The Haunted Mansion wants your soul!
Gill Pringle
STACK Writer
With the iconic Disney logo above the title, Haunted Mansion is a spooky family-friendly movie with a lot of heart.
In this second film adaptation of Disney’s spooky theme park attraction, Haunted Mansion, Rosario Dawson stars as Gabbie, a single mum who moves to a sprawling old house in New Orleans with her young son Travis, looking for a fresh start. Quickly realising that their new home is haunted, Gabbie decides to stand her ground and solve the problem, hiring a motley assortment of psychics and quacks to help evict their supernatural squatters.
A single mum in her own life, Dawson immediately responded to the role of Gabbie, a smart, accomplished physician. “What I love about her is that this is someone very capable, very educated, who has the imagination and means to follow through on this big idea to buy a mansion.
"She’s a single mom who is really showing up for her kid with passion and integrity and is fully focused on thriving. At the end of the day, even when the times are tough, Gabbie’s got this tenacity that I really love, and this gumption that's a good rallying cry to the others, and it ends up bonding them as this chosen family unit,” says the actress best known for her roles in Dopesick, Rent, and Unstoppable.
A lifelong fan of all things Disney with a special love for the Haunted Mansion, Dawson welcomed this fresh take on the ride’s themes. “I love this ride, it’s everything to me and the millions of other people who’ve had the same magical memories. I love that it speaks to both kids and adults on a level that entertains and tells a beautiful story about the afterlife. I’m excited for fans to take the same ride with our film,” she says.
While most of the ghosts of the Haunted Mansion are fairly benign, there are a few malevolent entities who threaten to upset the balance of power and wreak havoc on all who enter. One, in particular, is the Hatbox Ghost, based on a character that originally appeared in the theme park attraction. A cloaked aristocratic spirit whose menacing demeanor, headless form, and mysterious hatbox sends the other ghosts in the mansion scattering, the Hatbox Ghost has an intense fixation on the house’s new residents with ulterior motives that could trap them forever.
Portrayed by none other than Dallas Buyers Club Oscar winner Jared Leto, director Justin Simien marvels at the actor/singer’s performance, “What’s funny about Jared is you would never know it’s Jared Leto playing the Hatbox Ghost unless someone told you. Even then, he put so much work into the character and so much thought into every choice that he makes. We worked a really long time to find things like the accent and his backstory and why he walks this way vs. that way.
“The Hatbox Ghost is a product of the fans. This is just a face that people saw on the ride, and that face slowly evolved into this character. I really believe the fans are gonna feel like we did him justice and really rounded out his unworldly character and grounded him in something that really feels real,” says the director, best known for Dear White People.
Assembling an eclectic cast featuring Danny DeVito, LaKeith Stanfield, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Levy, Owen Wilson, and Tiffany Haddish, Simien was thrilled by their otherworldly chemistry. “Like a well-tuned jazz band, everyone makes a different individual sound that nevertheless works with the others to create something unique.
“The results are what I hope to be a classic family movie," says Simien. "Like the ride itself, I also hope our film pulls a little bit of a magic trick on the audience because while it's a story that should absolutely make us laugh and feel a sense of escape if we're lucky, the film could also transform our own fears about death and grief into something we can actually face.”
Dawson agrees: “It’s great to see this array of characters come together and find connection and family with each other. There are these really stirring, very emotional moments that then pivot to absolute hilarity and then a jump scare. I think that’s what gives you the feeling of the ride because it keeps transitioning from moments that are sweet and cute, then creepy and then dazzling and magical, and then it’s spooky again and weird. It’s a whole rollercoaster experience.”
Haunted Mansion is in cinemas August 31.
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