Haunted Mansion 2003 Movie.
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Random blog day boo yah. As you should know Fridays is random blog day were we talk anything and everything and pretty much run with it. Today's blog is on the 2003 Movie The Haunted Mansion.
Over a century ago, wealthy landowner Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker) falls in love with Elizabeth Henshaw, a multicultural servant in his grand manor However he receives a letter informing him that she spurned him, and that her death by poison was suicide; he hangs himself in despair.
In the present, Jim (Eddie Murphy) and Sara Evers (Marsha Thomason) are successful realtors with two children, Megan (Aree Davis) and arachnophobia Michael (Marc John Jefferies). A workaholic with little time for his family, Jim misses his wedding anniversary and tries to make amends by suggesting a vacation to a nearby lake. Sara is contacted by the occupants of Gracey Manor in the Louisiana bayou; Jim, eager to make a deal after learning where the mansion is takes Sara and the kids to the mansion, meeting its owner Edward Gracey, his butler Ramsley (Terence stamp) and two other servants; maid Emma (Dina Spybey) and footman Ezra (Wallice Shawn).
When a rainstorm floods the nearby river, Gracey allows the family to stay the night. Ramsley takes Jim to the library to discuss the deal with Gracey, but Jim becomes trapped in a secret passage. Gracey gives Sara a tour of the mansion, discussing his past and his grandfathers death after the suicide of his lover Elizabeth. Megan and Michael follow a spectral orb to the attic, where they find a portrait of a woman that bares an almost identical resemblance to Sara. Emma and Ezra identify this woman as Elizabeth.
Jim meanwhile, encounters Madame Leota, the ghost of a gypsy whose head is encased in a crystal ball. He runs into Emma, Ezra and his children and returns to Leota for answers about Elizabeth's likeness to Sara. It is revealed that the mansions inhabitants are ghosts, cursed a century ago by Gracey and Elizabeth's untimely deaths, and can only enter the afterlife when the lovers are reunited. Gracey therefore believes Sara is Elizabeth's Reincarnation. Leota then sends the Evers to the Mansions cemetery to find a key that will reveal the truth behind Elizabeth's death. In a crypt beneath a mausoleum, Jim and Megan find he key but inadvertently disturb its undead residents. However they escape with help from Michael who overcomes his arachnophobia in the process.
Leota leads them to a trunk in the attic, which Jim unlocks to find a letter from Elizabeth to Gracey, revealing she truly loved him and wanted to marry him, indicating she was murdered. Ramsley then appears and reveals he killed Elizabeth to prevent Gracey from abandoning his heritage, as he believed their relationship was unacceptable. To hide the truth Ramsley traps the children in a trunk and literary throws Jim out of the mansion.
As Gracey and Sara rendezvous in the ballroom, she is confused when he asks if she recognizes him, and he insists she is his beloved Elizabeth. The room fills with dancing ghosts, and Gracey reveals his ghostly self, but Sara insists she's not Elizabeth. This gives Gracey second thoughts, but Ramsley insists they have found Elizabeth and, in time, she will remember. Ramsley Blackmails Sara into marrying Gracey in exchange for her children's safety.
Encouraged by Leota, Jim drives his car through the mansions conservatory, rescues his children and stops Sara and Gracey's wedding. He gives Elizabeth's letter to Gracey, revealing the truth about her death and Ramsley's lies. Gracey angrily confronts Ramsley, who rages at his masters apparent selfishness for loving Elizabeth and summons wraiths to attack the group. However, a fiery dragon emerges from the ballrooms fireplace and seizes Ramsley, who attempts to take Jim with him, but Gracey saves Jim as Ramsley is dragged down to Hell to face eternal damnation for his sins.
Sara collapses, having been poisoned by Ramsley, but the spectral orb appears and, processing Sara, is revealed to be Elizabeth's ghost. Elizabeth and Gracey reunite, and Sara is subsequently revived. With the curse finally lifted, Gracey gives the Evers the deed to the mansion and departs to Heaven with Elizabeth, Emma, Ezra and the mansion's other inhabitants. The Evers drive across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway for a proper vacation, accompanied by Leota, and the four singing busts they encountered while searching for the mausoleum strapped tot he back of their car.
In a post-credits scene, Leota bids farewell to the audience, inviting them to join the dead using dialogue form the Disneyland attraction.
The Haunted Mansion Wiki
The movie was released on November 23rd 2003 to blasé reviews, receiving a 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. With one critical consensus that it was “Never scar or funny, The Haunted mansion is as lifeless as the ghosts in the movie”. At the San Diego Comic-con International in 2010 it was rumoured that Guillermo Del Toro would be writing the script and producing a reboot of the movie. By 2012 Del Toro had written and submitted a final draft to Disney but wouldn't be directing. By August 2019 Del Toro was unsure if the movie would be produced but by August 28th 2020 it was announced a new life action adaption was happening with writer Katie Dippold.
I'm on the fence about the movie, mainly due to loving the ride and its loose backstory of Constance Hatchaway (Disneyland California), and bride Melanie Ravenswood who's tormented by a sinister Phantom (Disneyland Paris). Whilst the storyline is OK, what makes the movie good is Eddie Murphy as the dad and how great both the costumes and sets were handled. I do recommend giving it a watch if your a Disney fan but I give the movie a 4/10.
The movie is based on the Disneyland ride The haunted Mansion, a Dark Ride which combines the use of Walk through, Doom Buggies and special effects. The ride opened on August 12th 1969 after a series of Employee previews and soft openings on August 6th-10th.. The advertisement and subsequent opening of the ride was an immediate success, attracting record crowds which allowed the Disney's brand to recover from Walt's untimely death on December 15th 1966.
When I was a young kid I went to Disneyland Paris and The Haunted Mansion known there as the Phantom Manor became my favourite ride after riding it and has remained so to this day. I definitely recommend the ride to everyone who goes to any of the Disney parks across the world and give the ride a 9/10.
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THE WEBSITE BIBLIOGRAPHY:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haunted_Mansion_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haunted_Mansion
Haunted Mansion Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U32Law7K-b8
Haunted Mansion walk through (Disneyland California. 2018):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAnYRlNDM5A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37aVpNf9YPU
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