‘Haunted Mansion’ scares up a modest renovation of the Disney ride turned movie

Review by Brian Lowry, CNN

(CNN) — Disney’s latest renovation of “Haunted Mansion” is certainly clever in building off the foundation of the theme-park ride, with a darker streak than the last stab 20 years ago that starred Eddie Murphy. Yet even with a solid cast yielding good moments, there’s a general flatness to it, and a sense the movie is seeking to scare up what it can in theaters before settling into its natural haunting grounds on Disney+.

The last “Haunted Mansion,” from 2003, came a few months after the success of “Pirates of the Caribbean” (which spawned four sequels). While it performed reasonably well at the box office, the one-two punch spoke to the limits of spinning magic out of Disneyland attractions.

This latest version – directed by Justin Simien (of the Netflix series “Dear White People” and comedy-horror film “Bad Hair”) from a screenplay by Katie Dippold (whose credits include the female “Ghostbusters” reboot) – exhibits greater ambition and a somewhat more adult sensibility, exploring themes of loss and grief amid the homages to stretching rooms and hitchhiking ghosts.

Set in New Orleans, the story hinges on an astrophysicist, Ben (LaKeith Stanfield), who has developed a camera theoretically capable of capturing ghostly images. He’s recruited by a priest (Owen Wilson) on behalf of Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her young son (Chase W. Dillon), who have acquired a very haunted mansion that she had hoped to turn into a bed and breakfast.

Ben quickly overcomes his skepticism, realizing that there are indeed ghosts in the mansion, as well as a darker presence holding them there. Seeking help, the principals recruit a not-exactly-dream-team consisting of a psychic (Tiffany Haddish) and historian (Danny DeVito), which sounds as much like a haunted “Gilligan’s Island” as anything else.

While “Ghostbusters” and its progeny have demonstrated the art of spectral comedy, “Haunted Mansion” leans a bit harder into the scare component, as well as Ben’s grieving over a personal loss, potentially making him more vulnerable to the house’s supernatural nature.

Still, the actual-movie elements invariably must coexist with servicing the familiar flourishes associated with the ride, an uneasy combination that extracts some of the life from the film – whose main strength might be its production design, meticulously replicating the ride’s tiniest details – before it pleasantly rallies at the end.

Beyond the core group the cast includes smaller parts for Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota (who probably wouldn’t have chosen this as her post Oscar follow-up if she could really foresee the future) and Jared Leto, or a facsimile thereof, as the Hatbox Ghost.

Nobody has been more aggressive about mining its vaults than Disney, but the demand created by its streaming service has somewhat diluted that strategy and made something like “Haunted Mansion” feel like less of an occasion – an exercise in the streaming-age law of unintended consequences. (Dawson, incidentally, might be the studio’s MVP this summer between this and the upcoming “Ahsoka.”)

Tasked with a tough assignment – generating enthusiasm regarding a reboot of a movie about a theme-park ride – “Haunted Mansion” does about as well as it could; still, you don’t need a crystal ball to predict a relatively short stay in theaters, followed by a longer and likely happier afterlife in the spooky realm of streaming.

“Haunted Mansion” premieres July 28 in US theaters. It’s rated PG-13.

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