Haunted Mansion (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

FAQs

Why did critics hate Haunted Mansion? ›

“The Haunted Mansion is disappointing in just about every way,” wrote Jay Boyar from the Disney-adjacent Orlando Sentinel. “The PG rating is purportedly for 'frightening images,' but the only thing frightening is the bland performance Eddie Murphy phones in,” said the New York Daily News's Jami Bernard.

Haunted Mansion's talented cast makes the movie a pleasant enough destination, although it's neither scary nor funny enough to wholeheartedly recommend. Haunted Mansion is a fun blend of horror and comedy with a great cast and a story that'll be extra entertaining for fans of the ride that inspired it.

Compared To The 2023 Film Where Both Ben And Travis Learn To Overcome Their Grief The 2003 Feels Like It Had A Good Idea Some Where But It's Buried Under Some Filler. Ben And Travis' Plot Points Are Treated Better Where The Mansion Serves As An Obstacle For Them To Overcome And Hardly Any Thing Feels Unnecessary.

Fresh red tomato. When at least 60% of reviews for a movie or TV show are positive, a red tomato is displayed to indicate its Fresh status. Green splat tomato. When less than 60% of reviews for a movie or TV show are positive, a green splat is displayed to indicate its Rotten status. Faded tomato.

You fail. You try. You fail. But the only true failure is when you stop trying.

Fierce Competition, Little Promotion, and Mixed Reception

Aside from the stiff competition, Haunted Mansion faced additional hurdles. It was the first big-budget film to be impacted by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, which started in mid-July 2023.

Both films employ ghostly scare tactics, but the Haunted Mansion remake accentuates the spookiness of it all. It's also rated PG-13 for thematic elements and scary action, pushing the envelope in terms of intensity and the lengths of the Hatbox Ghost's reign of terror.

Despite repeating some names and gags from Disney's shorter (and superior) “The Haunted Mansion,” the new film is neither a sequel nor a true retread of that 2003 movie, and viewers should feel no need to preface their viewing with the original.

“Haunted Mansion,” rated PG-13 for “some thematic elements and scary action,” is based on the Disneyland ride of the same name.

On the film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, films that have exclusively positive reviews and have been reviewed by at least five critics have a 100% approval rating.

Is an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes good? ›

As the reviews of a given film accumulate, the Rotten Tomatoes score measures the percentage that are more positive than negative, and assigns an overall fresh or rotten rating to the movie. Scores of over 60 percent are considered fresh, and scores of 59 percent and under are rotten.

On the film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, films that every surveyed critic considered bad have a 0% rating. As of 2023, only 40 films with 20 reviews have received this rating.

McKamey Manor has attracted significant controversy, criticism and media scrutiny.

WOKE ELEMENTS

Earning the movie back some non-woke points, one of its key plot devices is dependent on the implicitly understood and explicitly stated importance of having a stable and loving father in the home.

They eventually learn that all of the mansion's residents are actually ghosts, cursed a century ago by Gracey and Elizabeth's suicides and can only move to Heaven when they are reunited, and Gracey believes Sara is Elizabeth's reincarnation.

In later years, Murphy admitted his Haunted Mansion was such a mistake to star in that did not want to jinx the reboot. "I did a Haunted Mansion movie, and it wasn't very good, so I don't know if they want to bring the old baggage and have me stinking up the new one," Murphy said.