6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A single mom named Gabbie hires a tour guide, a psychic, a priest, and a historian to help exorcise their newly bought mansion; after discovering it is inhabited by ghosts.
Starring: Lakeith Stanfield, Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, Danny DeVitoFamily | 100% |
Fantasy | 73% |
Comedy | 40% |
Supernatural | 10% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: In what may soon be a vestige of a bygone age if recent news reports are accurate, Best Buy is featuring this exclusive SteelBook
edition of Haunted Mansion 4K. Per Disney's standard operating procedure, there are several other versions available, including a
Wal-Mart Exclusive Edition and a Disney Movie Club Edition.
Is it ever a good idea to base a feature film on an amusement park ride? Disney would seem to think it is, considering not just the film
currently under discussion, but its predecessors The Haunted Mansion
and Muppets Haunted Mansion (still missing on Blu-
ray
as of the writing of this review), not to mention other "ride adjacent" fare like Jungle Cruise and what is probably the best argument for adapting theme park rides as feature films, the Pirates of the Caribbean
franchise. I'd argue that one reason the Depp films became so popular is not just due to Depp's inimitable characterization of Jack Sparrow, but
the
mere fact that the film had characters to connect with in some form or fashion, and at least in the early going a fairly straightforward
narrative through line that took elements of the ride while expanding on its context. Disney certainly tries to invest its films with that
ever evanescent "human" touch, and it does so again with this third at bat for one of Disneyland's most iconic attractions, and while the
interactions
between a distraught mother, bullied son and grieving paranormal investigator do provide some emotional interest here, though it's
evident
everything money could buy was thrown at this film, the result is peculiarly listless and even disjointed, as if one were watching some extended
alternate universe version episode of Ghosts.
Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc included in this package.
Haunted Mansion is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista with an HVEC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. Captured
with Arri cameras and finished at 4K, this is another really appealingly sharp and generally very well detailed looking presentation from Disney. I have
long been on record as not liking Arri captures quite as much as some other technologies, but even with some really aggressive grading
choices that should be apparent in the screenshots accompanying both this and my 1080 review, detail levels are actually surprisingly consistent
throughout, especially on practical items like costumes and props. I guess there have been some niggling complaints about the quality of the CGI, but I
actually found it contextually fine, even if detail levels are understandably softer and, well, more spectral. I will say that the "stretching room"
sequence offers better depth of field in the 4K UHD version, which may make the "threat" a bit more visceral. While there are subtle upticks in detail
levels
overall when comparing this to Disney's 1080 version, I think most eyes will find the added luster granted by HDR to be the most noticeable difference.
This is a film that whatever its deficits is often graced with some nice stylized uses of color, and everything from some of the buttery yellows to sepia
browns to especially redolent teals and blues have a noticeably broader gamut of highlights in this version. One snippet that kind of stuck out at me in
this version though was what I think must be a very brief use of stock footage of a car driving on what kind of bizarrely looks like the
Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys for some reason, which has some pretty noisy grain for a second (I'd say that it being part of a montage with
dissolves might have played into it had this been composited "old school").
Haunted Mansion offers a fun and immersive Dolby Atmos track that takes all of the positives of the 1080 disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track and adds just a touch of extra overhead activity in the many haunting scenes. The difference may in fact not be as dramatic as some might have hoped, but I was so generally pleased with the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 version that the emanations from my Atmos speakers just kind of seemed like a cherry on top of an already pretty tasty sundae. Even in early establishing sequences, like the "meet cute" between Ben and his soon to be wife offer great engagement of the side and rear channels, and once the hauntings kick in, there are all sorts of nice effects ranging from Ben's house being flooded, one of the moments where the Atmos track struts it stuff as waves crash over his head, to later activity in the haunted mansion when, for example, the scurrying of the ghosts away from the Hatbox Ghost offers some really nicely rendered panning effects. I have to say I wasn't particularly impressed with Kris Bowers' score, which seems to be trying to channel Danny Elfman, but it certainly is nicely spacious and offers more clear surround activity. Dialogue, including some voiceover, is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional French, English and Spanish subtitles are available.
The 4K UHD disc in this package sports no supplementary material. The 1080 disc offers the following bonus content:
The law of diminishing returns may have finally set in for at least this particular attraction based adaptation "series", as an evidently rather fulsome budget was met with not so relatively paltry box office returns. There's some good stuff here, but frankly not enough. Home theater aficionados who delight in phantasmagorical imagery and whooshing sound effects may at least get their money's worth, and for anyone considering making a purchase, Haunted Mansion offers secure technical merits and decent supplements.
2023
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2023
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2023
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with More Mamushka!
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Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
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