Sometimes, basing a movie off a ride turns out great, like Pirates of the Caribbean. And sometimes, you end up with this.But is that really a bad thing? Sure, a lot of people hated the movie, but I genuinely enjoyed it. The plot, while far from scary at any point, wasn't half bad. It was creative, and actually quite fun.And the best part? The movie was hilarious. Some of the jokes were pretty clever, but the funniest parts were unintentional. In some scenes, the CGI is absolutely atrocious. And that makes it funny. It's hard not to crack up when poorly animated minuscule tubas are orbiting Eddie Murphy.Oh yeah! Did I mention Eddie Murphy? So, this movie isn't really for everyone. The overly critical and the easily offended will not like this movie. But anybody with a good sense of humor will enjoy it, despite it's faults.

The Haunted Mansion (2003): Dir: Rob Minkoff / Cast: Eddie Murphy, Terrence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly, Wallace Shawn, Dina Waters: What can one possibly say about a film based on a theme park ride? One can say that it is desperate Hollywood in action churning out one of the worst films of the year. Third grade art students can create better effects than the junk presented here. There is no real plot worth mentioning. It is just Eddie Murphy as a real estate agent who promises his frustrated family a vacation and are about to do that but must make one fatal stop. From there it is scene after scene of bad production values and pitiful storytelling of how scared they should be and how bored the audience is. Director Rob Minkoff previously directed The Lion King but you would never know it from watching this despicable garbage. Murphy will be haunted by this career kill. Being in this and Daddy Daycare the same year gives an impression that he desires to tone himself down in terms of humour but his film choices are hitting lower than any dirty humour in his more adult films. He is not at his best here but that is nothing compared to the embarrassing performance of Terrence Stamp as a butler. Others wasting valuable time are Jennifer Tilly and Wallace Shawn who can do better than this. The production values are on par with one's diarrhea. Score: 0 / 10

I'm not sure why this movie is so underrated but I found it to be a great family film - especially for Halloween! The movie is has quite a bit of comedy in it and really cool special effects for a family/kids Disney film. The story was good too.I rode on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland (Florida)when I was a young girl... and I still remember some of what was in there to this very day! It was one of my favorite rides at Disneyland as a girl - and I would ride it again today! This movie is the story behind the famous Disney Haunted Mansion ride.8/10

Ah 2003, the start of Disney's major theme park ride adaptations into the movies...not counting a few earlier nondescript flicks and 'Mission to Mars' which I never realised was a theme park adaptation. If you think about this premise you could be forgiven for thinking it would turn out crap, especially with Eddie Murphy involved. And you wouldn't be far wrong on that one point, the casting of Murphy and his 'family' members in this film was a terrible choice.The reason being they all stick out like a sore thumb in the story, they all look totally out of place and none can act too well. The film has been turned into a Murphy vehicle and the film suffers for it, it feels forced, his family in the film feel forced and fake, the silly humour and annoying dialog from Murphy feels forced and its all in there simply for Murphy, awful decision.That aside the rest of the film is actually pretty sweet. The plot has been cleverly turned into a romantic ghost tale where upon the mansions owner is seeking his one true love whom he lost centuries ago. Of course his true love is Murphy's living wife so a battle of supernatural proportions ensues as Murphy must stop this aristocratic spook floating off with his wife.What works is the extra casting of the main ghost servants and their master within the mansion. Stamp is perfect as the stiff upper lipped butler with a dark secret, Wallace Shawn is perfect as the quirky sidekick footman ghost, Tilly is surprisingly good as the crystal ball gypsy spirit and Nathaniel Parker plays the noble British toff manor owner to a tee complete with thick dark locks. Not too sure how these ghosts work though, at times they can't or don't seem to interact with the living, then all of a sudden they can touch and pick things up.Its all very clichéd and hammy of course being based on a stereotypical haunted house attraction but that's fine, you expect that. In fact they capture that atmosphere perfectly, the whole eccentric Disney ambiance coupled with an eerie fanciful glow. Indeed the film does work better if you have actually been on the attraction at Disney World. There are many many little homages to the ride throughout the film from visual references to dialog, some sequences showing identical sections from the attraction. It does sounds kinda tacky but it really works nicely and gives you a pleasant ghostly trip down memory lane.I really liked how the ghosts become 'more dead' visually the further from the mansion they are. So once outside all the ghosts have a really cool supernatural blue glow or aura which looks quite striking. I liked the graveyard and how it housed many of the ghosts from the attraction including the three famous hitchhiker spooks. As said I also liked the replication of sets from the attraction too, the hallway of portraits being the main one easily. One thing I didn't like was the swamp set New Orleans look for the mansion, not my personal cup of tea, I prefer the Liberty Square Dutch Gothic design from Disney World's Magic Kingdom.But how did that ghostly horse drawn hearse crash through the walls of the mansion complete with Murphy and co inside?. How would ghosts be able to knock through walls when they are...errr ghosts. And how on earth would living people be able to go through the wall with the ghosts??.On the whole the film does look really good and clearly a lot of thought and craftsmanship went into making the visuals realistic. Its really nice (and amazingly surprising) that they actually constructed the mansion instead of relying on CGI. The interiors and props all benefit from genuine craftsmanship too which really sets the mood, for all you 'Nightmare Before Christmas'/Addams Family/Munster lovers out there (like me) you'll love it.This is a film you really really really really did expect to be utter utter utter tripe...but its not!. Its actually a really decent looking light-hearted supernatural ride just like the real attraction. The homages are great for folk who have been to the attraction but for those who haven't they just come across as neat spooky visual candy. As I said the only let down is Murphy and co as the endangered mortal family, well mainly Murphy. His tomfoolery lets down the quite decent performances of the supernatural cast.6.5/10