Haunted Mansion (Blu-ray)
Picture: B Sound: B Extras: C- Film: C-
In Eddie
Murphy’s career, he has walked a fine line between funny and unfunny as well as
what he considers the “white” versus “black” world racially, then added two new
dichotomies to his resume: adult/children and outrageous/politically
correct. The later two revived his
career, but he still have crossed the line if he (and the studio) though if
commercial gain was in the cards. Rob
Minkoff’s Haunted Mansion (2003) has
work-obsessed Jim Evers (Murphy) entering a world of the past (another
dimension or not) and meeting a ghost Christmas
Carol style that could change his life for the better.
Unfortunately,
this is so weak thanks to the directing by Minkoff and David Berenbaum’s very
weak screenplay that it cannot compete with the classic Charles Dickens book,
any holiday B-movie, any comic Horror B-movie or Richard Donner’s grossly
underrated Scrooged (1988) with Bill Murray. Instead, he sometimes crosses the
stereotypical Blackman zone and even the great Terence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly,
Wallace Shawn and Nathaniel Parker or Rick Baker make-up can save this
dud. Since Pirates Of The Caribbean is the other film franchise based on a
Disney amusement park ride and has its first two films as monster (no pun
intended) hits, you can see why they wanted this one out in Blu-ray to take
advantage of curiosity interest. Too bad
it is not good.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is no better or worse than the Pirates series, though some of the
digital effects already look dated, as if they did not upon first release. Cinematographer Remi Adefarasin, B.S.C.,
brings a different lighting sensibility that makes this more watchable than it might
have been otherwise and this looks just that much better than a DVD of the film
would. Yes, the phony look will recall
the older Horror/Comedies it is trying to emulate, but that is not necessarily
a good thing.
The PCM
5.1 24bit/48kHz mix is better than the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and
higher than any other PCM Blu-ray form Disney save the already reviewed Dinosaur, but except for the “amusement
park ride” moments, the mix and music by Mark Mancina are nothing to write home
about except for some more clarity. The
combination of sound and image are only occasionally exciting, but mirror the
plodding elements of the film.
Obviously, the sound was pumped up trying to be like the ride. Extras include the unrelated HD short Grave
Spirits, two audio commentary tracks, Blu-ray access to highlight
scenes of the film, Anatomy Of A Scene
piece and a history of the actual Disney ride more interesting than anything
else on the Blu-ray.
- Nicholas Sheffo
