The Haunted Mansion

2003 "Check your pulse at the door... if you have one."
5.2| 1h39m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 26 November 2003 Released
Producted By: Walt Disney Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Workaholic Jim Evers and his wife/business partner Sara get a call one night from a mansion owner, Edward Gracey, who wants to sell his house. Once the Evers family arrive at the mansion, a torrential thunderstorm of mysterious origin strands them with the brooding, eccentric Gracey, his mysterious butler, and a variety of residents both seen and unseen.

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Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good
Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
Acensbart Excellent but underrated film
Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
cinephile-27690 This is a movie I am not recommending if you are an adult. Kids will probably like it more than I did. If you are a kid, tune this out. The movie stars Eddie Murphy as real estate agent who is a workaholic. On a weekend he's supposed to spend with his family, he has to stop at a house to look over. It's not until he gets there that he finds out it's actually a...you guessed it, a haunted mansion. They then get stuck there and must escape. For a movie starring a man who dropped 230 F-bombs in a 75 ish minute time period 16 years before, this is a pretty tame movie. it's fun for the kids, yet grown ups may not be as entertained. Some movies, like I said in my "Spy Kids 3" review, are best left for the kids. It's not "Eddie Murphy Raw", but it's not "Shrek" either. I only saw about half of this movie. The 3/5 stars I rated the movie does not apply to the whole movie, just the first half of the movie. Does it improve? I don't know, and don't really care to. Just leave it to the kids to decide, and if you want to see it, be my guest. Before I finish, I'd like to say Roger Ebert gave it 2.5 stars, and Common Sense Media gives it 1 star, and both people saw it all. It has a 4.9 on IMDB. I give it 6. There's not many people who can say they liked it. It's still your choice, but I'm just saying...
OllieSuave-007 Based off of the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland, this movie is about Realtor Jim Evers whom was asked to to sell the famed mansion by the owner. So, he and his family are summoned to the mysterious place and soon ends up being caught in its paranormal world.It's a better film that I've expected - solid plot, funny (but not over-the-top) acting, incredible visual effects, and catchy music. I liked all the references to the Disneyland attraction like Madame Leota, the singing busts, the lost traveler and his dog, the moving portraits and the floating candlesticks. The story about the groom looking for his lost bride fits the attraction-based movie well and it mixes in with the Evers realty subplot perfectly.Eddie Murphy was his classic funny self and gave off some really hilarious moments in the movie, especially him getting creep-ed out by all the hauntings in the old house. His kids in the movie, though, were a tad annoying at times, but I could tolerate them. The ghost characters were entertaining to watch; especially liked the famous Madame Leota character - floating around in her crystal ball with intrigue and suspense.The film, though, could have used more creepy and gotcha moments, but overall, it's an entertaining family film.Grade B+
Julie Kinnear There's one thing that people should be very clear on, and that's that Eddie Murphy does not care in the slightest what people think of his acting career. And that's good, because this film is unspeakably bad and is only viable as a tool for wantonly consuming 90 minutes from your life that you will never get back. Yes, this is an Eddie Murphy project that functions better as a fourth-dimensional black hole than anything else.What audiences have here is a project in which Eddie Murphy plays real estate agent Jim Evers, who hopes to transform a dilapidated mansion in New Orleans into financial success. Before venturing out in search of a buyer for wreck, he and the family he's been somewhat neglectful towards visit the house for an inspection. They discover there is more going on with the property than they could have ever anticipated.Eddie Murphy's character is hapless, with little awareness of what is going on outside of his real estate duties. Terrance Stampis, confusingly, in this movie as one of the 999 ghosts that reside in this mansion, even though his acting career easily and understandably puts the film "beneath him." Jennifer Tilly is present in the film in a significant role as a disembodied medium and adviser to Jim Evers. Despite the quality of the film overall, their talents are put to good use, considering what little they're working with.The acting is stiff and contrived. Murphy turns in a performance that is completely alien to the talent that brought him success throughout the 1980s. The relationship between Evers and his wife appears unnatural and difficult to believe within the context of the film. The film might have had greater success with an increased focus on the efforts made by the home's original owner, a ghost, to reunite with his long-lost wife. Certain contradictions were apparent in the film as well, such as what physical objects ghosts were capable of manipulating. Sometimes they were able to move objects. Other times they were relegated simply to phasing through them. The visuals of the film are quire colourful. The effects, both special and practical, are top-notch and clearly show a great deal of effort had been put into producing them.This film is mainstream pabulum of the highest order. Murphy delivers a performance that's typical Murphy schtick — frantic, energized inanity with a dull edge and inarticulate delivery, devoid of any nuance or subtlety. Murphy's more sophisticated and impressive roles, not nearly as upsetting, are not easily remembered. Everyone can remember his Saturday Night Live origins, his work in 48 Hours, Trading Places, Coming to America, The Golden Child, Bowfinger, the Beverly Hills Cop series, and Dreamgirls. People often want to remember these, but seldom do they wish to recall the likes ofMeet Dave, Norbit, Daddy Day Care, Nutty Professor, Dr. Dolittle, and the infamous Pluto Nash. People can find themselves anxious with the likes of Ben Affleck because they remember roles he's "phoned in," such as with Jersey Girl, because they know he can produce absolutely amazing work like he did in The Town. People know he can do better, so they become, understandably, disappointed. That perspective we have for Murphy has inflated to such proportions that you can't help but see anything else. The Haunted Mansion is a good vehicle of work to add to the pile of problems movie- going audiences have with his intentions. It's good that a man that has done ten Shrek-related jobs since the first Shrek doesn't care what audiences think of him, otherwise this might all seriously effect him on an emotional level.Former Village Voice writer Rob Minkoff may have put it best when he said, "Rob Minkoff has directed a movie that's nearly laughless and nowhere near as frightening as what's happened to Eddie Murphy's career." Even famed film reviewer Richard Roeper simply described The Haunted Mansion as "dreadful." While Disney proved, earlier in 2003, with Pirates of the Caribbean that a film based on an amusement park ride can be successful, Eddie Murphy proved that substantial talent is a significant portion of the equation required to project the success of such a film.You'd get more for your dollar if you were to visit the actual Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland rather than engaging with The Haunted Mansion. There's no particular reason this film should exist. The world is worse off it now that it exists. Rather than waste your time with this cinematic detritus, you would be better off sitting somewhere and reading a book for 90 minutes.
gavin6942 Workaholic realtor Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy), his wife/business partner Sara and their two children are summoned to a mansion. When they discover that the place is haunted, Jim discovers an important lesson about the family he's neglected as they attempt to escape.Other than the "Shrek" films, Eddie Murphy's career took a rather downward turn after the 1980s. And although he may or may not have been right for this part (something seems a little off), it is not the terrible flop that people make it out to be.Fans of the ride will be impressed with how they were able to take so many elements and turn them into a single narrative. If you want a faithful adaptation, this is much closer to the source than "Pirates of the Caribbean" (even if that is the better film).There are a few scenes that might scare younger viewers (much like the ride), but overall this is pretty good family fun. Besides Murphy, we get some decent performances from Wallace Shawn and the wonderful Terence Stamp, who does the Karloff-as-old-butler routine quite nicely.