We’d seen a little Haunted Mansion footage at the D23 Expo last year, but it didn’t prepare us for the movie’s first actual trailer. If you’re a diehard Disney fan, you’ll probably recognize dozens of nods (if not outright replications) of spooks and scares from the beloved ride, but even if you’re not, Haunted Mansion looks like it could be a lot of fun.
What I’m most impressed with is that the movie seems to be a horror movie first and foremost, based on a loving homage to the Disney attraction. The humor—which works, in my opinion—doesn’t overwhelm the frights, which would take all the horror out of it. And although this is clearly a family movie, it looks like it’s quite willing to scare those families as opposed to watering everything down. All in all, I’m impressed.
Haunted Mansion’s packed, wildly over-talented cast includes Rosario Dawson, LaKeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Winona Ryder, Dan Levy, Jared Leto, Danny Devito, and Jamie Lee Curtis. It’s directed by Justin Simien (Dear White People, Bad Hair) and written by Katie Dippold (2016’s Ghostbusters, Parks and Recreation). The spookiness begins on July 28, when the Haunted Mansion comes to theaters.
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