A movie based on the Haunted Mansion ride deals with an entirely different set of issues. Mansion is a PG-rated Disney movie (unlike the PG-13 Pirates), so it has to appeal to families, which means it has to have an uplifting message. But it's also a ghost movie, which means it has to deliver the scares. And in order to blunt the stigma associated with the horror genre, it has to have strong comedic elements. And since it's based on one of Disney's most beloved rides, it should contain inside references to that ride. But since the storyline of the ride is kind of vague, you have to . . .

See what I mean? There are a lot of different people to please here, and writer David Berenbaum is trying to make everyone happy. The core of Berenbaum's plot is a storyline that has long since passed into cliche: a person in the present is inexplicably drawn to a place that is haunted by the ghosts of the past. Even the lord of the manor played by Nathanial Parker, and his faithful butler (Terence Stamp, in a fantastic performance), are straight out of classic gothic fiction. When their characters are on screen, The Haunted Mansion is a wink at the pop horror conventions that created decades of moneymakers like Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. The impressive sets, Mark Mancina's score, and the pacing for the first half of the movie are in service to that particular kind of old-fashioned approachable atmosphere. The Haunted Mansion's reliance on hoary old gothic cliches is a commentary that appeals to the audience on both the normal and ironic levels.

Which makes it all the more jarring when that side of the plot is juxtaposed with the other side: an Eddie Murphy family comedy. Murphy has done some good work, but he isn't serving his talent by playing roles in which he can coast on his comic timing and trademark smile. That isn't, however, to say that The Haunted Mansion doesn't have laughs. I found the sight of a bunch of musical instruments flying after Murphy's character funny despite myself, and Madame Leota (a gypsy's head in a crystal ball) provided some cute physical comedy. The problem is that too much of the comedy in the Murphy side of the movie exists in a bubble; it's there to make people laugh, but it isn't in service of the plot.

Those two sides of the movie never come together, and The Haunted Mansion ends in a predictable TV-movie sort of way in which evil is punished and everyone learns a Valuable Lesson. And if you think I'm giving anything away, you haven't seen many Disney movies. At times funny, at times involving, at times even smart, The Haunted Mansion just never finds the balance between humor and horror that it needs in order to satisfy.