Review: 'Haunted Mansion' scares up as many tears as laughs

The main thing that haunts "Haunted Mansion" is the ghost of the movie it might have been.

It's being marketed as a comic romp, inspired by the Disneyland ride, but the disconnects begin immediately with a disembodied narrator assuring us, "Even grief can be a doorway to joy if one's willing to walk through it." Audiences can be forgiven for thinking, "I signed up to laugh and be scared, but I'm getting a movie about grief doorways?"

The idea that ghosts are manifestations of sorrow is an interesting one, for sure, and sweet, soulful LaKeith Stanfield is the perfect actor to play the person who's in pain: An astrophysicist-turned-New-Orleans-tour-guide, his Ben slid into despair after the death of his wife. But tracking his depression — patrons of his French Quarter tours are treated to him howling about death — is a weird way to kick off a family comedy.

Things are only marginally more lighthearted at the titular mansion, which has been purchased by a single mom (Rosario Dawson) and her sad-sack son (gifted, intuitive Chase Dillon), who plan to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast. They move into a home where every piece of furniture looks like someone died on it, quickly discover the ghosts and then reach out to a ragtag bunch of kooks to help them exorcise the place. The kooks include a man of the cloth played by Owen Wilson, a wacky medium played by Tiffany Haddish, another medium played by Jamie Lee Curtis and someone who yells a lot played by Danny DeVito.

Like director Justin Simien's Minnesota-filmed "Dear White People," there are snappy scenes in "Haunted Mansion" but there's a sense he never figured out what the movie was supposed to be. That tacked-on narration seems like a last-minute fix, for instance. "Haunted's" tone veers widely. And the presence of substantial names in walk-on roles — neither Daniel Levy nor Marilu Henner (looking sensational) has anything to do — suggests that some subplots were eliminated in the final edit.

Compelling elements do remain. Stanfield (an Oscar nominee for "Judas and the Black Messiah") elevates every moment he's on-screen — as in "Knives Out," it's clear he's not a natural comic but the slight awkwardness makes him funnier. Dawson's character might as well just be called Mom, but her commitment and humor bring texture to the underwritten role. Even the nerdy-chic costumes are consistently fun; everyone seems to shop at the world's most primo vintage store.

There's a thoughtful spine behind "Haunted Mansion," as well. Writer Katie Dippold wants to connect tour guides, astrophysicists and mediums because all are trying to look beyond temporal reality to discover the unseen (as are people who live in haunted houses). Like the smarter aspects of the "The Conjuring" movies, there's a sense in "Haunted Mansion" that we could learn a lot from the dead if we were willing to listen.

What does all of this have to do with the zany antics you hope for when you go to a movie based on a Disneyland ride? Precious little. There are laughs — I'm still chuckling over the droll moment when psychic Haddish walks into a dining room and demonstrates her sensitivity to the next world by saying, "People used to eat here."

But, in general, "Haunted Mansion" is as much a comedy as a haunted house is a cozy B-and-B.

'Haunted Mansion'
2 out of 4 stars
Rated: PG-13 for scary stuff.
Where: In theaters.