Are you a fan of Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis (“Halloween”), “Loki” star Owen Wilson or Danny DeVito – or are you simply a fan of entertaining scares after which you can go to sleep without worrying? Then check out Disney+ …
.. because there you can stream “Haunted Mansion” from today, 4 October 2023. The remake of Rob Minkoff’s creepy comedy “The Haunted Mansion” (2003) was only released in cinemas here on 27 July 2023 – barely two months later you can now catch up or relive the film at home. And we can definitely give it something like a recommendation.
Because even if “Ghost Mansion” doesn’t get past average in the FILMSTARTS review, the remake convinced us much more than the first film version with Eddie Murphy. So if you already liked the original, it might be worth your while to put the new version on your watchlist:
You don’t even know the first film or would like to check it out 20 years later to see if it stands the test of time? No problem. Because from now on you have the opportunity to compare both film adaptations directly with each other – because “The Haunted Mansion” is also included in the Disney+ subscription*.
“HAUNTED MANSION” ON DISNEY+: A THEME PARK ATTRACTION BECOMES A FILM (AGAIN)
Just like “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “Jungle Cruise”, the “Ghost Mansion” films are also based on a Disney theme park attraction. But while the adventures of cult pirate Jack Sparrow in particular were able to thrill the masses (and lure them into the cinemas), “The Haunted Mansion”, which was released in the same year, had one problem above all: miserable computer effects. And it is above all in this respect that the new edition now remedies the situation.
“The Haunted Mansion” comes with much better special effects and for that reason alone is more fun than its predecessor, which was visually disappointing all along the line. However, the fact that even master director Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”, “Shape Of Water”) failed to make a film out of the amusement park attraction is saying something – what exactly is ultimately noticeable in the remake.
MovieTime, new at @disneyplusde: GhostMansion (2023)@Admiral_Iblis @dankert_sHerzog @Elli_2305 @De__Jay @Kranich65 @Andr18893414 pic. twitter.com/bs1JLkLms0
– Fan of series Hi, I’m Andreas (@fanvonserien) October 4, 2023
Because even if the film can convince trick-wise, the story still doesn’t give too much away. “Better visual effects alone are not enough if the story remains mediocre,” says author Markus Tschiedert in his FILMSTARTS review, briefly summarising why “Geistervilla” is better than “Die Geistervilla” (1.5 out of 5 stars), but in the end still doesn’t get more than 2.5 stars. Audiences were also less than enthusiastic, which was ultimately reflected at the box office: with production costs of over 150 million dollars, “Ghost Mansion” only managed to bring in 114.4 million dollars.
WHAT “HAUNTED MANSION” IS ABOUT
Travis (Chase W. Dillon) moves into a magnificent mansion with his mother Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) – but only a short time later strange things start to happen. Are ghosts possibly up to mischief here? Scientist Ben Matthias (Lakeith Stanfield) is to find out. After all, he has just developed a miracle lens that is supposed to make ghosts visible.
And so, together with an exorcist (Owen Wilson), a historian (Danny DeVito) and a medium (Tiffany Haddish), he sets out to put an end to the haunting…
And if that’s not enough star power for you, the cast also includes Jamie Lee Curtis, who follows in Jennifer Tilly’s footsteps as Madame Leota, and Oscar-winner Jared Leto as The Hatbox Ghost Crump…
