The Haunted Mansion

Plot synopsis:
Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is a workaholic realtor whose continuous pursuit for new deals leaves very little time with his family. He misses his wedding anniversary with his wife Sara (Marsha Thomason), but to make amends, he suggests going on vacation to a nearby lake. Beforehand, Sara is contacted by the occupants of Gracey Manor, located in the Louisiana bayou. Eager to make a deal, Jim drags Sara and his children, impatient Megan (Aree Davis) and arachnophobic Michael (Marc John Jefferies) to the mansion. They meet its owner Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), his stern butler Ramsley (Terence Stamp), and other staff members Emma (Dina Waters) and Ezra (Wallace Shawn). When a storm floods the nearby river, Gracey allows the Evers family to stay the night; though everyone is safe, Jim is unhappy with the idea. Ramsley takes Jim down to the mansion's library to have a talk with Gracey, but while he waits, Jim gets trapped in a secret passage.
Megan and Michael encounter a spectral orb and follow it up to the attic, where they find a portrait of a woman resembling Sara. There they converse with Emma and Ezra; the former identifying the woman as "Elizabeth". Sara talks with Gracey in the library, who explains his grandfather hanged himself out of despair after his lover, a multiracial woman named Elizabeth Henshaw poisoned herself despite their plans to wed. Jim meets Madame Leota, a gypsy woman's ghost whose head is encased in a crystal ball, but she scares him away. Jim runs into his children, Emma and Ezra, and returns to Madame Leota for answers about Elizabeth's likeness to Sara. It is revealed that everyone in the mansion are ghosts, cursed a century ago by Gracey and Elizabeth's suicides and can only go to Heaven when they are reunited, and Gracey believes Sara is Elizabeth's reincarnation. Madame Leota sends the Evers off to the mansion's expansive cemetery to find a key that will reveal the truth behind Elizabeth's unusual death. Jim and Megan venture into a crypt where they find the key, but inadvertently disturb its undead residents. They escape with help from Michael, who overcomes his arachnophobia. Madame Leota then instructs them to find a trunk in the attic, Jim unlocking it to find a letter written by Elizabeth to Gracey, revealing she truly loved him and wanted to marry him, leading them to conclude that she was murdered. Ramsley suddenly appears, revealing he murdered Elizabeth to prevent Gracey from abandoning his heritage, believing their relationship was unacceptable. To hide the truth, he traps the children in a trunk and throws Jim out of the house, enchanting the house so Jim cannot break in and stop him.
As Gracey and Sara rendezvous in the ballroom, the former asks Sara if she can recognize him which confuses her. Desperate, he insists to Sara that she is his beloved Elizabeth. The room fills with dancing ghosts of the past which causes Sara to flee. As she runs up the stairs, Gracey reveals his true ghost-self to Sara begging her to understand and that they can finally be together. She shouts that she is not Elizabeth. Gracey begins to have second thoughts. But Ramsley insists that it is her and in time she will remember. Ramsley tells Sara to get ready for her wedding to Gracey. Sara refuses but Ramsley blackmails her into marrying Gracey in return for her children's safety. Encouraged by Madame Leota, Jim drives his car through the mansion's conservatory, rescues his children, and stops Sara and Gracey's wedding ceremony where he gives Elizabeth's letter to Gracey, revealing to him the truth about Elizabeth's death and that Ramsley had lied to him about it all those years. Gracey confronts Ramsley, who rages at his master's apparent selfishness for loving Elizabeth, and summons wraiths to kill the group for revenge. However, a fiery dragon emerges from the ballroom fireplace and drags Ramsley down to Hell for eternal damnation. Sara suddenly collapses, having been poisoned by Ramsley during the wedding, only for the spectral orb encountered by the children to appear and possess Sara, revealed to be Elizabeth's ghost. Elizabeth and Gracey reunite, and Sara is revived. With the curse lifted, Gracey gives the Evers the mansion's deed and departs to Heaven with Elizabeth, Emma, Ezra, and the other ghosts. sister Elizabeth be are those what are we al their better educated and have sister Elizabeth that glass of wine is t a reward it s a poison have been poisoned glass you have just been poisoned care her sister the my s terious butler of gracey man or who serves as a fatherly figure to master gracey he is later vevealed to be Elizabeth s murderer The Evers drive across the Seven Mile Bridge for a proper vacation, accompanied by Madame Leota, and four singing busts strapped to the back of their car. In a post-credits scene, Madame Leota bids farewell to the audience, inviting them to join the dead using dialogue from the Disneyland attraction.

Tags: horror, murder, humor

Review:
Since I am a fan of the ride, "The Haunted Mansion", I guess I expected this film to be good.
Rick Baker "Monster Maker" is so talented and has done an impressive (as always) job creating a vision from the Haunted Mansion ride that he also admired.If you are a fan of the ride, I would imagine that you would enjoy this movie as much as me..
For others, it was a terrible job of emulating the classic Disney ride and just another stupid Eddie Murphy comedy vehicle.
This movie is about a Realtor (Murphy) and his family traveling to a haunted mansion for a business deal.
Don't take one of the most-beloved rides from Disneyland/World, and come up with a sub-par comedy, with smart-mouthed kids, and a jabbering Eddie Murphy.Tech credits are great, though.
Don't be fooled by the DVD's claim of a "Virtual Ride of The Haunted Mansion." I was expecting a recap of the actual park attraction, but was instead treated to a tour of the movie set.Also, Disney....why not just AVOID crude jokes and profanity in this type of family film?
The movie talks about a house seller (Eddie Murphy) , his wife (Marsha Thomason) and children , they are going to a haunted mansion inhabited by weird people : an owner (Nahaniel Parker) , butler (Terence Stamp) , servant (Wallace Shawn) and psychic (Jennifer Tilly) .
They'll take on several dangers , eerie ghosts , scary skeleton and fantastic supernatural forces .The picture mingles frightening happenings , frenetic action , mystery , tongue-in-cheek and there is horror but with humor , including a lot of references to the Disney theme park ride .
Another nail in the coffin of Eddie Murphy's career, The Haunted Mansion is a slap-dash attempt to cash in on The Pirates of the Caribbean, an infinitely more successful and better film based on a Disneyland ride.
'The Haunted Mansion,' a film 'inspired' by the Disney theme-park attraction of the same name, feels like a cross between 'The Haunting' and 'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.' Eddie Murphy is a real estate agent working in tandem with his wife, Marsha Thomason.
When they arrive on the scene, the family finds a mansion replete with all the paraphernalia common to a conventional haunted house - sliding panels, hidden passageways, a graveyard in the backyard, an eccentric owner, a creepy butler (played with delicious relish by Terence Stamp) and, of course, a houseful of unruly and unsettled resident ghosts.
The most disappointing thing about "The Haunted Mansion" is that its star, Eddie Murphy, has once again lowered himself to silly kids' fare.
If you take your kids to see this, you're just asking for nightmares.Murphy is Jim Evers, a workaholic Realtor accused by his wife and co-Realtor, Sarah (Marsha Thomason), that he neglects his personal life far too often in favor of the cash he's making at work.
Something strange is afoot, and the audience guesses what's going on about an hour before the movie's characters do, which is a tedious thought.As we first suspect from the title, the ride, and the overall marketing of the movie, ghosts inhabit the mansion, and soon we learn that Master Gracey (Nathaniel Parker) plans on taking Sarah as his bride.
The movie is based on the Walt Disney World theme park ride, which is probably about three to five minutes long, and there's a reason for that.
Its movie adaptation feels like a giant theme park ride, but the material can't support itself for a bare minimum ninety minutes, so we get a lot of nonsense about a ghost trying to marry a deceased love, and so on and so forth, minus the humor and flair and rousing feeling of Disney's surprise hit of 2003, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," which has started a trend we may (unfortunately) be seeing more of in the future.And as for Murphy -- who was once one of Hollywood's bad boys -- where is he in this mess?
I think it's that his humor has lost him."The Haunted Mansion" knows it's in a bad position from the start, and it doesn't even make an effort to give Murphy any funny lines whatsoever.
"The Haunted Mansion" isn't a terrible movie, but it isn't anything special, and you can find the same quality material by flicking on ABC, Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m.2.5/5 stars.John Ulmer.
"The Haunted Mansion" is the latest movie to be based upon an attraction at the Disney theme parks.
It stars Eddie Murphy as Jim Evers, a workaholic real estate agent who finds himself and his family trapped in a mansion infested with ghosts.
Although full of clichés and having the unbearable Eddie Murphy, 'The Haunted Mansion' has some good moments and is watchable.
That's good--it hopefully means no more Disney theme park rides will be made into movies.I give this a 5--and that's just for the special effects.
Based on the Disney Park attraction of the same name, film finds Murphy as real estate agent Jim Evers, a man who is so driven by his work he neglects to notice he is neglecting his family.
What is a surprise is that this mansion is haunted and a curse threatens to engulf the Evers family when they are forced by bad weather to spend the night there.Well it has lovely colour photography, a production set of some excellence by John Myhre, great costumes from Mona May, nifty effects by Jay Redd and Rick Baker once again delivers quality make up work.
The opening sequence of the feature ruined any suspense for many later events and could have been done in a different way that didn't give away much of the story before the audience even had a chance to settle down in their seats.The cast of The Haunted Mansion is a relative bunch of no names but they try to their best, which works effectively for the most part.
but if you're looking for a reasonably entertaining, family-friendly movie, this is a safe bet.has a kind of a nickelodeon kind of feel, but its well shot, nice effects (not too over the top), and has great art direction.if you are looking for something scary, or thought provoking - move on.
"The Haunted Mansion", I REALLY WISH THEY WOULD GET OFF THE DISNEY RIDE MOVIES!
This is one of those movies that I never saw in theaters, but have seen it on Disney Channel a few years ago because there was nothing to watch for me.While it's not as bad as Battlefield Earth, Batman & Robin, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, and Kazaam (those were terrible movies, but I digress), this adaptation of a ride from Disneyworld is not that good either.
Marsha Thomason and the kids were good and so was Wallace Shawn and Nathaniel Parker, but I think that Jennifer Tilly steals the show for having some great lines as Madame Leota.
THE HAUNTED MANSION (2003) ** Eddie Murphy, Marsha Tomason, Terence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly, Wallace Shawn, Dina Spybey, Marc John Jefferies, Aree Davis.
Old Walt Disney had fun making his movies and one suspects he actually wanted to entertain kids.
First of all I have to say that this is in no way a bad movie...it has decent acting, nice effects and a good soundtrack.
With The Haunted Mansion you already know from the beginning that all characters will make it out of the house with not so much as a scratch, which (at least for me) ruined the whole movie.The scenes with Jennifer Tilly and Terence Stamp are great and they both deliver great performances and are one of the highlights of the movie which, otherwise lacks such moments.As far as I am concerned this is a pretty nice movie to take the children to see, but there just is not enough in the movie to keep adults entertained as well, but I think it was nearly impossible for Disney to bring out two great movies based on theme park rides in one year...
Even the plot of the story was bad, a man who fell in love with his fiance' in whom he was to marry dies of a supposedly suicide and years later he tries to bring her back to life and fall in love with him again by locating Eddie Murphys wife who we find that she is not his fiance' reincarnated but then she is and then she isn't again and the whole movie is just one mess.
When they discover that the place is haunted, Jim discovers an important lesson about the family he's neglected as they attempt to escape.Other than the "Shrek" films, Eddie Murphy's career took a rather downward turn after the 1980s.
If you want a faithful adaptation, this is much closer to the source than "Pirates of the Caribbean" (even if that is the better film).There are a few scenes that might scare younger viewers (much like the ride), but overall this is pretty good family fun.
They think it is to discuss a sale however the owner and his butler(Terence Stamp) have other more sinister reasons for their visit.This film is OK for kids , but for anyone else it is sometimes boring and not at all scary, although some scenes may scare very young viewers.Eddie Murphy is good but he has given the same performance before in better films such as Dr Dolittle and Daddy Day Care.
Haunted Mansion virgins will now disregard the greatest dark ride in history thinking that it must be as stupid as this movie is.
Murphy Sleepwalks Through This One. The Haunted Mansion (2003)Plot In A Paragraph: Realtor Jim Evers is a workaholic, so he takes his family on a vacation to a nearby lake.
En route he is asked to check out a Mansion, with the possibility of him selling it.With a movie based on The Pirates Of The Caribbean theme park ride, grossing over $300 million at the domestic box office, as adults and kids delighted in the exploits of Captain Jack Sparrow, Disney has similar hopes for another movie based on one of their rides when it opened later in the year.
I remember Murphy making fun of movies like this in Delierious, saying black people are too smart for Haunted houses.
The effects are ok too, but overall it was watchable, and Sadly nothing moreThe Haunted Mansion did not live up to expectations (especially those set by Captain Jack Sparrow) as it grossed $75 million at the domestic box office to end 2003 as the 38th highest grossing movie of the year.
Other than that, the story is very thin, yet the acting helps to carry it along.Murphy and his family, trapped in the mansion for the night, makes for some typical haunted mansion-type encounters, carried out well with solid special effects.
The special effects were good and it was really cute BUT-I sure thought it would be a lot funnier, especially since Eddie Murphy was starring.
Real estate agent Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) and his family go to Gracey Manor, where they run into the many ghosts that haunt the mansion, and with the help of a supernatural psychic; Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly) they must break the curse before the clock strikes 13.The Haunted Mansion has good special effects and is entertaining for younger children; unfortunately that's where i run out of good things to say about it.The cast is only just acceptable and they are not helped one bit by the weak script and dull storyline.
In short this film is a disgrace to the name of Disney, they have had their bad moments over the years, but generally they do care about the viewing audience; but this one doesn't deem to try, it's just a showcase for some ghost effects, and in that lies the appeal to the younger children.Don't bother 4/10.
Even in the first few moments of the film I was blown away by the visual effects, and the eerie beauty that was set off by the scenes that enfolded before me.I'm a huge fan of Tim Burtons work,and these scenes very much reminded me of his style.The mansion,in itself,is breathtaking.It felt like the Vampires mansion scene from "Underworld",only better.I thought this was a comedy Eddie Murphey shouldn't have done,but you know what?
His character is a more supporting role.There's a whole tragic/romance angle that I was completely surprised with.Nathanial Parker (whom I'm so happy I discovered) and Terence Stamp brought such a great element to the movie with their grace,nobility,and amazing acting skills.Needless to say,the features on the DVD are also incredible,including a virtual tour of the mansion.There were a few things that bugged me,and that was the kids,whom I felt could've been slightly less annoying.But thats easily overlooked in a movie I am pleasantly surprised to say is a very good flick.Don't believe the negative hype.Go see the movie for yourself.Trust me- you won't be disappointed.I know I wasn't!
The movie is has quite a bit of comedy in it and really cool special effects for a family/kids Disney film.
This movie is the story behind the famous Disney Haunted Mansion ride.8/10.
However, decent acting and sets is not enough to make up for a terrible screenplay and atrocious humor.In the end, I give this movie a 2 out of ten, because at least it is not Mr. Popper's penguins...another film that has haunted me from the day I saw it..
This movie was so good, it's no wonder Disney made a ride based on it!
My only beef with the ride is its lack of Eddie Murphy, who was clearly the best part of this movie.
I honestly could have done without the ghosts or the mansion and just seen a movie about Eddie Murphy selling real estate and teaching his son how to kill spiders.Oh and I cannot forget the classic "If you is or if you ain't" song that played at the end.
Oh yeah, and this mansion is haunted.This movie has great special effects.
I normally like Eddie Murphy films as well as Disney movies, yet this one left me thinking my I wasted my money on the ticket.The film doesn't know what it wants to be.
Unique Family Fun. When I first heard that Eddie Murphy was going to star in The Haunted Mansion, I was initially disappointed.
As a former intern at Disney World and as a Haunted Mansion fan, I wanted a more serious, scary look at the stories that surround this awesome attraction.
It's good Disney fun, and when you get out of the theater at the end, you'll be thankful it's NOTHING like the crude and boring Cat in the Hat.- The Haunted Mansion ****(4) out of *****(5).
This delightful Casper-like movie for a more intelligent youthful audience (more grown up kids) was fun and entertaining but Eddie Murphy seemed to get in his own way.
His own brand of humor and his perpetual Shrek-like character just wasn't in sync with the rest of the movie and trying to make this otherwise comedy-drama-horror-ghost-thriller in a Murphy vehicle was a mistake.
The kids were actually pretty good actors -- Hollywood appears to be trying to give audiences quality acting from the children, too, these days (thank goodness), but in the movie they were almost superfluous.One of the real problems here was Sarah, Jim's wife.
I must admit I expected alot after viewing the trailer of The Haunted Mansion, anything made by Disney and starring Eddie Murphy is sure to be great and this was no exception.Right from the word go I enjoyed this movie.
They have definately hit the nail on the head with this one :-)Firstly keep it as short as possible, whilst it wasnt extremely short it was always happening so time seemed to just fly by whilst I watched the movie.Secondly keep the laughs up and for that Eddie Murphy did really well.Thirdly keep the scares distant and few.Altogether the movie did an amazing job and I would like to congratulate everybody involved for such a brilliant and enjoyable flick.I gave The Haunted Mansion 10/10.
Something Disney movies often do so, especially lately.I also can't say if I'm too sure about Eddie Murphy casting as the main lead.
Besides the well known Eddie Murphy, the movie also features well known and respected actors such as Terence Stamp, Nathaniel Parker and Jennifer Tilly.
So thumbs up to the special effects team on their efforts in "The Haunted Mansion".The acting in the movie was good, although you shouldn't expect a Shakespearian experience here.
My rating for "Haunted Mansion"-7.5-8/10.About the DVD: Disney has released a great DVD for the film.
The haunted mansion !What a ride, and let me tell you, what a movie!
When I first seen the trailer for this movie, I was like oh no not another Eddie Murphy film.
I heard someone behind me in the theater ask a few times isn't this kid's movie and what is this film rated.
Eddie Murphy's wife in the film Sara Evers played by Marsha Thomason gave the best performance.
I pray that "It's a Small World" is never filmed, but I digress.Eddie Murphy is good in the leading role, but his wife looked way too young for him.
The Haunted Mansion is definitely a movie for the whole family to enjoy.
Sometimes, basing a movie off a ride turns out great, like Pirates of the Caribbean.
The story about the groom looking for his lost bride fits the attraction-based movie well and it mixes in with the Evers realty subplot perfectly.Eddie Murphy was his classic funny self and gave off some really hilarious moments in the movie, especially him getting creep-ed out by all the hauntings in the old house.
The Haunted Mansion is a very good movie.
If the same time and talent had been used on this film that had been used on "Pirates Of THe Caribbean", this "Haunted Mansion" would have been just as successful!.