Le Manoir hanté

This is a frustrating one for me. I saw so many good ideas on display and committed performances from a game cast, but it all just felt kind of...wasted in the end.

And it's because it really felt like the cast and crew were working on a short leash. Everything about the narrative and visual presentation felt safe, sanitised, by-the-numbers, undercooked, and dull.

The film never gets silly enough to be memorable, even if it does get its share of decent laughs. And it also never gets scary or edgy enough to be memorable either.

There's no distinct style or vision here. It's like store-brand vanilla ice cream. There isn't even anything particularly wrong with it; it's just so bland that it's not going to be remembered for anything at all.

Pacing is all off here, this film could have done with at least 20-30 minutes trimmed off. It sagged in the middle, can't really fault the actors here, they all did their bit. They were just dealing with a baggy script.. The effects were fine, the set was appropriately eerie and atmospheric. I would have liked to seen a bit more menace with the ghosts, gave them a bit more edge which would have avoided all the characters seen as safe and untouchable but still have the light hearted approach, along the lines of the Frighteners (directed by Peter Jackson). I know it's a 12a but the kids would have coped with it for sure.

2 out of 5 stars.

Haunted Mansion is a bad supernatural horror comedy film that is based on the disney ride which copies some cool theme park references. Compared to the original film which was okay. This film falls flat with its story. Direction. The script is filled with cheesy dialogue. Humor is bland that adults and kids will be bored of.

The acting is a bit stale with the cast ensemble. Giving forgettable performances. The story is not memorable. The humor fails to deliver laughs. Just felt more awkward.

The film could have been better. Especially being one of the most popular attractions at disney. The film falls flat in every aspect.

Haunted Mansion is needlessly convoluted and feels its length but for a Disney theme park ride adaptation it's really impressive how ready this film is to have some genuinely moving and open conversations about grief and how painful it can be to move on.

Lakeith Stanfield is the main reason any of this works. For a remake of a film based on a theme park ride he's way better than he needed to be. Any scene where he opens up about his pain is incredibly engaging and unexpectedly real.

Overall this is an undeniably talented cast who've all been really funny in the past so even if they're not as funny here as they definitely could've been they're all still good at getting a fair few chuckles out of the material throughout. Tiffany Haddish wins simply by having the best joke.

The most baffling casting here is Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost. It's a completely forgettable role and whilst it's kinda a relief he doesn't ruin the film it's so weird to see one of the most committed actors currently working (for better and worse) take a role that is 100% stunt casting.

Justin Simien's direction is pretty good, a lot of the geometry distorting set pieces are basically just CG that looks fine but there's still fun to be had with them and it's only in the third when the CG overload threatens to derail it like it did Jungle Cruise, but this recovers.

Might be hard to believe, but we actually have a Disney movie that was fun!!! It didn't try to shove an agenda down your throat while still tackling important themes such as loss and grief. Of course that is all secondary to the most important thing...FUN AT THE MOVIES which is rare these days sadly! It was escapism, great cast, not to mention soooo many easter eggs for fans of the ride. If I'm honest, the 2003 version isn't something I hated like many, but this does it MUCH better. I told my wife when we left, "if I wanted someone to know what ride they were about to get on at Disney World, I'd just have them watch this and I love the movie for it".