Review of "The Haunted Mansion" (2003)

It's a distant memory, but remember when Eddie Murphy used to make smart film choices and was really a comic genius in his movies? Sad to say, once you've seen The Haunted Mansion, you'll have to keep relying on those memories. (But I'm glad to say, it's not Pluto Nash, either.)

Murphy plays Jim Evers, a hard-working real estate agent who, while on the way to a vacation spot with his family ­ that'd be his wife, Sara (Marsha Thomason) and two kids, Megan (Aree Davis) and Michael (Marc John Jefferies) -- insists upon stopping at a potential client's house for "just a few minutes". The house is more of a rotting old manor on the Louisiana bayou, and is occupied by a man named Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker) and his creepy butler Ramsley (Terence Stamp).

Needless to say, a rainstorm washes out the roads and the family has to spend the night in the haunted mansion. Before long, the family learns that Gracey isn't a man at all ­ he's a ghost and he's got a bone to pick with the Evers family. With the help of two spirits (Wallace Shawn and Dina Waters) and a disembodied head (Jennifer Tilly), the Evers set out to survive the night and break the curse of Gracey Mansion.

Disney tried. The ghosts and special effects are magnificent. Everything you love from the Haunted mansion ride at Disneyland is there. Directed by Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little) and written by David Berenbaum (Elf), The Haunted Mansion has some talent to back it up (and yes, I do think Murphy still has talent). If you are a fan of special effects you might find it worth spending the money, but if you want some good plotting with your pretty pictures you'll want to save up your DVD rental points instead.