Review: Haunted Mansion (2023)
It must be easier to turn a hit movie into a theme park ride than it is to turn a beloved ride into a film. Maybe that's why there are many great theme park rides based on movies, but so few great movies that started life as a ride. Goodness knows Disney has tried. For decades, Disneyphiles have begrudgingly supported movies like Tower of Terror and Country Bears out of a sense of loyalty, despite diminished returns. The list of ride-to-film adaptations is surprisingly long, including The Jungle Cruise , Mission to Mars, and even Tomorrowland , which isn't a ride at all, but an entire area within the Disney parks. For every Pirates of the Caribbean , there's a movie that didn't quite work. Disney first attempted to adapt their famous haunted house dark ride into a film with 2003's The Haunted Mansion , starring Eddie Murphy. That version is not without its charms, but it failed to capture the spirit (wink wink) of the attraction that many fans--including myself--n...
