Haunted Mansion - Review Thread

Why Disney decided to release their new $150 million Haunted Mansion in the middle of summer -- and a week after Barbenheimer, no less -- (apart from the obvious answer of them wanting it to be on Disney+ in October for spooky season) I'll never quite get. Because it seems to me that putting this thing out in theaters at this time of year could have served this movie well, and potentially a lot better than putting it out at the tail-end of July did. Cause, as we all know, we want to put on comfortable autumn clothes and go to get some good Halloween vibes...in the dead of summer. But another reason that a Fall release would have been wiser here? The movie's actually kind of decent! The House of Mouse's second attempt to bring their titular theme park attraction to the big screen reminded me favorably of family-oriented spooky movies from the 90's such as Casper and Hocus Pocus, yet this movie also sort of recognizes -- and wisely so -- that kids can be perfectly okay with being scared. Not that Haunted Mansion goes all-out with its horror elements, but it doesn't feel completely sanitized, either. Director Justin Simien and writer Katie Dippold do manage to craft some legitimately fun setpieces and sequences that make good use of the main location while providing some interesting visuals and a nice aesthetic (the fact that this house looks to be a practical set certainly helps there), not to mention how the movie seems perfectly willing to confront ideas like death and grief in ways that feel pretty honest. To go along with that, Lakeith Stanfield makes for a very interesting lead here, and he's supported and surrounded by a cast of equally charming characters who all work well off one another. The movie has a sense of humor that doesn't ALWAYS land, but enough of the jokes/moments so that it never becomes annoying. And while the film manages to keep things pretty even-keeled for the most part in terms of special effects, the Third Act DOES go down the CGI autopilot route when it didn't really have to. But overall, this stab at the Haunted Mansion ain't half-bad and offers up enough to at least justify its own existence. A bit formulaic? Sure. But fairly charming in its own right? Yes.