Movies - The Haunted Mansion

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	Movies - The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Mansion is a film released in November 2003 and produced and distrbuted by The Walt Disney Company.

Synopsis

Based loosely on The Haunted Mansion theme park ride, this film stars Eddie Murphy and Marsha Thomason as Jim and Sara Evers, African-American proprietors of "Evers and Evers Real Estate" and parents of 10 year old Michael and his 13 year old sister Megan (played by Marc John Jefferies and Aree Davis). Jim is a workaholic who has not been spending time with his family, to the disapproval of his wife. On a weekend trip in which he has promised to devote time to the family, they make a detour through the swamps of New Orleans to Gracey Manor, a decaying but valuable property. The owners have contacted Sara with interest in selling.

Once arriving a violent rainstorm erupts, and they are led inside by butler Ramsley (Terence Stamp) who is immediately disturbed that Sara did not come alone. They are introduced to Master Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), the heir of the house, and invited to stay the night as the roads have flooded. The children are sent to one bedroom, the parents to another.

As the parents are separated and Jim finds himself trapped in a secret passage, the children are led by a floating blue orb into an attic room where they discover an antiquated painting that looks exactly like their mother. They are encountered by Ezra and Emma (a footman and maid), who work for the mansion who warn them of impending danger. They discover that the two are actually ghosts, as is Master Gracey, and that he thinks their mother is his lost suicided lover Elizabeth returned to him from beyond the grave.

Meanwhile Jim discovers the animated head of gypsy Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly in a critically praised performance), stored magically inside a crystal ball. Through her help he is led to his children and together they follow her instructions through a ghost-populated graveyard to find a key that will help them flee the mansion. They learn that there is a curse binding the souls of everyone who has died in the mansion to walk its premises until it is broken.

Jim and his daughter go into a mausoleum (per the gypsy's instructions) and locate the key in question, only to be attacked by hundreds of zombie-corpses. They find themselves trapped in the mausoleum, but his 10-year-old son overcomes his fear of spiders (which are crawling all over the outside of the crypt door) and frees them just in time.

They use the key to unlock a trunk. Inside the trunk is a letter from Elizabeth declaring that she loved Master Gracey. It is revealed that Ramsley, also a ghost, poisoned Elizabeth to prevent an "interracial relationship" between she and Master Gracey(Jim exclames:"The butler did it?! You gotta be kidding me!"). He then traps the children in a trunk suitcase and literally throws Jim out of the house, trapping him inside. He confronts Sara and makes it clear that she will either proceed with the marriage (and a suicide) to help break the curse from his point of view, or that her children will die.

Jim, attempting to break back into the mansion but finding it magically sealed, sits outside in vain until the head of Madame Leota comedically rolls up to him to encourage him to keep trying. He drives his car through the wall just in time to stop the wedding and confront Master Gracey with the truth. When all is revealed, Ramsley is enraged and envokes the powers of Hell. The multiple windows of the mountain shatter as evil spirits fly around the room. Then out of the fireplace comes a giant demonic dragon. The dragon sucks Ramsley into the fire place for his eternal punishment in hell. Before that, Ramsley grabs Jim's left leg and then Master Gracey saves him before he is pulled in. Unfortunately Sara has had enough of the poison given to her before the wedding to die. Just in time, Elizabeth's spirit moves into Sara's body and revives her, breaking the curse and bringing her back to life.

Thus all of the spirits in the mansion, including Elizabeth, Master Gracey, Ezra, and Emma ascend into the light of Heaven, their curse broken. Jim has learned an important lesson about family, and his son and daughter have learned bravery in the face of evil. The family, now in possession of the deed to the house, head back home (with the encased head of Madame Leota in the back seat and a quartet of singing busts strapped to the back of the car singing their own version of When the Saints Come Marching In).

Critical Reception

The film received mixed commentary. Many critics felt Murphy's performance was out of place; Thomason's (a British actress affecting an American accent) cold. Others praised the film for never wavering from its dark and serious message of racial tolerance (not to mention its horrific imagery) despite being directed at children. The film did very well in its opening weekend, grossing approximately $35,000,000 in the United States.

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Movies - The Haunted Mansion

Synopsis

Critical Reception

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