Barnes & Noble

Back in the days when Eddie Murphy was a Raw stand-up comedian, he hilariously observed that you'd never see African Americans in a haunted house movie. Some 20 years later, Murphy proves the exception to the rule with this family-friendly thriller inspired by the Disney theme-park attraction. Murphy portrays glad-handing, workaholic real estate agent Jim Evers, who takes a "20-minute" detour from his neglected family's long-promised vacation to check out a hot property his wife Sarah (Marsha Thomason) has been invited to sell. Despite its swampland proximity, foreboding gates, and backyard cemetery, Jim is dying to close a deal on the property: And if the owner, Master Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), has his way, he will. It turns out that Sarah is the haunting image of Gracey's own dearly departed, who died under suspicious circumstances years before. Murphy mostly plays straight man to this film's supernatural special effects (production segments included on the DVD show how they were created). It's up to the supporting cast -- including Terence Stamp as a terribly stiff butler, Wallace Shawn as a ghostly servant, and Jennifer Tilly as a disembodied Gypsy head encased in a crystal ball -- to scare up most of the laughs. While the chills remain PG all the way, it wouldn’t be a Haunted Mansion without some fitfully frightening scares and shivers: One spirited highlight re-creates the original Haunted Mansion's poltergeist ball; revived corpses chase the kids; and the son is confronted with his worst nightmare, a phalanx of spiders. Murphy may be a mere ghost of his former self, but Haunted Mansion is, like the attraction that inspired it, a wild ride for family fright nights. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

After the blockbuster success of Pirates of the Caribbean, another Disney theme park ride is adapted for the big screen in this family-friendly mix of comedy and chills. Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is a real estate agent whose latest project is to find a buyer for a huge but dilapidated old house in New Orleans. However, when Evers visits the property with his family, he discovers it's already inhabited by 999 ghosts, none of whom are interested in sharing the space. As the spirits make their displeasure known, Evers and his family try to shoo them away with the help of an eccentric medium named Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly). The Haunted Mansion also stars Terence Stamp, Don Knotts, and Wallace Shawn. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 786936226614
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital
• Editions: Subtitled
• Time: 1:28:00
• Sales Rank: 18,164

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