Home :: DVD :: Kids & Family :: Disney  

Adapted from Books
Adventure
Animals
Animation
Classics
Comedy
Dinosaurs
Disney

Drama
Educational
Family Films
Fantasy
General
Holidays & Festivals
IMAX
Music & Arts
Numbers & Letters
Puppets
Scary Movies & Mysteries
Science Fiction
Television
The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion

List Price: $29.99
Your Price: $26.99
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 .. 11 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: cool sorta
Review: i havent really seen the movie but i think it will be pretty cool because it stars the stunning eddie murphy!and the faboulos thats so ravens superstion song in it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another Great Disney movie base on a great ride
Review: The Haunted Mansion is good movie, i will agree that it is a little scary for little kids. Overall it is a good movie with some laughs and suspense. If you like the pirates of the Caribbean then you will like the haunted mansion. So go see it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: An Average Movie
Review: Not bad. Especially if you have ever been to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, gives a nice story to follow. But, don't expect the story to be as good as Pirates of the Carribean. Overall, I think the writing was aceptable but subpar and the actors are guilty of "overacting".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Spook-tacular Fun!
Review: I do not understand all of the rips folks are giving this film. Granted, it isn't the funniest or scariest film in the world, but it is planted somewhere in the middle. That's a good thing for a movie trying to appeal to such a large demographic. Eddie Murphy does a superb job here(better than in "Daddy Day Care") of making his character the perfect salesman/father-figure. Terence Stamp is flat out creepy as the butler. The rest of the cast, especially the kids, are all fine in this movie.

Here's a brief synopsis of the plot:
Murphy's wife is called to "sale" an old mansion for it's owner. However, it's all a ploy to get her there because the owner thinks that she is his long-lost love from years ago. Once there, things occur that try to eliminate the rest of the family from the picture. Twists and turns ensue, and Eddie makes you laugh throughout the film.

Most of the family can check out this movie. I wouldn't let really young'uns watch this, however. I'd keep the age limit at eight and above. There is a little foul language, but not nearly as much as on primetime network TV these days. I think the total cussword count was somewhere around four. There are a couple of sequences that may be too frightening for the small kids, especially one scene in an old crypt where tons of baddies wake up and try to catch Eddie and the kids. The rest of the film is full of light-hearted, "Boo!" type scares and some friendly ghosts that will help settle your child's fears.

This film is definitely more family-oriented than "Pirates of the Caribbean," though "Pirates" is a better story. The special effects were handled by the same folks on both films, so you won't be letdown in that area. The visuals are stunning. I agree with others that the scenery is beautifully done. The mansion looks and "feels" old. The ghosts are reasonably believable, but they remain true to the ride this film is based on. The music is both haunting and humorous at the same time. It really sets the mood for the movie.

As far as the DVD goes, the transition from big screen to small screen is flawless. The sound is great and the extras are fun. I really recommend this movie. It's fun for most of the family and it's a visual extravaganza.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not Sure Where To Classify This Film
Review: Eddie Murphy has his usual comedic wit about him, and the acting is solid. The storyline is easy enough for the kids to follow, but I question the content for children. Like many films these days, there were gaping holes in the plot mixed in with comedic lines. But it wasn't funny enough to be deemed a comedy. It also wasn't scary enough (or taken seriously enough) to be a horror film. So this brings me to the question "What exactly do you classify this film as?"

It's billed as being "for the kids" but it has some stuff in it that would frighten my kid(s). I found myself asking myself the underlying question throughout the movie "Why?" The plot was understood, but the repeated random acts of occurance seemed to repeatedly force me to ask the question again "Why?"

This led me to ask myself the question "Why am I watching this?"

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not nearly as bad as I'd expected ...
Review: You know how, when a movie is overly-hyped, that sometimes by the time you see it, it's like -- What was the big deal?

Well, the reverse works, too - sometimes a movie is put-down and criticized sooooo badly, by the time you see it you say to yourself, "This wasn't so bad" --

"The Haunted Mansion" begins by showing us real estate agent Jim Evers (Murphy) closing yet another deal. Turns out the guy is one hot seller, but it's been at the expense of spending time with his wife (and business partner) Sara (played by the beautiful Marsha Thomason) and their two kids -- daughter Megan and son Michael. Finally wising up to the fact that he's been working too much, Jim agrees to take his family away for the a weekend to the lake ... after stopping at just ONE MORE appointment, when Sara receives a bizarre call from a creepy-sounding butler whose master wants to sell his home.

The butler, Ramsley (Terence Stamp), was VERY adamant on the phone that Sara was to come alone, but Jim (as usual) takes over, and the family drops by on their way out of town. This turns out to be a huge mistake, for they're immediately trapped in the old mansion when a storm washes out the one and only road to the place. And when Master Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), the master of the house and a dashing gentleman with eyes for Sara, shows his true hand at what he has planned, it'll take all that Jim and his kids have to break the curse that hangs over the haunted mansion -- and save Sara's life.

This is a great film for a family to watch - kind of spooky for really young kids but otherwise okay (I'm a single guy, and even I liked it, so it's not JUST for families, either). Eddie Murphy grated on my nerves at first as Jim - but then again, he should have, because Jim was a workaholic in need of a wake-up call. The special effects are top-notch, and Murphy is backed by a supporting cast that keeps up with him nicely (including Jennifer Tilly as the fortune teller Madame Leota -- a floating head in a crystal ball of green smoke). Some laughs, a few chills, and maybe a bit too much of a smarmy ending make the film enjoyable -- and, at only 82 minutes, not too painful even if you don't like it!

A friend of mine brought this over to watch, but I plan on buying my own; it's a sweet little spooky comedy that is easy on the eye, and good for when you want to just pop it in your DVD player for a quiet evening of tame entertainment. And again -- I put this on with no expectations, and was pleasantly surprised. On its own merits, the film works beautifully.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Bad writing, not acting the problem with this film.
Review: As one who once worked and trained Cast Members at WDW's Haunted Mansion, I can say the overall film does justice to the visuals of the attraction, but it suffers from there. Alienation in the family and its repair is not a new phenomenon in film. What's changed is the lost art of subtly making the point without hitting you over the head with it. Mary Poppins worked because Walt Disney made this point without making it the *obvious* point of the film. Subsequent efforts, such as Hook and now The Haunted Mansion, have stumbled because they've made the "moral of the story" so obvious there's no self-discovery in the viewing; that and there's nothing I hate more than a film that has to preach its point, rather than make its point. There IS a difference. Aside from this problem, the Mansion stumbles in one other critical point. (And, no, sorry to disappoint all you Eddie Murphy bashers, it's not his presence. In fact, he does quite a nice job at making his character obnoxious in a suburban middle class sort of way.) The problem is the finale execution. The story, in fact, is very well set up and, like its attraction origin, has a good balance between the scares and the comedy. The problem comes during the mock wedding when Ramsley is exposed. What follows is the common TV dilemma of "we've painted ourselves into a nice corner with a great set-up and only have 10 minutes to solve the problem we've created. What do we do now?" The ending, particularly Ramsley's demise, courtesy of a fire dragon, apparently is on loan from Lord of the Rings, is carried off with dithered mix of non-explanation and overdone sentimentality. The result is a great build-up with a lot of preaching about the importance of family through muddled climactic writing. Disney (And Sir Steven) would do well to review Mary Poppins. There is no substitute for clear writing and a important point made, not told, along the way.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Big Fat Flop
Review: Having recently taken my 6 year old to scooby doo 2 he was slightly scared at certain points but the movie was well done and deserved its PG rating. Normally I am a fan of Disney and with the Haunted Mansion being rated PG as well I thought why not. I have not been this disappointed in a Disney movie in a long time, there was no plot and the casting selections were weak with special effects throw in for filler. The ending was certainly beyond the PG rating, more like PG13 with the things shown definitely above a childs level but presented in a very scary way. Disney this movie was terrible and a cheap movie to take advantage of a great ride. I have no idea what part of this script Eddie Murphy thought was "good" either...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: P-U
Review: OK, enough with the generous star donations here. Anything more than one star is wasted on this poor adaption of the myriad of horror/comedies that have preceded it. And I'm really reaching when I refer to this as a comedy. The acting, special effects, plot and cinematography fell well short of my expectations. Sure, there were some decent special effects but the film lacked consistency overall. Scene transitions seemed forced or disjointed, which made it difficult to follow the acting/action. I couldn't help but wonder if Eddie Murphy really wanted to do this film, or not. I half-heartedly agree with some of the other reviewers who noted that youngsters might find this film entertaining -- my 11 and 13 year olds found it mostly predictable and boring. Give this one a pass unless you're a true Eddie Murphy fan, and you don't mind throwing away your money.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Starts Off Good, But Then Eddie's Charm Has To Carry It!
Review: The beginning of this movie was very promising. I think the movie needed a better middle and ending. The "bad guys or ghosts" weren't "bad" enough, and the "good guys" weren't "good" enough, so by the end of the movie, you weren't sure who you really cared about - if anyone at all.

I think Eddie Murphy still has an amazing presence on the screen, so he manages to carry the film even in its low points.

This is a fun-family film, but not an outstanding one; just a good one.

See ya next review!

www.therunninggirl.com


<< 1 2 3 4 5 6 .. 11 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates