![]() ![]() Even weirder, the film came out around Thanksgiving - wouldn’t it have made more sense to be released before Halloween?Ĭritics ripped The Haunted Mansion apart, with even the more positive reviews pretty lukewarm. Despite Terence Stamp and Wallace Shawn being somewhat amusing playing phantoms, The Haunted Mansion was uninspired multiplex fare trying to lure in youngsters and their tired parents. The movie’s production design looked great, aping the style of the original theme-park attraction, but otherwise it was just witless action scenes and Murphy’s mugging. But where Pirates of the Caribbean at least developed an entertaining-enough storyline around a familiar ride, The Haunted Mansion invented a convoluted mystery scenario involving one of the ghost’s fascination with Jim’s wife (and business partner) Sara (Marsha Thomason), who he believes is his reincarnated dead lover. ![]() The commercial appeal of the theme-park-attraction movie is obvious: Event films are often described as rollercoaster rides, so it ought to be easy to turn an existing attraction into a flick. When he finds out there’s a mansion on the market, he swings into action to get it sold - only to find out it’s haunted by wacky ghosts. Murphy played Jim, a real estate agent who’s great at his job but, predictably, doesn’t pay enough attention to his wife and kids. But the script, which was inspired by story beats from the theme-park attraction, couldn’t have been more generic. And the makeup work was done by seven-time-Oscar-winner (and frequent Murphy collaborator) Rick Baker. The film was directed by Rob Minkoff, who had co-directed the animated Lion King, moving to live-action for the adorable Stuart Little films. They shouldn’t be this expensive.’”)Īnybody hoping The Haunted Mansion was going to be different was sorely disappointed. That’s when I said, ‘I don’t want to make movies like this anymore. “But you’re starting to feel the control of the studio, because there’s all this money involved. “(B)ecause the Disney administration changed while I was making the movie, I was able to get most of what I wanted done,” he said in 2016. (Director Brian De Palma hated the experience so much he basically quit Hollywood and started making movies abroad. Funny enough, the first big-screen adaptation, 2000’s Mission to Mars, was based on a ride that had been discontinued years ago - which is among the many reasons the film tanked. The logic was obvious: People love going to Disneyland and Disney World, so why not make some movies based on the rides they know so well? After all, some of Disney’s most beloved characters end up being transplanted to the parks - it makes sense to bring the attractions to the multiplex. In the late 1990s, Disney began developing feature films based on its theme-park attractions. The reviews of Haunted Mansion have been pretty mixed, but critics seem to be in agreement: At least it’s not as bad as The Haunted Mansion was.Ĭlick right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox. It was during that period when Eddie Murphy was doing a lot of family films that were just awful. In fact, it’s been 20 years since the last attempt, The Haunted Mansion, which didn’t go too well. This is not the first time there’s been a big-screen version of Haunted Mansion.
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