The Haunted Mansion

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</td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> The Haunted Mansion</div> <div>  <iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?o=1&l=as1&f=ifr&t=reelmoviecriticc&dev-t=D68HUNXKLHS4J&p=8&asins=B0001A79FI&IS2=1&lt1=_blank"><MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/reelmoviecriticc" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com"></iframe>  </div> <div> <IMG SRC="3f79b260.png" border=0 width="411" height="550" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> For collectible movie items, enter the movie, actor, director, etc. in the box below</div> <div>  <HTML> <BODY> <script language="JavaScript1.1"> var 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COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" > ½ </FONT></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="589"><div> Cast</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>            Eddie Murphy</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div>                           Jim Evers</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>            Terence Stamp</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div> Aree Davis</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>            Marsha Thomason</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div> Sara Evers</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>            Jennifer Tilly</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div>                             Madame Leota</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Directed by Bob Minkoff.  Comedy/ Horror.  Rated PG.  99 minutes.  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> <B>The Ghost and Mrs. Evers</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Following the success of another film based on nothing more than a time-honored favorite ride at Disneyland, the holiday release of "The Haunted Mansion" does not quite live up to its predecessor and yet is passable family fun.  This second conversion from amusement park ride to feature film, with no more than a visual style to weave a film around, is not the polished achievement of "Pirates of the Caribbean." However, its adequate plot and special effects are solid enough for an afternoon's entertainment.  Bound to draw comparisons with its pirate forerunner, "Mansion" lacks the elegance of the former.</div> <bR> <div> In the first few minutes a condensed version of the double suicide of parted lovers that occurred at the Gracey manor some 150 years earlier is revealed with quick cuts.  Fast forward to the present where Eddie Murphy, as half of the husband/wife real estate firm of Evers and Evers, plays a well-meaning but career driven dad, whose habit of missing anniversary and birthday parties has him in the doghouse.  With his wife Sara (Marsha Thomason) and their two children, he's making amends with a business-free trip to the lake.  On their way out of town, he can't resist the lure of a quick stop for a shot at a multi-million dollar listing after a call from the home of an extravagant estate whose owner wants to sell.  Actually, he wants to list the place with Sara Evers after seeing her photo on the couples' business leaflet.  It seems she's a ringer for the long dead bride-to-be of the great grand father of the current owner, Master Gracey (Nathaniel Parker).  Orchestrating the visit and all else within the gates of the gothic plantation is his loyal servant Ramsley (Terrence Stamp).</div> <div>  </div> <div> Eddie Murphy delivers a restrained performance and forestalls the whole affair from falling into the ridiculous.  He is the focal point for some lessons in overcoming fears and valuing those you love more than you value your BMW.  Writer David Berenbaum ("Elf") inserted the obvious influences of an array of such past masters of haunted cinematic storytelling, most notably, Jean Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast," "The Sixth Sense," and a dash of "Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein." </div> <bR> <div> The dead mansion and its inhabitants come alive, including a pair of benevolent servants and the bodiless head of Meg Tilly as a gypsy fortuneteller in a crystal ball.  The curse and its dire implications for Sara become the conundrum to untangle.  In an interesting and, one imagines not wholly unintentional subtext, the southern sensibility of a 19<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT> century white plantation master in love with a woman "not suitable to be his bride" may appear invisible to many but will not be lost to all.    </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Shelley Cameron © 2003</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>Shelley@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>