I enjoyed it. I think. I'm still processing the film and will likely need to see it a second time before I really plant a flag of opinion on either side. Normally I spoil movies for myself ahead of time so that when I go to watch them, I have the story in advance and simply judge on execution of what I've read (sort of like reading a book first) and know that I'm not missing anything/don't get confused or have too many questions. I went out of my way not to do that for this one, plus there's the comparisons to the actual attraction that I love dearly to consider. So it feels a little more complicated to me.
There were things I liked and things I didn't. Just off the top of my head (minor spoilers):
Liked:
-How the group was brought together. A group of strangers each being assigned a ghost that follows them home and subsequently forces them back to the house felt like a fun way to nail the "attraction" feel.
-The performances from the cast, especially Stanfield and DeVito (who had me cracking up). I also liked that each character felt a bit fleshed out.
-The surprisingly emotional inclusion of how to, and how different people, process grief.
-The Mansion references, obviously. I thought the way they were able to include both coast's versions was fun and clever.
-I did like the Hatbox Ghost, even if I do have some lingering questions about his abilities and what exactly would have happened if he had succeeded. I think a second viewing will help me with this one. One thing I really did like about him was how they were able to tie the "silly/joke" tombs we have in each Mansion's queue to him. It absolutely feels like something a mad-man would do.
Didn't care for:
-Some of the pacing between scenes was a little rough/jarring.
-Maybe I'm just being picky here but some of the VFX felt a little weak to me, particularly during the stretching room segment. It's hard to not make the comparison to previous attraction-film offerings like Pirates, which managed to accomplish something like Davy Jones back in 2006.
-The reduction of the bride to a sort of snarling, feral animal. They even cut the really awesome trailer shot of her coming down the attic stairs, dragging the hatchet along with her. This was a shot I was really looking forward to. I think maybe the film-makers must have felt that there was too much emphasis on her a "secondary antagonist" and needed to tone her role down, in order to really drive the Hatbox Ghost home.
-On the whole, I felt the humor was good. But some jokes like the "Sage, from Costco" and "Pen and paper, from CVS" felt a little "eye-rolly" to me. Leota's "3 dollar" gag is probably the most egregious example of this. I felt Curtis was fine as Leota but this moment came out from nowhere because aside from this one moment, she maintains a more serious role and tone for the rest of the film. It just felt really out of place/character for this iteration of her. Which I know isn't much to go on to begin with but that's just how I felt.
-Unless I missed them, the singing busts were not included, even for the final scene of the film.
-I understand it is a sensitive subject and that maybe the poisoning could be considered a reference to the 2003 film but having Gracey take his own life and not hang himself from somewhere felt like a missed opportunity to me. Again, that might sound awful to some but I think my initial thought upon seeing him take his own life was, "If you were going to touch on this sensitive subject matter at all, don't make me feel like you're just dipping your toe in the water. Commit to it."
I look forward to a second viewing.
