The Haunted Mansion (2003)
Many Disneyland rides were inspired by Disney movies, so it’s really cute that the studio wanted to produce a couple of movies inspired by the rides instead. Those of you who love waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion ride will definitely want to check out the Eddie Murphy spooky movie of the same title.
Eddie plays a workaholic who ignores his family; he’s played that type many times, but if you like Imagine That, Doctor Dolittle, and A Thousand Words, you’ll like his character in this one too. After all, he always learns his lesson! In this one, both he and his wife, Marsha Thomason, are realtors. They get a call from a mysterious man, Nathaniel Parker, wanting to sell his mansion, and even though his request to come over immediately in the middle of the night is a bit odd, they want the commission so they pack the car with their kids and drive over.
The mansion itself is beautiful – the creepy ones always are, aren’t they? But once the family is safely inside, mysterious forces conspire to keep them there. Is it the weather, the floating psychic head of Jennifer Tilly, the creepy butler, or the strange feeling that the place is haunted? As a side note, when your kids get scared of Terence Stamp, you’re going to have to work to convince them that forty years ago he was young and gorgeous. Everyone gets old, folks. But I still like him.
The story itself is interesting, but the great part of this movie is the obvious: how it ties in with the ride. As someone who’s gone inside the Anaheim Haunted Mansion dozens of times, I loved seeing all the little touches, like the carriage, the ghosts in the cemetary, the pictures whose portraits change, and the dialogue taken from the ride’s famous narration. It was a little scarier than I thought it would be, but then again, when I was little, I was too scared to go inside the house at all. A delightful treat for the whole family (if everyone is old enough to enjoy scary movies), and a perfect pick for Halloween!
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, I know this is a Disney movie, but the ending does get a bit scary, so I’d wait until my kids were in the double-digits before letting them watch it.
More Eddie Murphy movies here!
Eddie plays a workaholic who ignores his family; he’s played that type many times, but if you like Imagine That, Doctor Dolittle, and A Thousand Words, you’ll like his character in this one too. After all, he always learns his lesson! In this one, both he and his wife, Marsha Thomason, are realtors. They get a call from a mysterious man, Nathaniel Parker, wanting to sell his mansion, and even though his request to come over immediately in the middle of the night is a bit odd, they want the commission so they pack the car with their kids and drive over.
The mansion itself is beautiful – the creepy ones always are, aren’t they? But once the family is safely inside, mysterious forces conspire to keep them there. Is it the weather, the floating psychic head of Jennifer Tilly, the creepy butler, or the strange feeling that the place is haunted? As a side note, when your kids get scared of Terence Stamp, you’re going to have to work to convince them that forty years ago he was young and gorgeous. Everyone gets old, folks. But I still like him.
The story itself is interesting, but the great part of this movie is the obvious: how it ties in with the ride. As someone who’s gone inside the Anaheim Haunted Mansion dozens of times, I loved seeing all the little touches, like the carriage, the ghosts in the cemetary, the pictures whose portraits change, and the dialogue taken from the ride’s famous narration. It was a little scarier than I thought it would be, but then again, when I was little, I was too scared to go inside the house at all. A delightful treat for the whole family (if everyone is old enough to enjoy scary movies), and a perfect pick for Halloween!
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, I know this is a Disney movie, but the ending does get a bit scary, so I’d wait until my kids were in the double-digits before letting them watch it.
More Eddie Murphy movies here!