The Haunted Mansion - 2003

Lackluster attempt to capitalize on a Disney favorite. When real-estate agent Jim Evers (Murphy) visits an old mansion with his family, the ghostly owner (Parker) believes Sara Evers (Thomason) is his lost love. There was incredible potential with this film but the story itself was boring, predictable and slow moving, with very little suspense. We found ourselves rolling our eyes more than once. The attempts at humor fell completely flat and were actually grating. The miscasting of Eddie Murphy was probably their first mistake. His acting style was totally out of place for the story. Most of the performances were average, with possibly the exception of Nathaniel Parker of Inspector Lynley fame, and Terence Stamp as the butler. Surprisingly, the children were pretty irritating. One of Disney’s strengths has always been the children in their films, but both the characters themselves as well as the performances were unappealing. The films only redeeming qualities were some great special effects which would probably add 1/2 star. Not enough to save the film, however.  **