Running time: 87 minutes
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Nathanial Parker, Marsha Thomason
Rating 3 out of 10
Eddie Murphy continues his downward spiral into the bland world of family entertainment with this comedy ghost story that might keep the very young entertained but will hardly pull the wool over the eyes of any from about seven upwards. Based on the successful Disney ride of the same name, this has none of the panache and style of last year's other ride-based film Pirates of the Caribbean and seems to have been thrown together as a cynical and rather crass marketing project. Murphy plays Jim Evers, a successful but hardworking estate agent who can't find the time for his family in between his hectic work schedule. His wife (Marsha Thomason) finally persuades him to take a weekend away with the kids but Jim just can't resist looking at one more property on the market along the way. With a backyard full of tombstones and a pale English butler to greet them (Terence Stamp), the Evers become aware that this is no ordinary house.
The family meet the owner, Master Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), who charms them over dinner and allows them to stay overnight when a storm makes leaving impossible. But in the night strange things start to happen as the kids are visited by a spooky light and Jim becomes separated from his wife. A bizarre fortune-telling head (Jennifer Tilly) is his only help as he attempts to rescue his family from the clutches of evil. The plot is as silly as they come with little room for any real development, character or otherwise.
Director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) shows some technical ability but it is hard to see where the reported $90m budget was spent, given the sheer underwhelming nature of the special effects. There s some occasional light relief along the way, such as when Murphy encounters a troupe of singing statues, but too often the action slows to a grinding halt in under-written and ill-thought out sequences.
When Eddie Murphy's career began, he brought a hugely attractive edginess to both comedy and his cinematic performances. Twenty years later he has become the antithesis, playing it safe and telephoning in performances to the set. The blip that was the execrable Pluto Nash seems to have been overcome, and the success of the likes of The Haunted Mansion and Daddy Day Care indicates that we will have to suffer plenty more of this in the years to come.
