Lack of good storyline.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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.

Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is a hard-working real estate agent who doesn't have time for his family. After missing their wedding anniversary, he proposes to go down to the lake. His wife Sara (Marsha Thomason) gets a call from Gracey Manor looking to sell. Sara is reluctant to go but Jim drags her and the kids to meet Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker). A storm floods out the road and the Evers are forced to stay. Ramsley (Terence Stamp) is the stiff creepy butler. The manor is web-filled and Gothic with a vast cemetery in the back. Jim stumbles onto a secret passage and encounters Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly), a gypsy ghost locked in a crystal ball. The kids follow a spectral orb up to the attic and finds a portrait that looks exactly like their mother where they meet house staff Emma (Dina Spybey) and Ezra (Wallace Shawn) who are actually ghosts.Eddie Murphy is pushing too hard to be a jerk. It's no surprise that he succeeds. His character is a jerk and doesn't come off well. Eddie isn't funny anymore. This movie is not scary. It's PG and has no edge to it. Marsha Thomason seems sweet but not very compelling. I do like the kids. This movie needed to work on their level. Essentially, it needed to be their movie if the PG rating needs to stick. The scares are always heightened when the audience sees it through children's eyes. The only fun part is when Eddie and the kids are looking for the key in the cemetery. The kids battle some scary stuff. I just wish the rest of the movie is more like that.

If you are looking for something to do with your day but cant think of anything, then put this film on. I can assure you that you will soon think of something better to do. This is without doubt THE worst film ever made and I have seen 'Faust'. Wallace Shawn plays the exact same character he did in 1987 in The Princess Bride with no obvious point to it. The story goes absolutely nowhere and numerous times I found myself just wandering around the house looking for something better to fulfill my hour and a half. So in summary if you feel like watching this, don't, just go stare at your hands in the corner. You will have a much more enjoyable time.

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