Where I Watched It: Disney plus

English Audio Description provided By: Deluxe

Narrated By: Alexander Graham

Justin Simian has a remake/reboot that will be the next thing i review, but I decided to give this Eddie Murphy version a second chance. it wasn’t as bad as I remembered it, and it probably never was. Honestly, Murphy had this period where he didn’t seem to be reading the scripts, and directors just let him do his thing, and that is all over this movie. There’s also a weird subplot that involves why his family is drawn to the mansion in the first place. He’s a successful realtor, but it is really putting a stress on his marriage and fatherhood.

This version is far more aimed at kids than the remake. The old version is a little goofier, and instead of having a powerhouse supporting cast full of stars, we get character actors like Terence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly, and Wallace Shawn. I was working for a theatre when this first came out, and was an actual adult, so there’s no childhood nostalgia attached here for me. It feels like a very average Eddie Murphy comedy, but it’s not one of the worst films I had ever seen, which is kind of where my mind allowed this to slip. Honestly, it’s hard for Murphy to be that bad, as I didn’t even hate The Adventures Of Pluto Nash that much. In fact, I’d argue he has other films worse than Pluto Nash. But, this one is better than that box office bomb.

The audio description was fine, and since haunted Mansion wasn’t shot fifty years ago, there isn’t a stark contrast in sound quality between the description track and the movie. There’s a lot to describe here, because you want people immersed in the experience of the Mansion, and the hauntings, and the little nods to the ride. The remake does it better, just to give you a preview. But this isn’t awful. I’ll stop treating it like a bargain bin film from now on.

Final Grade: C+