Talented cast can’t bring this re-imagined ghost romp to life
Is there anything more menacing than a film opening with the credit: “and Jared Leto as the Hatbox Ghost”? What a bone-chilling sequence of words. Unfortunately, that’s the only part of the new “Haunted Mansion” that might send shivers down your spine. The rest of this PG-13 ghost romp based on a Disneyland ride elicits only yawns, even when the aforementioned guest star shows up (somewhat) as the be-hatted spirit in question.
“Dear White People” and “Bad Hair” director Justin Simien tackles the latest iteration of this ride-based IP, which was previously made into a 2003 film directed by
Rob Minkoff and starring Eddie Murphy. “Ghostbusters” reboot writer Katie Dippold contributes the script, which alternates between witty and maudlin, and heaps on heavy themes of grief and trauma in between the exposition dumps.
In the lead is the appealing actor LaKeith Stanfield, who has an undeniable presence and sense of swagger on screen as Ben Matthias, a former astrophysicist who now guides ghost tours in New Orleans. Having developed a specialized camera lens to capture spectral images (a “ghost cam”), he’s been hired by a priest (Owen Wilson) to help a mother (Rosario Dawson) and son (Chase W. Dillon) who have moved into the local haunted mansion down the road.
The good news about “Haunted Mansion” is that Stanfield is a treat to watch in this slyly humorous leading man role. His Ben is wry and hot and funny; he’s cool and gets to be the hero too. If only the rest of the movie were up to the level of its star.
Every time Dippold’s script gets a little bit weird, or the actors color outside the lines, the film jerks back to the studio-noted conventional, layering on the themes of trauma while sending the characters spiraling down the dim, never-ending hallways of the mansion (the movie is dismally dark and gray). The kooky Wilson, plus Tiffany Haddish as a fake psychic, and Danny DeVito as an eccentric professor, try their best to breath some life to the dead-as-doorknob material, but to no avail. Scenes progress out of what seems a sense of obligation rather than suspenseful narrative thrust.
At the center of it all remains Stanfield, a beacon of a more interesting story. There’s a spark of a good idea with Ben as a skeptical ghost-hunting scammer who surprises himself when he becomes legit, alongside fellow fraudsters who end up proving themselves worthy paranormal experts. But that storyline is tossed aside for a stereotypical dead wife backstory, and Stanfield is relegated to merely cowering and reacting in service of this bland kiddie ghost movie.
As for Leto’s Hatbox Ghost? He does appear, sort of, as does Dan Levy, disguised, for about 15 seconds (what happened to that scene?). Despite the multitude of celebrity guests (including Jamie Lee Curtis), there’s no need to take up residence in this “Haunted Mansion.”