Movie Review: "The Haunted Mansion"

   When I was a little girl, my dad used to read me a story book about "The Haunted Mansion", based on the popular ride at The Magic Kingdom theme park.  I was thrilled when I was finally able to visit the theme park, and realized that so many components of the book were taken straight from the ride, right down to the delightfully spooky voices my Dad used to use while reading to me!

   So when Disney realeased the recent film version of "The Haunted Mansion", starring Eddie Murphy, I couldn't wait to see it!  My kids, veteran visitors of the theme parks, were just as excited as I was to see how the imagineers at Disney would transform a ride that lasts mere minutes into an 88-minute movie.  What we later found out was that there were 3 different storylines that were considered for the ride's original version, and some of these plot ideas were further developed to make the film a success.  (The ride was also revamped in conjunction with the film's release to include aspects of the romance gone awry as shown in the film.)

   Eddie Murphy is a real estate agent, Jim Evers, who partners with his wife Sara (Marsha Thomason), but can't stand to let a job slip by.  Lately he's been missing special family events over work.  He promises his wife and two children a weekend away, but a last-minute call from a potential seller delays the trip.  Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker) owns an old but valuable mansion.  He and his butler Ramsley (Terence Stamp) have brought Sara there because Gracey is convinced that she is the reincarnation of Elizabeth, his one true love, who died mysteriously, supposedly by poisoning, decades earlier.  Gracey, you see, is a ghost himself!

   Meanwhile, the ghost of Elizabeth tries to lead the Evers children and Jim Evers around the property to reveal what really happened all those years ago.  There's also some help from Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilley) a psychic head in a crystal ball, and two ghostly house servants.  Can Jim solve the clues left by the ghostly woman and Leota in time to save Sara from Ramsley and Gracey?

   Filled with twists and turns in the plot, suspense and some mildly spooky surprises that are enough to make younger viewers jump without really being scary, this film offers up a uniquely entertaining experience.  The special effects are just incredible, especially when the ghosts in the graveyard are shown performing antics seen on board the theme park ride.  Visitors to the park may remember the barbershop quartet of singing busts, or the invisible horse-drawn hearse.  Very young viewers may find the skeleton-like ghouls from the crypt a bit too much, but this is as frightening as it gets.

   Definitely a family favorite in our house, this is a great film to see with your family.  As a side note, I think it's great to see that this modern take on a classic ride breaks down racial barriers as it supports the idea of an inter-racial relationship.