THE HAUNTED MANSION

"I wouldn't put that on the listing"

Jim Evers

Consumed by his job as a real-estate broker, Jim Evers (Murphy) makes a detour during a much-needed family holiday to view a mansion, which could be the sale that makes his career. As a storm hits the area, the mansion's owner Master Gracey (Parker) and his staff make the family welcome, insisting they wait the bad weather out and stay the night. Things are not what they seem however, as it soon becomes clear to Jim and his wife Sara (Thompson) that the Gracey Mansion holds many secrets, both living and dead.

Another Disney Theme Park ride hits the silver screen but this one lacks the soul of a great movie.

The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland has always been a firm favourite with visitors but while the movie uses many elements from the attraction, the short time you send on the ride is a lot more entertaining than the eighty-seven minutes you spend watching this film. It is all special effects and no substance at it tries to feel like a spectacle and not a piece of story telling.

The supporting cast do their best with the very limited script. Jennifer Tilly provides the laughs as Madame Leota, the all-seeing, magical crystal ball that sends the family off on their quest. Wallace Shawn and Dina Waters do their best with their limited roles by providing a few comedic moments. Brit Marsha Thompson continues to make a name for herself in Hollywood and Marc John Jefferies and Aree Davis are good as the Evers kids. Terence Stamp steals the show however as butler Ramsley. He is suitably creepy and has real fun with the role as he provides quite a few jumps for the audience.

Do you remember a time when Eddie Murphy was funny? The man is supposed to be a comedian but in many of his latest movies (not including his voice work for Shrek and Mulan) he has played the straight man and relied on others to provide the laughs. This is another one of those instances as he continues to flow through movies on autopilot so he can pick up his large paycheque. He is turning into one of those stars who just acts for the money and has lost the passion that drew him to show business in the first place. It is extremely hard to imagine Eddie Murphy doing any movie for the challenge of the role, especially if it was low budget, meaning he will never work with the more respected directors and writers and has no chance of ever getting an Oscar. He needs to return to his stand up roots and find his passion again. The Haunted Mansion is all about the spectacle.

The special effects and make-up are extremely good throughout. In fact the film is quite scary in parts for younger children, especially during the crypt sequence, which could give any child under the age of seven nightmares for a very long time. This does not make a great movie however as it all falls apart because of the very flimsy plot that is very reminiscent of many films in the genre, especially "The Haunting".

While the special effects are enough to entertain the younger viewer but everyone else will just be glad of the film's very short running time. The only real nightmare is watching the remnants of Eddie Murphy's career appearing on screen looking more dead than any zombie could ever do.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack, this is a very good transfer. The excellent picture quality brings sheer grandeur and spectacle of the Mansion to life. Add to this surround sound track that gets all of the speakers pulsating, especially during the zombie attack.

BONUS FEATURES

Audio commentary by producer Don Hahn, visual effects supervisor Jay Redd and screenwriter David Berenbaum
This fun and chatty commentary reveals many secrets from the making of the Haunted Mansion. The three of them talk about the visual effects used through the film, revealing that The Dapper Dan's from Disneyland provided the voices for the statues and all the zombies had to go through zombie training to get their walk and movement right.

Audio commentary by director Rob Minkoff and costume designer Mona May
While not a entertaining as the previous track this is an informative look into the making of and costume designing for the movie. Rob Minkoff talks about casting the movie and hiring the best technical crew he could. Mona May discusses extensively the costume design process and reveals that Eddie Murphy had twenty-one versions of the same suit.

The Haunted Mansion: Secrets Revealed (12.36 mins)
Director Rob Minkoff, producer Don Hahn, production designer John Myhre, makeup designer Rick Baker, visual effects supervisor Jay Redd, visual effects producer Lynda Thompson, costume designer Mona May and stars Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Tilly go behind the scenes of The Haunted Mansion. We get to look at the extensive special effects work needed for the production as the featurette reveals makeup and computer effects secrets.

Anatomy of a Scene: Ghost in the Graveyard (11.06 mins)
Director Rob Minkoff and visual effects supervisor Jay Redd take an inside look at the graveyard scene. Here you get to see the combination of different technological methods used to produce one scene such as blue screen, matte painting, computer graphics and makeup.

Disney's DVD Virtual Ride: The Haunted Mansion
An interactive tour of the mansion with you guides Emma and Ezra. Here you will see rooms like the library, armoury and hidden secret rooms, if you dare enter them.

Deleted Scene Emma & Ezra (2.19 mins)
This removed scenes has Emma and Ezra explaining the entire plot of the movie to Evers's children, including the backstory of how their mother is involved with the ghostly goings on.

Outtakes Reel (5.21 mins)
A collection of mistakes by Eddie Murphy and a montage of Zombie mishaps.

Raven Music Video "Superstition" (3.30 mins)
Raven performs their song that was used to promote the movie.

DVD ROM
Put the DVD in your PC to gain access to the Ghostly Effects Studio, the Haunted Mansion Ride and much more.

OVERALL

While the film might be another plight on Eddie Murphy's career, Disney has done a good job with the DVD. The featurettes are informative and more adult orientated than you might have expected and the commentary tracks are very good. For fans of the movie this only adds to the value making it a good buy for them. For the rest of us, the extras are better than the actual movie making it worth a rent if there is nothing left in the shop.

DVD

Casper

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2004