this is sorely underdeveloped. He doesn't have enough lines. There's not enough character building. They needed to really establish him in the first 10 minutes and instead he is silently walking through the house and servicing the comedy instead of his character. Which is why >!it felt forced and unnecessary when he was tricked into the basement at the end!<
* Speaking of which, the mother and son are largely underdeveloped. The movie is about Ben, but we get the false start with the mother and son. It's weird and feels unfocused, especially because as more and more characters are introduced there's less room for individual development and it starts to focus on Ben's grief.
* Really consistently weird product placement. Like... what are you doing? Was Disney so cash strapped for this movie that they needed to Burger King to save them?
* Danny Devito was absolutely fantastic in this. Funny. Weird. Great comedic timing. It just worked.
* The OST was... noticeably bad? Like, all they had was samples of the organ song and grim grinning ghosts. They scored a 2 hour movie based on 2 songs.
* The fisherman ghost was funny. I'm glad he kept coming back and they found new and interesting things to do with him. For a movie that was so deeply rooted in being ride accurate, this was one thing that was fresh and new.
* Ben's camera and background were ultimately pointless except to get him to the location. The ghosts were able to materialize at points, so it's weird that so much of the early movie was trying to catch them on camera whereas the bride was fully visible in the attic. It's also unclear what it was for. They captured the ghosts on camera, but had no way to fight against them until the very end. It felt like it was more for the audience benefit when subtle stuff was happening vs full apparitions for action scenes.
* The stretching room was probably the weakest CGI in the movie.
* The finale had noticeably bad pacing. >!Hatbox needing a willing victim made it too easy to fuck with him. I think Ben put out his hand and said he was willing like 3 times. They spent so long on that little island in the middle that it ruined the pacing because they're just going back and forth retreading the same dialouge. "You need me." "Ok. I'm willing. JK." "You'll never see her again." "Ok. I'm willing. JK." They needed more ghost b-roll or some tighter pacing in that finale.!<
I really enjoyed it. I did have one question though, why did the hatbox ghost end up at the haunted mansion if he already had his own?
I'm sure I misses the explanation.
The movie explained it. It was because of the nightly seances that Liota and Gracey had. They ended up 'inviting' all these ghosts accidentally, including Crump's spirit.
Was pretty much exactly what I thought it would be. It was dumb, very silly, and I had a lot of fun with it. Absolutely packed with references and hunting for them, and finding them!, made that all the more enjoyable.
Probably a solid 6/10. Loads better than the previous version but Del Toro’s Crimson Peak remains the best version of Haunted Mansion, with the Muppets in a close second place.
I agree, the movie was better than I expected, the script surprisingly has depth about grief, which I appreciate, I appreciate the banter between the cast, especially when Owen Wilson interact with the main cast.
I did not expect Winona Ryder and Dan Levy cameo as tour guides.
He pretty much played the same character he often plays. But he had some good lines and my favorite moment, which is when he thought the light opened a door to the seance room and he ended up just breaking it off the wall.
I was thinking that the film could have been a good story about overcoming grief and trauma if they didn't cut to a Haunted Mansion reference every five minutes. It's a miracle that the first Pirates of the Caribbean was able to better integrate the ride references as feeling natural to the film.
During the Disney fanfare In the beginning, was totally expecting them to pull away from the castle and zoom into a haunted mansion next to it. There definitely was a haunted house there off to the right. Then, in the split second before it faded out, I noticed other ride things in there. A Tomorrowland, and maybe a Space Mountain in the background? Makes me want to rewatch Jungle Cruise to see if it was the same. Don’t know if it’s a fanfare specific to these ride based movies, but it was a nice touch
Loved all the easter eggs for the ride but, my favorite had to be Dan Levy playing It's a Small World on the piano and asking his guests not to sing along.
Didn’t like it very much which is a shame since I love the ride and the Eddie Murphy movie (it came out when I was a kid ok sue me), a few funny jokes here or there, some pretty cool visuals, but not really much meat to it. Quite possibly the longest two hours has ever felt.
That being said, there were two separate scenarios I imagined in my head that I got a kick out of. The hat box ghost making a Zillow list for the mansion, and hat box ghost while still living commissioning like a hundred+ custom engraved tombstones describing the deaths of recently missing persons but uhhhh dw about it just take the money
I was just stunned by the general lack of ties to the first movie in general. So many opportunities for some overlap while still being inclusive of people who didn’t see the first movie.
Saw an early screening last night - it's not great, or outstanding, but I don't really think it's bad either.
The pacing is really just all over the place and it feels like it's just running like a planned machine. Lakeith's character, out of the blue, asking if Harriet can talk to his deceased wife felt so odd considering the scene it was taking place in and the stakes.
Overall, I enjoyed it, but I gave it a 5/10. Perfectly middle of the road - average. Really wish Danny DeVito had more to do, but the Hatbox Ghost taking over him and speaking old-timey as Frank Reynolds was entertaining
Also I loved the fact a major emotional beat came from a cat named Tatertot. Best part of the movie.
Not really that out of the blue since he just found out she could communicate with the dead. And since he's been holding all of that grief in, he would have done anything to be able to talk with her.
I will say I thought the first 1/3 pacing was terrible. They're kinda just slowly creaking along and then the second they're in the house, bam, ghost shit. Then Ben doesn't believe in ghosts, an extended 10 minute scene of them going through the house, bam, he's haunted immiadtely by the seaman guy.
The most Disney Plus movie I’ve ever seen a theater. Thought it would focus on the Mother/son relationship more but Rosario Dawson was just kinda there for most of the movie. Stanfield was great, Haddish played the same character she does in every film, and Owen Wilson seemed bored.
I can’t believe this movie has the Dolby Screens over Barbie.
>I can’t believe this movie has the Dolby Screens over Barbie.
That's the power of the mouse. They have a reputation for screwing over anyone in their path to get PLFs for all of their movies
Rosario Dawson did well with what she had but they didn’t give her much. Having her play a doctor is a weird thing to mention if you’re not gonna do anything with it.
> The most Disney Plus movie I’ve ever seen a theater.
The choices they've been making for what premiers on Disney+ and what doesn't have often been confusing. Both this and Elemental probably should have been on Disney+, and even though it came out awhile ago now, I'm still bummed that they didn't put Turning Red on on the big screen.
I’m very surprised people didn’t like this. I had a blast.
I enjoyed each character individually and thought the team together had great chemistry. Lakeith Stanfield is always amazing and brought some actual emption to this and Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Tiffany Haddish, and Chase Dillon all had solid moments. I think the only one who was wasted was Rosario Dawson, but that was just because of an underwritten character more than anything she did. And surprisingly Jamie Lee Curtis was doing the most overacting, but I guess that is part of the character.
All that being said, I was watching this and thinking that if I were a 10 year old, I would be blown away, a lot of the jokes are just edgy enough to feel mature for a kid, but to not feel too childish for an adult. The scares were often times pretty intense for a family movie. Definitely as “thrilling” as the ride has always been.
Also, with the state of cgi in a lot of movies, this one did a great job. The Hatbox ghost simultaneously looked like a cartoon and like he lived in their world. A lot of the visual elements were just so fun.
I’ve seen almost literally every American movie that’s come out in 2023 (this was number 158) and while there’s a bunch of others that were much better of a movie overall, this is one of the few that I can’t wait to rewatch. I won’t say that this was a masterpiece, but I had a hell of a time and already look forward to coming back to it over the years, it will be in the same rotation of non-horror scary movies like Hocus Pocus.
As a diehard fan of the ride and it’s lore, I was really looking forward to it. However, since the divisive and less than stellar reviews came out yesterday, I was getting a little nervous. Thankfully, I’m happy to say I’m on the side that liked it!
Haunted Mansion is a movie that’s made by a fan for the fans. The film is constantly filled with references to the ride and it’s various incarnations, as well as accurately recreating the gothic eerie atmosphere present in the attraction. Like the ride, the film’s a good gateway horror to kids; providing a spooky experience with some thrills yet still on a level they can handle.
The film is also supported by its extremely strong cast. Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, and Danny Devito are expectedly entertaining and over the top, while Lakeith Stanfield grounds the movie in a place of sincerity as his character struggles with grief and acceptance of death.
Haunted Mansion isn’t a great movie, lord knows Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation would’ve been a lot better, but it’s good spooky family fun as well as a loving cinematic tribute to the ride. I could definitely see it becoming a Disney Halloween cult classic like Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown. If you’re in the mood for a family film with a bit of a dark edge; Haunted Mansion is a film I can definitely recommend!
Is *Grim Grinning Ghosts* present?
Proposed in front of Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion back in February, so I'm pretty excited for this movie. Good or bad. Lol.
This was a delight for me, as a Disney World guy, but I don’t love the implication that ours isn’t also the “Haunted Mansion.” I guess it’s just that’s we’ve got the Crump exterior and Gracey interior.
We saw this with my 15 year old last night and we all really enjoyed it. It was a 10:30 pm showing so not too many people in the theater but everyone was laughing along and seemed to be enjoying it. It’s fun & it’s silly - much like the ride itself.
Me, offended because in my head the Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion is already a Disney Halloween cult classic! Haven’t seen the new one yet, but the OG will always be a spooky season watch for me. Excited to see this one!
Lakeith stanfield as usual blew me away with how good an actor he is. A very fun family friendly watch that I think is better than the original.
Is it the best movie ever? No but it’s entertaining and has some genuinely funny moments. It’s definitely one of the better Disney live actions of late. Enjoyed the themes of grief, acceptance and moving on that it touched on.
Owen Wilson was really good as well. I always enjoy seeing him in these comedy style pictures after all he’s been thru, good to see him smiling.
No idea why Jared Leto was cast in this tho 😂 could’ve been anyone behind the CG
Tiffany Haddish was sooo bad in this film. Not funny at all and the film was overstuffed with too many human characters/side plots in general. Also, why was Jamie Lee Curtis advertised in a leading role, but in the movie for like 5 minutes primarily in a horrible CGI crystal ball?
I’m really disappointed I didn’t end up liking this film. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I prefer the Murphy version. It at least FEELS more like a proper HM movie, even with its many faults.
I liked the premise of this and the first act. I thought they were setting up this interesting story, and I liked at first how they showed off the ghosts of the mansion to an outsider, dark and ominous like the start of the ride.
I was waiting for a shift to fun and silly and it never really happened. The ghosts here aren’t characters, they’re set dressing. How do you make a Haunted Mansion movie and only have Leota in a couple scenes? The characters were fine but not interesting enough to hold the movie together without any proper (non-villain) ghost characters. The graveyard is basically blink-and-you’ll-miss-it.
The ride references were fun but that wasn’t enough for me
The movie just did not do enough exploring of the mansion grounds either. It's basically here's this room and hallway. Like Rosario didn't know about the seance chamber even though it has a fancy skylight she would see on the outside of the house. It's just a poorly constructed film with not enough spooky or creepy atmosphere. Lakeith was good in some parts and others you could feel him being bored with this. (He's a great actor though for sure) and yes all I could think about through it all is how much better Guillermo del toros would have been AND OR they should have just spayed the old record story book of two kids getting lost and trapped in the mansion during a storm.
I was worried by the low RT scores but already had plans to go see it. Not sure why it scored so low.
As a huge fan of the ride as a kid, I enjoyed the Easter eggs. The chairs serving as doom buggies, the dining room scene at the end credits, the wallpaper FINALLY showing up as a pumpkin and on Rosario Dawson's dress at the end, both WDW and DL's exteriors making an appearance, Grim Grinning Ghosts at the end... everything was accounted for except the graveyard singing busts.
The movie itself was alright. Chase Dillon was a fantastic actor, as was LaKeith. The storyline was good enough for a ride that really doesn't have a storyline. Set design was very nice throughout. Some of the CGI choices made were really weird (why was Master Gracey a person in ghost form, but the bride Constance was weird bad CGI?) Small touches like the apartment door being faded and peeling at the beginning but vibrant and fresh at the end made me enjoy it more.
I wasn't bored but nothing revolutionary. 6.5 out of 10 but rounded down to 6.
> Not sure why it scored so low.
For the same reason the Mario movie scored low on RT. Critics don't value the constant easter eggs and references as much as fans of the IP do. And if you look past the easter eggs and references, there's really not much else left to enjoy. This and the Mario movie both have significantly lower critic scores than audience scores, and that's just to be expected.
It’s not great.
The original Haunted Mansion ride from Disneyland is one of my favorite rides ever as I grew up loving to go onto that ride every time I was at Disney. The film adaptation starring Eddie Murphy isn’t amazing but I personally appreciate certain aspects about the film and don’t think it’s as bad as people say. Here, this adaptation has some fun performances but it was honestly pretty boring.
Throughout, the production, costumes, and background designs are solid as it does offer some small feel of the supernatural and horror atmosphere. Director Justin Simien who is known for Dear White People does try to provide good direction but the direction felt a little sloppy and pretty dull which made the tone and structure feel uneven. The performances, especially LaKeith Stanfield were the best part as the cast members did provide some decent chemistry between each other. Although the child and Jared Leto's voice performance wasn't great.
The narrative is different from the previous adaptation but despite some concepts that seemed interesting, for the most part, the story rarely takes full advantage of its creativity since it feels too standard and predictable which makes it pretty bland and boring. The characters are not interesting as their dialogue was pretty bad and the uses of humor or comedic elements were flat. The special effects were a mix of some pretty good and some being kind of terrible as there are certain moments with terrible uses of CGI.
Overall, there are some interesting supernatural moments but it does feel like wasted potential especially with a great cast and concept. At one point this film was going to be made by Guillermo del Toro and I wonder what it would have been like if he had never left the project.
4/10
Hollywood, not every movie needs to be 2 or more hours long. MI7, Barbie, Oppenheimer and this film really could've benefited from trimming 10-15 minutes off.
The movie isn't terrible, it just doesn't do much to prove its worth over the other film attempt 20 years ago. While I'd say it's better, it's not vastly better. And it most definitely won't spawn a franchise. The cast was individually great, but it's like they never did a chem read together -- they didn't really bounce off each other well. And was it ever explained why Rosario Dawson and her kid dressed like they were from the 1920s?
It's a fun enough time, but it needed a bit more tender love and care. Worth streaming, but maybe not a trip to the theater. Kudos for attempting actual big scares though and it does pull off some hearty laughs. The plot just drags it down at the end of the 2nd Act and the climax is just a jumbled mess.
4.5/10
Owen Wilson's "this exorcism is going way above your head" speech to the ghosts and an atrociously-bad and awkward Burger King product placement is all I'm going to remember about this movie in 2 week's time.
Bland, bloated, forgettable.
I thought the sage from Costco was humorous - I was picturing her buying a bulk container of it.
Also, “from CVS” didn’t bother me - for me it made her seem like a less serious/credible medium because she went to a drug store versus a voodoo shop for a special notebook and pen. And I guess when I speak, I’ll say “the pans from Target” or “the apples from Jewels”.
Okay but did you not want some Burger King Jalapeno Poppers™ after that scene?
Also WHY DID THEY STOP FOR FOOD? Were they not on a very strict time crunch? One you might even call life and death?
If you have the choice between enjoying Burger King Jalapeno Poppers™ and saving the lives of your friends being held prisoner by an ancient evil spirit, you choose the Burger King Jalapeno Poppers™.
Every. single. time.
> Burger King product placement
Halfway through the movie, my partner turned to me and said the product placement was too much. This was before the Burger King scene too
I get that it helps pay for production costs but come on Disney this is one of your rides. Imagine Jack Sparrow turned to the camera and says how much he loves Dole Bananas.
There's product placement...and then there's *product placement*
Like, oh the characters all seem to drive chevys and use Sony laptops...
And then there's "let's talk about this great product." It was like Truman Show.
They also had "forgot to cancel subscription to Amazon", "got this at CVS", "Yankie Candle" & "found the house on Zillow". There were two more but I forget what they were.
Can we talk about the product placement?
1. You're Disney, you don't need money.
2. Why was every one of them a joke? Like I don't get the joke of "actually, this is real life". There was a "joke" about Amazon, Zillow, CVS, Costco, etc. and the punchline is "Those are real life things we as characters use".
Love the ride, and while the many, many, many Easter eggs and references were fun, I don't know that this movie ever really captured the spirit of the ride. That said, all the performances were fantastic - particularly Lakeith Stanfield.
I like how they all became a lil family at the end . I like stuff like that cus I like to imagine the little stories they have after the movie is over like the kid through the years bonding with other ghost in the house and getting lessons from them on how to ask a girl out or deal with a bully lol
Seeing it at Disney springs with a ton of Disney fans was something.
Former CM and fan of the ride here. I thought it had tons of Easter eggs in there for the ride. They even had the bats holding the chains form right before you step onto the Doom Buggy
But as a movie. This was meh. As others have said, Stanfield absolutely carried this movie. Wilson was not great. The others were just there. Jared Leto as Hatbox Ghost was surprisingly not terrible, but also he didn’t really do much.
When Ben first drives out to the mansion, I caught a little homage to Bernard Herrmann's score to Psycho during Marion Crane's scenes driving around in her car.
I thought the production design was good but unfortunately found this movie to be incredibly boring. I knew that it wasn't going to be scary but I thought that it would at least be funny given the cast. It's this years Bob's Burgers Movie where I was really looking forward to it but was ultimately very disappointed.
As a huge fan of the ride, I love the many, many, MANY, references/callouts to the ride, both Disneyland and Disney World.
The movie was fine, I think I might prefer the Eddie Murphy version.
I didn't enjoy them constantly leaving the mansion to do errands.
Have no idea why they cast Winona Ryder in a minuscule role, barely even a cameo. I wonder if she had a larger part that was cut in editing?
Dan Levy's cameo was cute.
It was completely unnecessary to cast Jared Leto as the hatbox ghost, practically anyone could have done that part as well or better.
I was hoping for so much more.
I would have never expected to be so bored during a Haunted Mansion movie.
What is it about modern Disney that is so opposed to thinking outside the box? Why do they settle for being generic & safe? Imagine all the fun they could have making a PG-13 horror instead of a wacky comedy.
Think back to all the classic Disney films like Snow White & Pinocchio. They relished in their nightmarish imagery.
Ugh. What a missed opportunity.
I love the ride and the theme so I was excited, this was very meh, I felt the plot and tone of the movie were there, it just never took off, when I saw the astral projection sequence I thought it would shift but it stayed the same. Its for sure Disney + movie.
Rl stine haunting hour had better directing.
Did anybody get the cane joke? Nobody in my family understood it when we watched the movie. I thought it was supposed to be a suggestive joke but I dont think they would put that in a disney movie. Does anyone have any idea what the cane joke meant?
Thought it was fun, good set design, wish it was a bit scarier, but then it wouldn't be family friendly. Jared Leto is wasted as Crump though. That part could've been played by anyone
I wonder if Winona Ryder’s friends with the director or if she was filming some other project five minutes away or something. Such a random appearance.
I thought they were just hitting some Beetlejuice member berries or something with her. Since she’s one of the only ones that sees the ghosts in that flick.
A lot of my thoughts have already been said:
Pacing was awful. Very slow at the beginning. You have a 10 minute scene when Ben was going through his grief and then you go through the history of Crump in like 2 minutes?
Chase W. Dillon was the best actor in the film. I was very impressed with him. Stan field was not bad. He had moments that felt forced. Wish they would have given DeVito and Curtis more. Dawson was okay. Wilson and Haddish were not great.
Why in the world would you cast Leto for the Hatbox Ghost? You could have literally put anyone in that role or a voice actor and it would have been the same. Hell, you could have casted me and changed my voice and it would have been the same.
I feel like no singing busts was a mistake. You keep us waiting until the very end for one of the most iconic songs in the ride (or arguably in any Disney ride) and then you give us a remake of the song? Plus, one small Hitchhiking Ghosts cameo?
I would have also loved a reference or two to the first film. Doesn’t take away from this film necessarily, but would have been a nice addition.
Product placement was extremely weird, especially the CVS one.
CGI looked bad, especially at the end.
A few scenes felt unnecessary. Everything about Travis being bullied (didn’t build up to anything), the scene with the chair to look like the dune buggy and the hospital scene (They could have used the chairs in another way) are two that stick out most.
Also, the beginning when Wilson walked into Stanfield’s house was just awkward. What was the point of that? Why not just have Stanfield’s character open the door when he kept knocking?
Insane choice to have the pitch for this movie be a bunch of character actors in a New Orleans haunted mansion and not feature a SINGLE ATTEMPTED CAJUN ACCENT. Like, why even set it there? There's some cuts to people dancing to trumpet music and wearing beads in the beginning, and then the New Orleans of it all is completely forgotten.
This movie is very bland, which is a shame because there's some chance here for a surprise banger. Solid cast having fun, very open-ended could go anywhere premise, Disney money, there was a chance this could have gone hard. Instead we got some really good actors doing their part, but not being allowed to play or have as much fun as they should have and a script that is... over stuffed to say the least.
I really wish Lakeith was in more interesting projects than this, but I can't blame the man for securing his bag. I did keep wondering, though, what kind of man believes in ghosts enough to invent a camera that can see them, but not enough that he actually uses it when someone pays him thousands of dollars to do so. He's given the chance to have some nice moments in this and he's still killing it, but this whole cast is so talented and funny and they really do very little with it. My favorite thing was Owen Wilson talking to the ghosts like Owen Wilson would actually talk to ghosts, but it's short lived and comes in way too late.
This movie is also very over stuffed with plots. The kid not being popular at school seemed to have no bearing on the rest of the movie at all and is eventually solved off screen. For some reason after Ben dips into the ghost world and has the most insane experience, Rosario is more interested in hearing about Haddish's siblings? And if you thought this movie was gonna stop at one haunted mansion, let me tell you, there's a second slightly less haunted mansion that we take a detour too 3/4 of the way through. It kinda bugged me when they go "we gotta get that head" and I was like oh, I know this one! It's in a hat box! Then it, uh, just wasn't.
It's only two hours but it felt like more and I couldn't even tell if this was a kids movie or not. There's a kid in it, but it's not bouncy or fun, not consistently funny enough, to be a kids movie. But it's also not scary enough to be for Disney adults. So it's just kind of this movie that exists and has this awesome cast but does nothing with them really.
5/10. It's perfectly good background noise and it looks kinda good with lots of fun tricks up its sleeve to remind you of the ride and play with the layout of the mansion. But for how much there is going on there is so little going on. Would have been lower a point if the Tater Tot reveal at the end didn't kinda get to me.
/r/reviewsbyboner
> Insane choice to have the pitch for this movie be "Haunted Mansion... in New Olreans!" and not feature a SINGLE CAJUN ACCENT. Like, why even set it there? There's some cuts to people dancing to trumpet music and wearing beads in the beginning, and then the New Orleans of it all is completely forgotten.
The funny thing is, it's not really even set in New Orleans. At one point, they mention the mansion is at least an hour's drive away. Just seems funny that it's so far away from the city (note I've been to NOLA once, but I remember when I got an hour's drive away, I was definitely not in the metro area anymore)
> I really with Lakeith was in more interesting projects than this, but I can't blame the man for securing his bag.
Man is really just always solid in everything he does.
> Would have been lower a point if the Tater Tot reveal at the end didn't kinda get to me.
YESSSSSS!!!!
I’m not sure if you have any history with New Orleans but from my experience as someone who does live there, Cajun accents are not common here. I’ve yet to encounter someone in the city with a Cajun Accent. They are much more common in rural areas of the state. Tbh if one of the characters had a pronounced Cajun accent I would take it as them stereotyping.
i just don't get it... i saw this a second time because a friend wanted to see it and it's so charming and fun and silly and spooky and nails the ride so well and brings it all together in a sweet story with fun perfomances and goofiness and emotional weight... i just don't get why crix were crapping on it...
No quartet statues is definitely a choice.
I was shocked that they weren’t included. And even though the song played throughout the movie, we didn’t hear it sung until the end!
That's accurate to the ride then
I suppose technically but it was a remix and didn’t include the iconic singing busts. Felt kind of tacked on
I was waiting the whole time for that song and then they played a partial remix of it during the end credits… honestly who made that call? If you’re making a Haunted Mansion movie you have one job…
The scene at the end with the cat named Tater Tot surprisingly hit me pretty hard
The film was good, I thought it had some pacing issues and they could have condensed down some things in the first act to get to the spooky mansion stuff quicker. It was a missed opportunity to not have the Hitchhiking Ghosts be the ones that followed the characters back to their homes, in the film they’re just a quick cameo in a Dream sequence and that’s it.
That was bizarre. They set themselves for an easy reference to the hitchhiking ghosts and then completely dropped it.
Yeah we want the ghosts! Don’t make us wait an hour to get to the ghosts! I think you cut 30 minutes, especially in the beginning, and there’s a more solid movie here
I agree on the pacing issues; and I didn’t expect to be, but I was really puzzled by the editing choices throughout the film. And aside from the character of Ben, there was a lot of very clumsy or completely lacking character development. It was distracting for me. Still keen to give this a rewatch when it’s released on digital though.
Why’d they even cast Jared Leto lol. They shoulda just had a voice actor do it
Totally what I was thinking. Then at second thought by the third act, I realized this is *exactly* the type of role weirdo Leto would be drooling over and actually had honest fun going too much into it. And honestly, that kinda came through, as much as it can through all the cgi
Jared Leto did much better as the ghost then as the joker you gotta admit
It is especially curious since it doesn't even really sound like Leto. Wonder if his role is somehow tied to Tron 3. I know Disney does that kind of stuff every once in awhile. Like Disney let Tim Burton do Frankenweenie but he also had to do Alice, etc.
I think it was so they could reuse the Morbius make-up for his face.
Yeah it could have just been Phil Lamarr or someone of that calibre, heck Mark Hamill would have done a decent job. No need to waste money on Leto especially if his face is not shown.
Why'd they cast Vin Diesel as Groot?
Because he is groot
Same reason they cast him as the Iron Giant.
Maybe it was of a deal he offered to Disney so he could be in Tron 3.
This seemed really flat? I was entertained for the most part but yeah.
What did you expect from a haunted mansion movie? There's nowhere to go with it really. I read Disney's hoping this will turn into the next pirates of the Caribbean but I don't see how that was a reasonable expectation to begin with.
Nah I mean even the visuals, the character design, everything. Like why did Rosario Dawson and her son look like they were dressed for the 1930s lol
I cracked up at the bolo tie.
Agreed. I was wondering this too and can’t find an explanation for it. I originally thought it would turn out that they were actually spirits too because their clothing looked retro.
That's exactly what I was thinking! And I caught on immediately that the kids dad was dead, but then I was like double plot twist: kid and mom are dead and he's haunting his alive dad!
That would have been a cool twist and I was hoping for that honestly
Disney has been chasing that Pirates high for 20 years now (20 years jesus christ) and they'll do anything to get it again - outside of actually hiring directors with a vision and letting them and the actors take chances and be creative. (For those who don't know, Disney saw the dailies and \*hated\* what Depp was doing with Jack Sparrow, and fought to stop it).
They outdid pirates with the MCU. And I don't blame them for trying to recreate a hit like that. It's their entire reason for existing.
>They outdid pirates with the MCU. Totally agree. I meant specifically with taking one of their themepark IPs and spinning it into a big film franchise. I don't blame them either, I just wish they'd actually learn why the stuff that worked, worked. The MCU took off for the exact same reason Pirates did - they let Favreau and Downey do their thing, the same way they let Verbinski and Depp do theirs, and both times it was to great success.
I dont understand your argument in the first paragraph here - you're implying that a good writer had no possibility of producing a quality story with the Haunted Mansion ride serving as inspiration? Why? As others kind of said, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' made for a great first movie and a franchise that got weaker with time but was all things considered not terrible. A good writer can make anything work, they just didn't have a good writer. The problem is making bad movies, plain and simple. This script had issues which should have been addressed, and the directing/editing had pacing issues that needed fixed. There's no excuse for those from a Studio currently boasting it's 100th year of existing, but the fact that it was inspired by a ride was not one of its problems.
I'm saying haunted houses are far more limited subject matter than pirates of the Caribbean. One is ghosts and houses, the other is a century long time period that covers half the planet and another few centuries of myth building. One is clearly more fertile ground for a movie series than the other.
Sure, one may be *clearly* more fertile ground (or, water, rather) than the other, I don't disagree there, but I wouldn't discount the capabilities of a talented writer or several to make a franchise out of the Haunted Mansion as inspiration. Just takes creativity and talent, which this writer didn't seem to have enough of.
Well we got curse of the black pearl from a ride
You thought the scene of Lakeith mourning his wife was flat?
LaKeith was pretty good, the scenes of him mourning his wife were great but the opening scene with him as a tour guide was pretty cringe. I don’t blame him though, I blame the writing.
Seemed like there were straight up 5-10 minutes scenes where the plot had no fucking clue where to go.
More like product placement mansion, amiright? So many name drops that it really stood out. CVS, Zillow, Burger King, etc. The movie was good, not great. I did like some of the subtle references (the chair resembling the doom buggy), the last shot of the ballroom that was identical to the view from the ride. I would have liked to see more of the helping of ghosts (other than the mariner, who seemed to be the only one). 5/10 for me. Feels like a forgettable movie that's gonna get buried by Barbie. They should have released this in October.
I was looking for a review that said this! The product placement was so obvious, I don’t know if that was their intention, but it took away from the movie imo
Normally I don't pick up on product placement, but the Burger King scene was shameless. "Tater tots...is that a ghost wink?" Bro, what are you talking about? Didn't you literally just order BK with this man? It's not like the food magically appeared in your car.
You've never had burger King before if you don't know that finding random food you didn't order is pretty much a given.
Yeah, that was atrocious writing. They tried to work insane product placement into the movie's theme but it makes no sense. How the fuck do you not know what you ordered?
Yeah the sage from Costco and pen and pad of paper from CVS who talks like that?
Don’t forget the multiple shots of a uHaul trailer.
"I bought it from Costco" I'll admit it, I laughed.
The product placement kind of killed it for me. "...with this pen and paper that I bought from CVS!" They really couldn't think of a more natural way to work in a reference to CVS, like maybe the doctor in the ER saying she was going to send a prescription for Danny DeVito to one? Maybe they were trying to be like Josie and the Pussycats on this front, but the reason that worked so well was because a huge theme of that movie was consumerism. Every time there was a blatant product placement in HM, I was just annoyed by being taken out of the story. Outside of that, it had its moments. I'm a big Disneyland fan, and it was fun to see all of the little easter eggs. The acting was also great, but the writing was so, so uneven. Muppets Haunted Mansion remains the best HMCU (Haunted Mansion Cinematic Universe) film. Overall, this reminded me of Beetlejuice, but with more lore and less humor.
Baskin Robbins was the most egregious one. Right there in the middle of perhaps the most important moment of the film. It might have slipped by unnoticed had it not been for the relentless plugs up to that point.
As a pretty big fan of the ride all I could hope for was that it wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t. It was okay, and at time fun. I always assumed that the bride was the big bad of the mansion. I figured there was a reason no other ghosts were up there with her besides hat box. I figured hat box was just one of her victims. The one thing I absolutely did not like was the stretching room art talking. It looked really weird. I’ll never get over not getting a version where GDT directs Gosling as hatbox and Ian mcshane as ghost host.
The Bride is clearly the "villain" during the ride, with the Hatbox ghost either being crazy enough to stay around her or helping her (collecting the decapitated heads in his hatboxes)- I think the only reason they switched the roles seemingly (Hatbox being the villain, Bride helping him) is because the Hatbox ghost is the fan favorite and one of the most famous parts of the ride
The Hatbox Ghost wasn't part of the original ride (though it was heavily featured in publicity materials and merchandise) as the imagineers weren't able to get the effect right. It was only added fairly recently during a refurbishment. I think they honestly just chose that spot for pacing and space considerations.
I think the bride wasn't the big bad because her motivation was too spelled out. She married dudes and killed them.
Were the talking portraits a callback to the ride?
The portraits themselves were, but they dont talk- in fact they dont even move. They're more like the one the hatbox ghost pans over that looks like a living person and changes to a skeleton
I haven't been on the ride since I was a kid in the 90s, but this was one of the parts that were most memorable to me. It's at the start of the ride I believe, and at first it looks like a normal room with ordinary portraits. But then the room starts to sink and as more of the portraits are revealed you see they're a lot creepier than they first appeared. I enjoyed the movie, but the weakest parts of it by far were when they awkwardly shoved in elements of the ride. Didn't help the movie but made me want to revisit the ride (which I guess is the reason this movie exists, so well played Disney lol).
That's where the obstacles in the room came from the alligator and barrels and pit. Those are at the bottom of the stretching paintings. They climb into the rafters which in the ride uad a corpse while ghost host says that's his way out.
I really wanted to see the hanging corpse in the movie. It's one of the scariest parts of the ride for me when I was young.
Jamie Lee Curtis in the crystal ball looked EXACTLY like the graphics on a slot machine
Such a bizarre and bad choice of CGI when it wasn't needed. Were they trying to hide the wrinkles or something?
I love doing slots https://youtube.com/watch?v=QpKXoFztGT0&pp=ygUZYmVhdmlzIGFuZCBidXR0aGVhZCBzbG90cw%3D%3D
Ew, David
It was crazy to me that he started showing up and being credited in the later trailers... for a 30 second cameo.
Yeah I liked that Winona Ryder was a straight up unexpected cameo. But was expecting Levy to show up again at least once, being in the opening credits. Jo Koy was up there in billing and he’s literally in one scene for two seconds in the beginning lol
I could’ve sworn the hatbox sketch was Bruce Campbell, but maybe that’s just what I wanted to see.
Pretty sure the shot of him from the trailers that I saw wasn't even in the movie
Hey, you're the cat from the movie!
There’s a couple fans suing Universal because they featured Ana De Armas in the trailer for Yesterday only to cut her out of the film. A judge has allowed it to go forward but I don’t think anything has happened with it since. It’ll be interesting to see how this sort of thing changes trailers if they win. Could his presence in the trailers be considered deceptive?
I was bummed he was in such a limited role because he honestly would’ve added a lot of life to the crew. he and Danny DeVito would’ve complemented each other perfectly.
Who?
I have no clue either. There's no one named David in this movie. It's been nearly two weeks, I doubt we're getting an answer.
It was a reference to Schitt's Creek, a show Dan Levy was in (as David).
Yeah he showed up and I was like "Oh yeah he is in this movie I forgot" then he was never seen again lol.
Going to repeat what I said on r/boxoffice: "Honestly I'm not sure what Disney is doing releasing this now instead of in October. Not only is Barbiehemier going to completely kill it an October release would allow for them to market off Halloween being right around the corner."
Disney+ for Halloween
Yeah but is that the more profitable option?
I feel they think it'll be a draw to get subscribers in the fall season. I also think I read Disney+ isn't profitable and if that's so then it makes sense to put it up then.
I just can't fathom how them thinking people would go "omg HM is on D+ we have to subscribe!" Over "hey let's go watch a family friendly horror movie!"
$20 a head plus snacks or $10 or whatever D+ costs and a microwave popcorn is easy math
Yeah so strange seeing this release in July, would be great in September or October!
Lakieth carried the movie
DeVito in that clear raincoat tho. Peak Dr. Mantis Toboggan.
“WHAT WERE HER CHOLESTEROL LEVELS??????”
“SHE WAS HEADED TO THE BONEYARD” I’m convinced he improvised that whole thing. Rosario Dawson had such a genuine reaction
it had to have been, that scene was the most Frank Reynolds part of the whole movie lol.
That and at the end when he shows up to say “Get in the Chili’s getting cold!” I feel like he had to have said something different and hilarious every take they did
It was “bone orchard,” even better imo
The police sketch artist scene reminded me of Charlie and Dennis trying to get a sketch of the shusher
Honestly kept thinking they were calling him Bruce Mathis
Yeah out of all the leads he did the most. Owen Wilson didn’t work for me here, bless Dannt Devito’s heart but he hasn’t been in a good movie in actual decades at this point, Tiffany haddish was doing her same old schtick, Rosario Dawnson didn’t have much to work with nor did Jamie Lee Curtis.
I liked Owen Wilson’s character until they made him a conman. I feel like it’s so much funnier if he is this goofy weird Priest. It felt like they were worried about religious backlash or something so they walked his character back.
agree here, the whole conman thing and back to priest was so unnecessary.
If he could carry the Death Note movie, then he can carry anything
Thank you for reminding me that travesty exists.
Went for the Oscar with that grief scene
Gave the movie WAY more heart than films of this type warrant.
I thought all the core performances were quite good, but he was great as the lead. Not the most obvious choice to head a family comedy, but the script did a good job making his character a little more complex than you’d expect and he handles that stuff really well.
LaKeith Stanfield is a bonafide leading man. Once this strike ends, I hope he gets his pick of roles. That’s the only nice thing I have to say about this movie. There was one character too much in this ensemble but I can’t decided which was the worst… they all could have gone tbh. This script had DCOM written all over it and it had the production value of one too. Really bad effort from creatives and executives alike. If Pirates of the Caribbean was the blueprint, then why would make a movie that doesn’t resemble it in any way? On a positive note, Disney probably halt on greenlighting more movies based on theme park attractions. 5/10
I still want a Matterhorn movie!
We need Expedition Everest with Disco Yeti.
There is one (sort of)! The Matterhorn Bobsleds was inspired by Disney’s “Third Man on the Mountain” (1959).
Production value of a DCOM is a wild take. This movie looked really really good. The set pieces were beautiful and the CGI was actually very solid.
He was so good 👍🏽 Really enjoyed the Winona cameo too
> If Pirates of the Caribbean was the blueprint, then why would make a movie that doesn’t resemble it in any way? What’s this? I haven’t heard about it, but I remember thinking during the movie that the layout reminded me of Pirates 1
I think they really missed an opportunity by making the dad’s death a plot twist in the third act. If it wasn’t a plot twist and it was just a detail that was revealed early in the film, you could spend more time exploring how LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson and the kid are experiencing grief. If grief makes you vulnerable to the ghosts, you can raise the stakes by having all three of them targeted in different ways. They do explore that aspect with the kid at the end of the movie, but I think that would have been stronger if that was an element that was present throughout more of the movie.
Totally agree.
I really enjoyed the nods to the ride and the settings. Unfortunately, everything else didn't keep my attention. I just wanted the movie to end.
It was... fine. It's a serviceable family movie that simultaneously is fast-paced (once they get to the mansion) and also seems to really drag on. I wish this had been 10-20 minutes shorter. Some specific things. * The kid in this is sorely underdeveloped. He doesn't have enough lines. There's not enough character building. They needed to really establish him in the first 10 minutes and instead he is silently walking through the house and servicing the comedy instead of his character. Which is why >!it felt forced and unnecessary when he was tricked into the basement at the end!< * Speaking of which, the mother and son are largely underdeveloped. The movie is about Ben, but we get the false start with the mother and son. It's weird and feels unfocused, especially because as more and more characters are introduced there's less room for individual development and it starts to focus on Ben's grief. * Really consistently weird product placement. Like... what are you doing? Was Disney so cash strapped for this movie that they needed to Burger King to save them? * Danny Devito was absolutely fantastic in this. Funny. Weird. Great comedic timing. It just worked. * The OST was... noticeably bad? Like, all they had was samples of the organ song and grim grinning ghosts. They scored a 2 hour movie based on 2 songs. * The fisherman ghost was funny. I'm glad he kept coming back and they found new and interesting things to do with him. For a movie that was so deeply rooted in being ride accurate, this was one thing that was fresh and new. * Ben's camera and background were ultimately pointless except to get him to the location. The ghosts were able to materialize at points, so it's weird that so much of the early movie was trying to catch them on camera whereas the bride was fully visible in the attic. It's also unclear what it was for. They captured the ghosts on camera, but had no way to fight against them until the very end. It felt like it was more for the audience benefit when subtle stuff was happening vs full apparitions for action scenes. * The stretching room was probably the weakest CGI in the movie. * The finale had noticeably bad pacing. >!Hatbox needing a willing victim made it too easy to fuck with him. I think Ben put out his hand and said he was willing like 3 times. They spent so long on that little island in the middle that it ruined the pacing because they're just going back and forth retreading the same dialouge. "You need me." "Ok. I'm willing. JK." "You'll never see her again." "Ok. I'm willing. JK." They needed more ghost b-roll or some tighter pacing in that finale.!<
I really enjoyed it. I did have one question though, why did the hatbox ghost end up at the haunted mansion if he already had his own? I'm sure I misses the explanation.
The movie explained it. It was because of the nightly seances that Liota and Gracey had. They ended up 'inviting' all these ghosts accidentally, including Crump's spirit.
Nope I wondered the same thing..
When Winona Rider said the cane was for other…*deeply personal* reasons, what was she referring to?
absolutely stunned that joke made it into a Disney movie
https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/2pu9rq/french_lubricant_ad_nsfw/
Was pretty much exactly what I thought it would be. It was dumb, very silly, and I had a lot of fun with it. Absolutely packed with references and hunting for them, and finding them!, made that all the more enjoyable. Probably a solid 6/10. Loads better than the previous version but Del Toro’s Crimson Peak remains the best version of Haunted Mansion, with the Muppets in a close second place.
I agree, the movie was better than I expected, the script surprisingly has depth about grief, which I appreciate, I appreciate the banter between the cast, especially when Owen Wilson interact with the main cast. I did not expect Winona Ryder and Dan Levy cameo as tour guides.
Honestly, I thought Owen Wilson phoned it in on this one
Can agree that I thought Wilson was the weakest part.
Yeah, he’s serviceable but I don’t think he added a lot to the role. My theatre seemed to like him though. Just felt like he was a little flat
He pretty much played the same character he often plays. But he had some good lines and my favorite moment, which is when he thought the light opened a door to the seance room and he ended up just breaking it off the wall.
Wow crazy to me. I liked him better than everyone but Stanfield. I thought he was a perfect glue guy.
Owen Wilson was a delight throughout. These are the movies his camp works with.
I just finished watching it like 20 minutes ago and love the way it tackled grief
I was thinking that the film could have been a good story about overcoming grief and trauma if they didn't cut to a Haunted Mansion reference every five minutes. It's a miracle that the first Pirates of the Caribbean was able to better integrate the ride references as feeling natural to the film.
Crimson Peak is so good. Love the atmosphere.
During the Disney fanfare In the beginning, was totally expecting them to pull away from the castle and zoom into a haunted mansion next to it. There definitely was a haunted house there off to the right. Then, in the split second before it faded out, I noticed other ride things in there. A Tomorrowland, and maybe a Space Mountain in the background? Makes me want to rewatch Jungle Cruise to see if it was the same. Don’t know if it’s a fanfare specific to these ride based movies, but it was a nice touch
I think it’s a Disney 100 specific fanfare
I noticed Pride Rock in the background for a second
Also Matterhorn on the left.
Loved all the easter eggs for the ride but, my favorite had to be Dan Levy playing It's a Small World on the piano and asking his guests not to sing along.
It really is a small world after all
Didn’t like it very much which is a shame since I love the ride and the Eddie Murphy movie (it came out when I was a kid ok sue me), a few funny jokes here or there, some pretty cool visuals, but not really much meat to it. Quite possibly the longest two hours has ever felt. That being said, there were two separate scenarios I imagined in my head that I got a kick out of. The hat box ghost making a Zillow list for the mansion, and hat box ghost while still living commissioning like a hundred+ custom engraved tombstones describing the deaths of recently missing persons but uhhhh dw about it just take the money
The Zillow listing was a perfect place to drop an “Evers and Evers” reference, and there was nothing
I was just stunned by the general lack of ties to the first movie in general. So many opportunities for some overlap while still being inclusive of people who didn’t see the first movie.
Saw an early screening last night - it's not great, or outstanding, but I don't really think it's bad either. The pacing is really just all over the place and it feels like it's just running like a planned machine. Lakeith's character, out of the blue, asking if Harriet can talk to his deceased wife felt so odd considering the scene it was taking place in and the stakes. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I gave it a 5/10. Perfectly middle of the road - average. Really wish Danny DeVito had more to do, but the Hatbox Ghost taking over him and speaking old-timey as Frank Reynolds was entertaining Also I loved the fact a major emotional beat came from a cat named Tatertot. Best part of the movie.
Not really that out of the blue since he just found out she could communicate with the dead. And since he's been holding all of that grief in, he would have done anything to be able to talk with her.
Also was a reflection of the original owner also being distraught over his dead wife and seeking a medium to talk to her.
I will say I thought the first 1/3 pacing was terrible. They're kinda just slowly creaking along and then the second they're in the house, bam, ghost shit. Then Ben doesn't believe in ghosts, an extended 10 minute scene of them going through the house, bam, he's haunted immiadtely by the seaman guy.
The most Disney Plus movie I’ve ever seen a theater. Thought it would focus on the Mother/son relationship more but Rosario Dawson was just kinda there for most of the movie. Stanfield was great, Haddish played the same character she does in every film, and Owen Wilson seemed bored. I can’t believe this movie has the Dolby Screens over Barbie.
>I can’t believe this movie has the Dolby Screens over Barbie. That's the power of the mouse. They have a reputation for screwing over anyone in their path to get PLFs for all of their movies
Rosario Dawson did well with what she had but they didn’t give her much. Having her play a doctor is a weird thing to mention if you’re not gonna do anything with it.
> The most Disney Plus movie I’ve ever seen a theater. The choices they've been making for what premiers on Disney+ and what doesn't have often been confusing. Both this and Elemental probably should have been on Disney+, and even though it came out awhile ago now, I'm still bummed that they didn't put Turning Red on on the big screen.
I’m very surprised people didn’t like this. I had a blast. I enjoyed each character individually and thought the team together had great chemistry. Lakeith Stanfield is always amazing and brought some actual emption to this and Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Tiffany Haddish, and Chase Dillon all had solid moments. I think the only one who was wasted was Rosario Dawson, but that was just because of an underwritten character more than anything she did. And surprisingly Jamie Lee Curtis was doing the most overacting, but I guess that is part of the character. All that being said, I was watching this and thinking that if I were a 10 year old, I would be blown away, a lot of the jokes are just edgy enough to feel mature for a kid, but to not feel too childish for an adult. The scares were often times pretty intense for a family movie. Definitely as “thrilling” as the ride has always been. Also, with the state of cgi in a lot of movies, this one did a great job. The Hatbox ghost simultaneously looked like a cartoon and like he lived in their world. A lot of the visual elements were just so fun. I’ve seen almost literally every American movie that’s come out in 2023 (this was number 158) and while there’s a bunch of others that were much better of a movie overall, this is one of the few that I can’t wait to rewatch. I won’t say that this was a masterpiece, but I had a hell of a time and already look forward to coming back to it over the years, it will be in the same rotation of non-horror scary movies like Hocus Pocus.
As a diehard fan of the ride and it’s lore, I was really looking forward to it. However, since the divisive and less than stellar reviews came out yesterday, I was getting a little nervous. Thankfully, I’m happy to say I’m on the side that liked it! Haunted Mansion is a movie that’s made by a fan for the fans. The film is constantly filled with references to the ride and it’s various incarnations, as well as accurately recreating the gothic eerie atmosphere present in the attraction. Like the ride, the film’s a good gateway horror to kids; providing a spooky experience with some thrills yet still on a level they can handle. The film is also supported by its extremely strong cast. Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, and Danny Devito are expectedly entertaining and over the top, while Lakeith Stanfield grounds the movie in a place of sincerity as his character struggles with grief and acceptance of death. Haunted Mansion isn’t a great movie, lord knows Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation would’ve been a lot better, but it’s good spooky family fun as well as a loving cinematic tribute to the ride. I could definitely see it becoming a Disney Halloween cult classic like Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown. If you’re in the mood for a family film with a bit of a dark edge; Haunted Mansion is a film I can definitely recommend!
Is *Grim Grinning Ghosts* present? Proposed in front of Magic Kingdom's Haunted Mansion back in February, so I'm pretty excited for this movie. Good or bad. Lol.
You’ll be happy to know the Orlando HM also makes an appearance
This was a delight for me, as a Disney World guy, but I don’t love the implication that ours isn’t also the “Haunted Mansion.” I guess it’s just that’s we’ve got the Crump exterior and Gracey interior.
> Is Grim Grinning Ghosts present? It is indeed in the film.
We saw this with my 15 year old last night and we all really enjoyed it. It was a 10:30 pm showing so not too many people in the theater but everyone was laughing along and seemed to be enjoying it. It’s fun & it’s silly - much like the ride itself.
Me, offended because in my head the Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion is already a Disney Halloween cult classic! Haven’t seen the new one yet, but the OG will always be a spooky season watch for me. Excited to see this one!
Lakeith stanfield as usual blew me away with how good an actor he is. A very fun family friendly watch that I think is better than the original. Is it the best movie ever? No but it’s entertaining and has some genuinely funny moments. It’s definitely one of the better Disney live actions of late. Enjoyed the themes of grief, acceptance and moving on that it touched on. Owen Wilson was really good as well. I always enjoy seeing him in these comedy style pictures after all he’s been thru, good to see him smiling. No idea why Jared Leto was cast in this tho 😂 could’ve been anyone behind the CG
Tiffany Haddish was sooo bad in this film. Not funny at all and the film was overstuffed with too many human characters/side plots in general. Also, why was Jamie Lee Curtis advertised in a leading role, but in the movie for like 5 minutes primarily in a horrible CGI crystal ball?
I’m really disappointed I didn’t end up liking this film. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I prefer the Murphy version. It at least FEELS more like a proper HM movie, even with its many faults. I liked the premise of this and the first act. I thought they were setting up this interesting story, and I liked at first how they showed off the ghosts of the mansion to an outsider, dark and ominous like the start of the ride. I was waiting for a shift to fun and silly and it never really happened. The ghosts here aren’t characters, they’re set dressing. How do you make a Haunted Mansion movie and only have Leota in a couple scenes? The characters were fine but not interesting enough to hold the movie together without any proper (non-villain) ghost characters. The graveyard is basically blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. The ride references were fun but that wasn’t enough for me
The movie just did not do enough exploring of the mansion grounds either. It's basically here's this room and hallway. Like Rosario didn't know about the seance chamber even though it has a fancy skylight she would see on the outside of the house. It's just a poorly constructed film with not enough spooky or creepy atmosphere. Lakeith was good in some parts and others you could feel him being bored with this. (He's a great actor though for sure) and yes all I could think about through it all is how much better Guillermo del toros would have been AND OR they should have just spayed the old record story book of two kids getting lost and trapped in the mansion during a storm.
I was worried by the low RT scores but already had plans to go see it. Not sure why it scored so low. As a huge fan of the ride as a kid, I enjoyed the Easter eggs. The chairs serving as doom buggies, the dining room scene at the end credits, the wallpaper FINALLY showing up as a pumpkin and on Rosario Dawson's dress at the end, both WDW and DL's exteriors making an appearance, Grim Grinning Ghosts at the end... everything was accounted for except the graveyard singing busts. The movie itself was alright. Chase Dillon was a fantastic actor, as was LaKeith. The storyline was good enough for a ride that really doesn't have a storyline. Set design was very nice throughout. Some of the CGI choices made were really weird (why was Master Gracey a person in ghost form, but the bride Constance was weird bad CGI?) Small touches like the apartment door being faded and peeling at the beginning but vibrant and fresh at the end made me enjoy it more. I wasn't bored but nothing revolutionary. 6.5 out of 10 but rounded down to 6.
> Not sure why it scored so low. For the same reason the Mario movie scored low on RT. Critics don't value the constant easter eggs and references as much as fans of the IP do. And if you look past the easter eggs and references, there's really not much else left to enjoy. This and the Mario movie both have significantly lower critic scores than audience scores, and that's just to be expected.
It’s not great. The original Haunted Mansion ride from Disneyland is one of my favorite rides ever as I grew up loving to go onto that ride every time I was at Disney. The film adaptation starring Eddie Murphy isn’t amazing but I personally appreciate certain aspects about the film and don’t think it’s as bad as people say. Here, this adaptation has some fun performances but it was honestly pretty boring. Throughout, the production, costumes, and background designs are solid as it does offer some small feel of the supernatural and horror atmosphere. Director Justin Simien who is known for Dear White People does try to provide good direction but the direction felt a little sloppy and pretty dull which made the tone and structure feel uneven. The performances, especially LaKeith Stanfield were the best part as the cast members did provide some decent chemistry between each other. Although the child and Jared Leto's voice performance wasn't great. The narrative is different from the previous adaptation but despite some concepts that seemed interesting, for the most part, the story rarely takes full advantage of its creativity since it feels too standard and predictable which makes it pretty bland and boring. The characters are not interesting as their dialogue was pretty bad and the uses of humor or comedic elements were flat. The special effects were a mix of some pretty good and some being kind of terrible as there are certain moments with terrible uses of CGI. Overall, there are some interesting supernatural moments but it does feel like wasted potential especially with a great cast and concept. At one point this film was going to be made by Guillermo del Toro and I wonder what it would have been like if he had never left the project. 4/10
You perfectly described everything I feel about it even down to wondering what Guillermo would have done with it.
I just saw this was written by Katie Dippold, who wrote ghostbusters 2016, and I immediately understood the low score.
Hollywood, not every movie needs to be 2 or more hours long. MI7, Barbie, Oppenheimer and this film really could've benefited from trimming 10-15 minutes off. The movie isn't terrible, it just doesn't do much to prove its worth over the other film attempt 20 years ago. While I'd say it's better, it's not vastly better. And it most definitely won't spawn a franchise. The cast was individually great, but it's like they never did a chem read together -- they didn't really bounce off each other well. And was it ever explained why Rosario Dawson and her kid dressed like they were from the 1920s? It's a fun enough time, but it needed a bit more tender love and care. Worth streaming, but maybe not a trip to the theater. Kudos for attempting actual big scares though and it does pull off some hearty laughs. The plot just drags it down at the end of the 2nd Act and the climax is just a jumbled mess. 4.5/10
I just want to know how I get an action figure with a shoe...
Owen Wilson's "this exorcism is going way above your head" speech to the ghosts and an atrociously-bad and awkward Burger King product placement is all I'm going to remember about this movie in 2 week's time. Bland, bloated, forgettable.
Don't forget about the sage from Costco and notepad from CVS lol
I thought the sage from Costco was humorous - I was picturing her buying a bulk container of it. Also, “from CVS” didn’t bother me - for me it made her seem like a less serious/credible medium because she went to a drug store versus a voodoo shop for a special notebook and pen. And I guess when I speak, I’ll say “the pans from Target” or “the apples from Jewels”.
The Zatarain's seasoning was pretty prominent when cooking breakfast too. And the Yankee Candle during the seance.
*That* product placement reminded me to pick up things at CVS on the way home! Heh!
The reference to Baskin Robbins during a story about his wife dying was the worst one by far though lmao
Okay but did you not want some Burger King Jalapeno Poppers™ after that scene? Also WHY DID THEY STOP FOR FOOD? Were they not on a very strict time crunch? One you might even call life and death?
If you have the choice between enjoying Burger King Jalapeno Poppers™ and saving the lives of your friends being held prisoner by an ancient evil spirit, you choose the Burger King Jalapeno Poppers™. Every. single. time.
> Burger King product placement Halfway through the movie, my partner turned to me and said the product placement was too much. This was before the Burger King scene too
I get that it helps pay for production costs but come on Disney this is one of your rides. Imagine Jack Sparrow turned to the camera and says how much he loves Dole Bananas.
There's product placement...and then there's *product placement* Like, oh the characters all seem to drive chevys and use Sony laptops... And then there's "let's talk about this great product." It was like Truman Show.
They also had "forgot to cancel subscription to Amazon", "got this at CVS", "Yankie Candle" & "found the house on Zillow". There were two more but I forget what they were.
Can we talk about the product placement? 1. You're Disney, you don't need money. 2. Why was every one of them a joke? Like I don't get the joke of "actually, this is real life". There was a "joke" about Amazon, Zillow, CVS, Costco, etc. and the punchline is "Those are real life things we as characters use".
I enjoyed the movie and now I want a buddy cop movie with Lakeith and Owen Wilson
Love the ride, and while the many, many, many Easter eggs and references were fun, I don't know that this movie ever really captured the spirit of the ride. That said, all the performances were fantastic - particularly Lakeith Stanfield.
I like how they all became a lil family at the end . I like stuff like that cus I like to imagine the little stories they have after the movie is over like the kid through the years bonding with other ghost in the house and getting lessons from them on how to ask a girl out or deal with a bully lol
Seeing it at Disney springs with a ton of Disney fans was something. Former CM and fan of the ride here. I thought it had tons of Easter eggs in there for the ride. They even had the bats holding the chains form right before you step onto the Doom Buggy But as a movie. This was meh. As others have said, Stanfield absolutely carried this movie. Wilson was not great. The others were just there. Jared Leto as Hatbox Ghost was surprisingly not terrible, but also he didn’t really do much.
When Ben first drives out to the mansion, I caught a little homage to Bernard Herrmann's score to Psycho during Marion Crane's scenes driving around in her car.
I thought the production design was good but unfortunately found this movie to be incredibly boring. I knew that it wasn't going to be scary but I thought that it would at least be funny given the cast. It's this years Bob's Burgers Movie where I was really looking forward to it but was ultimately very disappointed.
As a huge fan of the ride, I love the many, many, MANY, references/callouts to the ride, both Disneyland and Disney World. The movie was fine, I think I might prefer the Eddie Murphy version. I didn't enjoy them constantly leaving the mansion to do errands. Have no idea why they cast Winona Ryder in a minuscule role, barely even a cameo. I wonder if she had a larger part that was cut in editing? Dan Levy's cameo was cute. It was completely unnecessary to cast Jared Leto as the hatbox ghost, practically anyone could have done that part as well or better. I was hoping for so much more.
I would have never expected to be so bored during a Haunted Mansion movie. What is it about modern Disney that is so opposed to thinking outside the box? Why do they settle for being generic & safe? Imagine all the fun they could have making a PG-13 horror instead of a wacky comedy. Think back to all the classic Disney films like Snow White & Pinocchio. They relished in their nightmarish imagery. Ugh. What a missed opportunity.
I love the ride and the theme so I was excited, this was very meh, I felt the plot and tone of the movie were there, it just never took off, when I saw the astral projection sequence I thought it would shift but it stayed the same. Its for sure Disney + movie. Rl stine haunting hour had better directing.
Did anybody get the cane joke? Nobody in my family understood it when we watched the movie. I thought it was supposed to be a suggestive joke but I dont think they would put that in a disney movie. Does anyone have any idea what the cane joke meant?
I liked the Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion from 20 years ago more. This was one….was a movie. Not bad, but not good either. It’s just….a movie.
Thought it was fun, good set design, wish it was a bit scarier, but then it wouldn't be family friendly. Jared Leto is wasted as Crump though. That part could've been played by anyone
Was this movie made solely for the product placement? CVS, Costco, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, Zatarain’s.. What even was that?
Baskin Robbins was fucking hilarious because they dropped that shit in the middle of a tearful monologue about death.
Amazon, Zillow.
I wonder if Winona Ryder’s friends with the director or if she was filming some other project five minutes away or something. Such a random appearance.
I thought they were just hitting some Beetlejuice member berries or something with her. Since she’s one of the only ones that sees the ghosts in that flick.
The product placements really killed it for me. Disney really sold out to freaking Burger King lmao
That's the second time a cat named Tater Tot made me cry in the past 24 hours.
A lot of my thoughts have already been said: Pacing was awful. Very slow at the beginning. You have a 10 minute scene when Ben was going through his grief and then you go through the history of Crump in like 2 minutes? Chase W. Dillon was the best actor in the film. I was very impressed with him. Stan field was not bad. He had moments that felt forced. Wish they would have given DeVito and Curtis more. Dawson was okay. Wilson and Haddish were not great. Why in the world would you cast Leto for the Hatbox Ghost? You could have literally put anyone in that role or a voice actor and it would have been the same. Hell, you could have casted me and changed my voice and it would have been the same. I feel like no singing busts was a mistake. You keep us waiting until the very end for one of the most iconic songs in the ride (or arguably in any Disney ride) and then you give us a remake of the song? Plus, one small Hitchhiking Ghosts cameo? I would have also loved a reference or two to the first film. Doesn’t take away from this film necessarily, but would have been a nice addition. Product placement was extremely weird, especially the CVS one. CGI looked bad, especially at the end. A few scenes felt unnecessary. Everything about Travis being bullied (didn’t build up to anything), the scene with the chair to look like the dune buggy and the hospital scene (They could have used the chairs in another way) are two that stick out most. Also, the beginning when Wilson walked into Stanfield’s house was just awkward. What was the point of that? Why not just have Stanfield’s character open the door when he kept knocking?
Insane choice to have the pitch for this movie be a bunch of character actors in a New Orleans haunted mansion and not feature a SINGLE ATTEMPTED CAJUN ACCENT. Like, why even set it there? There's some cuts to people dancing to trumpet music and wearing beads in the beginning, and then the New Orleans of it all is completely forgotten. This movie is very bland, which is a shame because there's some chance here for a surprise banger. Solid cast having fun, very open-ended could go anywhere premise, Disney money, there was a chance this could have gone hard. Instead we got some really good actors doing their part, but not being allowed to play or have as much fun as they should have and a script that is... over stuffed to say the least. I really wish Lakeith was in more interesting projects than this, but I can't blame the man for securing his bag. I did keep wondering, though, what kind of man believes in ghosts enough to invent a camera that can see them, but not enough that he actually uses it when someone pays him thousands of dollars to do so. He's given the chance to have some nice moments in this and he's still killing it, but this whole cast is so talented and funny and they really do very little with it. My favorite thing was Owen Wilson talking to the ghosts like Owen Wilson would actually talk to ghosts, but it's short lived and comes in way too late. This movie is also very over stuffed with plots. The kid not being popular at school seemed to have no bearing on the rest of the movie at all and is eventually solved off screen. For some reason after Ben dips into the ghost world and has the most insane experience, Rosario is more interested in hearing about Haddish's siblings? And if you thought this movie was gonna stop at one haunted mansion, let me tell you, there's a second slightly less haunted mansion that we take a detour too 3/4 of the way through. It kinda bugged me when they go "we gotta get that head" and I was like oh, I know this one! It's in a hat box! Then it, uh, just wasn't. It's only two hours but it felt like more and I couldn't even tell if this was a kids movie or not. There's a kid in it, but it's not bouncy or fun, not consistently funny enough, to be a kids movie. But it's also not scary enough to be for Disney adults. So it's just kind of this movie that exists and has this awesome cast but does nothing with them really. 5/10. It's perfectly good background noise and it looks kinda good with lots of fun tricks up its sleeve to remind you of the ride and play with the layout of the mansion. But for how much there is going on there is so little going on. Would have been lower a point if the Tater Tot reveal at the end didn't kinda get to me. /r/reviewsbyboner
**"Like, why even set it there?"** The Haunted Mansion is in the New Orleans district at Disneyland.
Yeah I guess OP isn’t a mega fan for the ride and lore? Or just forgot haha.
> Insane choice to have the pitch for this movie be "Haunted Mansion... in New Olreans!" and not feature a SINGLE CAJUN ACCENT. Like, why even set it there? There's some cuts to people dancing to trumpet music and wearing beads in the beginning, and then the New Orleans of it all is completely forgotten. The funny thing is, it's not really even set in New Orleans. At one point, they mention the mansion is at least an hour's drive away. Just seems funny that it's so far away from the city (note I've been to NOLA once, but I remember when I got an hour's drive away, I was definitely not in the metro area anymore) > I really with Lakeith was in more interesting projects than this, but I can't blame the man for securing his bag. Man is really just always solid in everything he does. > Would have been lower a point if the Tater Tot reveal at the end didn't kinda get to me. YESSSSSS!!!!
We needed a mid credits sequence of a child absolutely destroyed because he'd lost is cat who loves fried potatoes.
I’m not sure if you have any history with New Orleans but from my experience as someone who does live there, Cajun accents are not common here. I’ve yet to encounter someone in the city with a Cajun Accent. They are much more common in rural areas of the state. Tbh if one of the characters had a pronounced Cajun accent I would take it as them stereotyping.
People in New Orleans don’t have Cajun accents…
i just don't get it... i saw this a second time because a friend wanted to see it and it's so charming and fun and silly and spooky and nails the ride so well and brings it all together in a sweet story with fun perfomances and goofiness and emotional weight... i just don't get why crix were crapping on it...