Lindsay Lamb stars in a scene from the movie Haunted Mansion.” The OSV News classification is A-III -- adults. (OSV News photo/Disney)

By OSV News

Set in New Orleans, director Justin Simien’s adaptation of a theme park attraction features an ensemble cast (led by LaKeith Stanfield as a skeptical scientist) most of whose characters are united by the fact that, having visited the titular dwelling, one or another of its various ghosts has followed them home, eventually compelling them to return to the structure.

Owen Wilson as a sketchy priest takes charge of the search for a solution, teaming with Tiffany Haddish’s sassy medium in what seems an unlikely partnership. They’re helped by the house’s current owner (Rosario Dawson) and her socially awkward preteen son (Chase W. Dillon) as well as by a local historian (Danny DeVito).

While any potential offense given by Wilson’s dodgy clergyman is ultimately canceled out by an explanation of his true identity, the generally congenial tone of this production, the comic element of which is far more successful than its by-the-numbers horror ingredients, has to be balanced against its nonscriptural take on supernatural events. Mature teens may be as apt to shrug this viewpoint off as grown-ups. But the film, the second based on the Disneyland ride, is not a good fit for smaller, more impressionable kids.

Occult themes, about a dozen mild oaths, brief irreverent humor. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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