GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Film

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

 

 

Limited Releases

sort by name sort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Haunted Mansion, The
Walt Diney Pictures / Buena Vista Pictures

Haunted Mansion, The  reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 34 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
4.8 out of 10
based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 25 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG for frightening images, thematic elements and language

Starring Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Tilly, Terence Stamp, Marsha Thomason, Nathaniel Parker, Marc John Jefferies, Aree Davis, Martin Klebba, and Don Knotts

The Haunted Mansion comes alive like never before with eye-popping visual and special effects in this all-new, fun-filled, fright-packed comedy adventure. (Disney)


GENRE(S): Comedy  |  Family/Kids  |  Fantasy  |  Horror  
WRITTEN BY: David Berenbaum  
DIRECTED BY: Rob Minkoff  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: April 20, 2004 
Video: April 20, 2004 
Theatrical: November 26, 2003 
RUNNING TIME: 99 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
A fright show artfully designed for the whole family, a comedy that all but the most impressionable children will likely get a kick out of.
Read Full Review
70
Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
This Mansion should satisfy, at least until the disappointing climax.
Read Full Review
63
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What I got was a fairly intriguing story and an actual plot that is actually resolved. That doesn't make the movie good enough to recommend, but it makes it better than the ads suggest.
Read Full Review
63
Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand
The result is like near-beer: The taste is familiar, but the spirit is missing.
Read Full Review
60
TV Guide Angel Cohn
It's notoriously difficult to balance lighthearted humor with the spookiness a good ghost story requires, but director Rob Minkoff is surprisingly successful, delivering a satisfying mix of laughs and mild scares aimed at a young audience.
Read Full Review
60
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Terence Stamp and Wallace Shawn spend a fair amount of time skulking around as ghostly servants, which kept me amused for the movie's 99 minutes.
Read Full Review
60
The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden
Pleasant and atmospheric family romp, offering enough mildly chilling thrills to keep everyone entertained during its brief running time.
Read Full Review
50
Film Threat Kevin Carr
With The Haunted Mansion, Eddie Murphy continues in a long line of family film stinkers.
Read Full Review
50
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
While it may supply giggles and shivers to preteens, grownups should think twice before entering this all-too-haunted house.
Read Full Review
50
Boston Globe Ty Burr
It is spectacularly average. Neither an inspired reimagining nor a painful dud,
Read Full Review
50
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
The story introduces a mystery halfway through to keep the plot from running out of steam, but neither its set-up nor its resolution provide much drama.
Read Full Review
50
Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
The words "Welcome foolish mortals" open Walt Disney Pictures' The Haunted Mansion, a movie based on Disneyland and Walt Disney World's classic theme park attractions. The foolish mortals, of course, would be those who pay $9 a ticket at the door.
Read Full Review
50
ReelViews James Berardinelli
It's dull, childish, and uninspired.
Read Full Review
50
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Surprisingly decent.
Read Full Review
50
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
It's perfectly palatable family fare for a long weekend.
Read Full Review
50
Washington Post Jen Chaney
Eddie Murphy is less offensive than Dr. Seuss.
Read Full Review
50
Miami Herald Connie Ogle
Won't surprise you, but it's more tolerable than the grating, garish, millinery-challenged Cat. Besides, a cadaverous Terence Stamp trumps a glossy Alec Baldwin as a bad guy any day.
Read Full Review
42
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The special effects display is so lacking in imagination it turns into so much noise, just a flashy distraction from the stiff, stock cliches of the by-the-numbers script.
Read Full Review
40
Empire Ian Freer
Doesn’t deliver a sliver of the fun and thrall the ride serves up in a fraction of the time.
Read Full Review
38
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
A return to form -- bad form. Lifeless, unimaginative and almost determinedly uninspired, it's paint-by-numbers filmmaking at its dreariest.
Read Full Review
38
USA Today Mike Clark
A Disney Thanksgiving movie that plays like a Halloween holdover is odd enough. Even so, it wouldn't be that bad if you stuck your hand into the trick-or-treat bag and found a hefty, succulently dressed and edible turkey instead of the other kind.
Read Full Review
33
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
Does nothing right and, blessedly, vanishes swiftly like the aroma of a nasty belch.
Read Full Review
33
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Tame and witless enough to make me long for the ancient, dusty fright kitsch of ''The Munsters.''
Read Full Review
30
The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
It's also hard to figure out who this movie is supposed to delight: It's too scary for little kids and not nearly scary enough for anyone allowed to rent "The Ring" without getting carded.
Read Full Review
30
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Learn from the Evers family: The Haunted Mansion is not worth the detour.
Read Full Review
30
Variety Robert Koehler
Mansion's drab comic strokes and narrative render the movie almost superfluous.
Read Full Review
25
Premiere Maia Abraham
Perhaps The Haunted Mansion will scare the ride-adaptation trend out of Disney's system. Let's hope Mr. Toad doesn't have a development deal.
Read Full Review
25
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
A tepid comedy whose only saving grace is the face of Jennifer Tilly in a crystal ball.
Read Full Review
25
New York Post Lou Lumenick
This mostly laugh-and scare-free turkey offers an utterly bored -- and boring -- Eddie Murphy taking a back seat to special effects, elaborate sets and a wispy story slapped together by David Berenbaum (the overrated "Elf").
Read Full Review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Can't have an American Thanksgiving without a turkey.
Read Full Review
20
LA Weekly Chuck Wilson
The movie is a funereally paced downer.
Read Full Review
20
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The only entertaining member of the cast is Terence Stamp.
20
Village Voice Brian Parks
Lamer than Tiny Tim on a damp London day.
Read Full Review
20
The New York Times A.O. Scott
The film equivalent of the dark, boring period on a haunted house ride before the gondola crashes into another room filled with dirty mirrors.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 4.8 (out of 10) based on 25 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Claire J. gave it an 8:
Its a great movie but i still rate it an 8.

Saer A. gave it a 6:
Not sure if I liked The Haunted Mansion. There were some scenes where I liked it and some where I dont. Also, I believe that a movie like this does'nt need to be a PG movie... a movie like this deserves to be PG-13. This is'nt a kids movie for ages 7 and younger. But ovverall I thought the movie was kind of good.

Wongit gave it a 7:
It was alright, i honestly was expecting one shitty movie but this was okay. It depicted the ride quite well. Parts were funny. Even though the ride dosent give much to work with it does an alright job of making a somewhat interesting movie. The one thing i thought sucked was the ending... cheesy.

Kyle T. gave it a 10:
I really don't care what the rest of the people say. This is a great movie for all ages. Possibly a little scary for children under the age of 5 or 6 depends on the child. But over all i give this movie a perfect 10. Jennifer Tilly did a wonderful job as Madame Leota who doesn't have a large part in the ride but provides as a key for the Movie. Eddie Murphy what can i say but wonderful. The kids did a dreat job also. Disney did good justice to the Theme park ride. Great Movie. A must see!!!

T. C. gave it a 7:
It has a simple plot, therefore lacks some originality but I think it deserves some credit in its graphics and entertainment. While not extremely hilarious, it's quite entertaining.

Jamal J. gave it a 0:
Jamal says Eddie bro what the hell are you thinking making this crap? Bro you are better than doing this stuff. It seems to Jamal that all you are trying to do is to make some easy scratch. Bro you better get your career back on track before they show you the door. This Mansion sucked.

Marsha T. gave it a 3:
Not the worst movie of the year, but COME ON, Disney, you could have done better than that! Granted, the ride at the amusement park doesn't give you much to work with, but if you can't think up something creative, don't make the movie in the first place! The premise of the movie is unrealistic, and just goes from bad to worse... the whole bit at the end with the wife switching bodies was just preposterous.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: MLB | Spore | iPhone 3G | Paris Hilton | Antivirus Software | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use