You have to wonder what might have been if Guillermo del Toro had continued to be attached to this project. Perhaps something decidedly un-Disney? While there’s a modern twist and a less than rosy view of the world in the beginning, there’s a happy ending to this tale of a paranormal tour guide while teams up with a psychic, a priest and a historian to help the hapless owner of the titular “Haunted Mansion.”

As with a 2003 version, an African American family–father, mother, daughter and son–becomes entangled in the ongoings of a mansion. In this 2023 remake, instead of a family of four, a single mother named Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her son Travis (Chase W. Dillon) hope to start a bed and breakfast at an old mansion. They soon find out the house is haunted and they need help.

Ghosts and hauntings are part of the charm of New Orleans and there’s money to be made. Ben (LaKeith Stanfield) is a disgruntled paranormal tour guide who rather than attempting to build up the scare factor, tries to dampen the spirits of his spirit-seeking customers. When he was younger, he was a promising scientist who was developing a camera that could photograph the unseen. He doesn’t really believe in ghosts, but the young woman whom he eventually marries, Alyssa (Charity Jordan) does. His modified camera can photograph ghosts, but Ben is a zombie, dead inside from grief and just walking through life mindlessly.

When Father Kent (Owen Wilson) comes knocking at his door, Ben takes the money offered by Gabbie, but he doesn’t even bother to take photos. His battery is dead and so are his ethics until he realizes that the ghosts are real and are haunting him. Anyone who steps into the mansion, drives away with hitchhiking ghosts who tag along no matter where that person goes.  Ben is forced to return, and soon a medium, Harriet (Tiffany Haddish) and a historian Professor Bruce Davis (Danny DeVito) are involved. Instead of being central to the story as in the 2003 Eddie Murphy film, Gracey, the previous owner of the house,  is only a minor figure. Also making an appearance are Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis)–or at least her head in the crystal ball, and the Hatbox Ghost (voiced by Jared Leto).

Directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People”) and written by Katie Dippold (“Ghostbusters” 2016 reboot), “Haunted Mansion” is set in a less perfect world than the original. While the original focused on Eddie Murphy’s character, realtor Jim Evers, who must redeem himself as a father and husband, this film is about Ben finding a family and releasing his grief with the help of Gabbie, Travis  and Father Kent. By helping them, Ben essentially helps himself, even though he initially turned away from Father Kent when asked if he wanted to be a hero. The house is still cursed, but it has nothing to do with a tragic love story. Two of the main characters are haunted by grief and must work their way through to truly rejoin the land of the living. Dippold’s script and Simien’s visuals really pay tribute to the original Disneyland attraction. This is less a star vehicle for the live actors and more of a fond tribute to the Haunted Mansion and its cast of characters.

While this film gets high marks for diversity, I have to wonder about the Qing Dynasty empress who is one of the ghosts. I don’t believe we see any other royal

figures, particularly from England, so she seems out of place. Maybe she’s already a character in other Disney iterations of its Haunted Mansion. I don’t know, but she seems out of place.

“Haunted Mansion” premiered at Disneyland (Anaheim) on 15 July 2023. It will be released on 28 July 2023.