Years ago, while snooping through my grandma’s movie cabinet, I found the Haunted Mansion movie. Before discovering it, I hadn’t even known that it existed. The movie was quite dull, with no clear storyline for a kid. I still kept a sacred place for it since I adored the ride in Magic Kingdom. When the new movie was announced, that part of me jumped with excitement hoping that Disney could redeem itself.
Thankfully, they did.
Disney has been on the trend of remaking their beloved classics, which has very diverse opinions among fans. Although Haunted Mansion is technically a remake, it is based on the Disneyland California attraction while the original movie is focused on the Walt Disney World ride. This is shown significantly in the architecture of the mansion in each. The storyline in each is also unique with different ideas in the plot and original characters.
When I had imagined the movie, I thought it would be a lighthearted, family movie with happy haunts. Instead, it is a deep movie, with complex situations, plot twists, emotions, and near horror. The movie takes place in the surrounding areas of New Orleans when a woman and her son move to the mansion. When their surroundings show signs of haunts, they call in multiple people to help discover what is happening in the mansion, which turns into a high-stakes adventure of tracking down why so many spirits are kept in the house.
Although it may be solely my opinion, I was surprised by how scary and dark parts of the film were. I am strictly a no-horror movie person, so if a movie becomes scary, it will be turned off. I don’t remember exactly where in the movie I noticed it, but I was taken aback by some scenes that went beyond the classic Disney trends. Although I will admit that Brave terrifies me to this day, my opinion may not be conventional.
The movie had very emotional topics. The idea of losing someone and neglecting that it happened is shown repeatedly and each character with this theme deals with it differently and they even bond over it. Disney is common to have emotional topics in their movies, but it seemed much more dramatic than other films. There were moments when I was holding back tears for the solemn characters.
There were parts of the movie that were much more lighthearted. They did an amazing job of contrasting the scenes and creating different environments for the characters. The filming was also amazing, making the ghosts lifelike, while keeping the classic Disney style to them that coincides with the attraction.
The movie is easily set up with my rewatches, along with many others that I have talked to. Disney has done fantastic with recreating a previous movie and attraction with new elements to make it seem as if it is a brand new thought.
