Haunted Mansion - 4K Digital Review

[Michael Scott]

Haunted Mansion

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
After the success of Pirates of the Caribbean (still one of the best action/adventure movies of the early 2000s) Disney was fully on board to creating films out of their most famous rides. Iger and his minions figured that with the Pirates fanaticism running rampant and boosting Disneyland ticket sales, they might as well do another one. This came in the form of the 2003 film Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy. As harmlessly fun as that film was, it was not a great performance by Eddie Murphy, and the box office earnings fell flat on its face. The movie gradually faded into people’s memories and Disney went back to just churning out sequel after sequel to the Pirates franchise, until that too was bled dry. Then came the well known cannibalization of their animated films with Disney pretty much releasing a big blockbuster live action version of their most popular animated classics, only for 2023 to roll around and Disney once more decides to go back to the world of Haunted Mansion. This time, instead of making a sequel, they decided to simply reboot the IP, erasing the Eddie Murphy one and re-tooling it into a darker, scarier, and more mysterious film without all of the slapstick comedy. End result (and I can’t believe I’m saying this)….a surprisingly fun and harmless live action adventure that may not ever be as iconic as the first Pirates of the Caribbean, but was actually rather fun. Something I did NOT see coming.

Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her son Travis (Chase W. Dillon) have moved into an old Louisiana mansion to rebuild their life after a family travesty, only to find out upon entering that the house is haunted. And the spirit guests do NOT want them leaving. Every time they try and leave the ghosts haunt them wherever they are until the duo finally realize that they’re not able to leave the mansion without repercussions. Gabbie decides to enlist the help of a local priest for an exorcism (Luke Wilson), then disgraced astrophysicist Ben (LaKeith Stanfield) who supposedly created a camera lens that could capture ghost particles and show them on film (and of course was disgraced BECAUSE he could never find a ghost on camera).

With the help of a mystic (Tiffany Haddish), historian Bruce (Danny DeVito) and a few timid ghosts, the team soon learns the truth about Gracey Manor. It turns out that a witchcraft practicing lord over 100 years ago had been accused of practicing the dark arts, murdering people as blood sacrifices to increase his wealth and power, and was subsequently executed by his staff. Unfortunately his black arts sustained him even in death, and now he uses the destroyed Manor to facilitate his escape, desperately searching for enough souls to finally pierce the veil between worlds and continue his scourge upon the living.

Honestly, I was expecting next to nothing from this movie going into it. The Eddie Murphy film never really lit the world on fire, and the trailers that Disney releases were just uninspiring. However, upon watching the film I had to change my opinion. The film is not going to blow anyone away, but it is surprisingly fun and exciting. A simple family adventure movie, with a solid ensemble cast and some decent CGI by Disney for a change. The first two acts actually build towards a satisfying conclusion with the demonic spirit, but I will admit that the third act took a little bit too much of a “we can just do anything we put our minds to, right team?” approach, as it seems there was never anything really at stake for them. We all knew they’d get out alive, and no one was going to die or ever be in any real danger.

On the plus side, Tiffany Haddish is severely toned down from her normal comedic stylings, which is a HUGE benefit to the movie. Her normal comedy persona is an abrasive and over the top person, and dialing it back to a much more manageable level meant that she never overshadowed anyone else. Danny DeVito and Luke Wilson are basically themselves (seriously, the two know their niche), but it was really Rosario and LaKeith who were the highlight of the movie. Both characters played their roles perfectly, with LaKeith being the barely in control grieving widower and Rosario an over protective mother. Their chemistry together was genuine and real, never seeming like it was forced or written too heavily into the script. It also helps that the movie took a darker tone than the original, and focused more an actual murder mystery rather than just being slapstick. Sure, there’s plenty of humor to go around (Luke Wilson wouldn’t be in this film if it wasn’t), but it’s much more toned down and fits more naturally into the ghost story. Again, I said this above, but I was pleasantly surprised by Haunted Mansion 2023. It may not be a billion dollar super hero film, but it was genuinely FUN. Something which has been sorely lacking in films made by Disney for the last 5 or 6 years.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and scary action.




Video:

As usual, I’m not going to give an official score for the video because it was a streaming copy, and visual quality on a stream can be very bitrate and server dependent. That out of the way, the image is actually a lovely looking digital picture. The film is very dimly lit, with strong primary colors and a sort of misty/hazy look that follows the film around in the 95% of the movie that is bathed in darkness (outdoor daylit sequences lose that misty look and are distinctly bright and cheery). The inside of the mansion is drenched in deep brown mahogany tones, with the flickering orange of candle flames. The ghosts and spirits themselves add much needed blue and green neon tinges to the image, crafting a well balanced look that just sucks you in. The Dolby Vision application makes for some seriously deep and inky blacks, and the neon shades from the spirits are soooooooooooo deeply saturated its not even funny. I was shocked how little banding or crush I actually saw, as this is a digital stream and bitrate issues usually are more noticeable.








Audio:

The Atmos track was probably my favorite part of the whole experience. It has the same low volume level that most modern Disney movies have, but once boosted to reference levels on your receiver the track really takes off. Bass is nowhere NEAR anemic, adding plenty of weight with the myriad of slams, crashes, and thudding of ghosts throughout the manor. Dialog is crisp and cleanly located up in the front, and the overheads and rear surrounds get more than enough activity with the before mentioned booms, crashes, creaks and groans of the ancient mansion. Simply superb.







Extras:

• Making Haunted Mansion (13:05) Hear from cast, crew and filmmakers about creating this grim grinning adventure based on the world-famous ride. See how the ghosts were "brought to life," what role new technology played, and how the wildly popular attraction inspired the film's design.
• 999 Happy Haunts (7:05) There are 999 Happy Haunts inside the Disney Parks' attraction...but always room for one more! See all the Easter eggs (well, maybe not all of them) where characters big, small, alive, departed, human and otherwise appear in both the movie and the ride.
• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel

Final Score: ​

Haunted Mansion was genuinely fun for me. It had some decent CGI, great limited practical effects, and seeing Jared Leto go full blown crazy in his portrayal of the villain (his specialty) was a blast. The film did feel a bit rushed near the end, and a bit bloated in the beginning, but overall this was a perfectly fine popcorn movie that avoids many of the socio/political pitfalls that Disney has fallen into as of late. It just simply is a fun action adventure movie that is perfect for a Friday night popcorn munching bit of fun. Fun Watch is my personal opinion


Technical Specifications:

Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Jamie Lee Curtis, Danny DeVito
Directed by: Justin Simien
Written by: Katie Dippold
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos
Subtitles: English
Studio: Disney/Buena Vista
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 122 Minutes
Digital Release Date: September 4th, 2023

Recommendation: Fun Popcorn Watch

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Had no interest in watching this. Perhaps I'll end up renting and taking it for a spin.