[Film Review] Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021)

ReviewFilm ReviewHorror
Written By Melissa Cox / Contributor

Alongside their original stories, Muppet movies have a fine tradition of remaking existing works and giving them a unique twist. Classics like The Wizard of Oz and Treasure Island have been given the Jim Henson treatment, and the canon includes the greatest Dickens adaptation of all time: A Muppet Christmas Carol. 

It's Halloween night, and while most of the Muppets are at Kermit and Miss Piggy's party, Gonzo has been invited by legendary magician, The Great MacGuffin, to a unique event: a challenge to spend the whole night in a haunted house. Pepe the king prawn has tagged along, convinced that the event will be a glamorous, star-studded party. (Pepe's first mistake, obviously, is thinking that there could possibly be any party more glamorous than one attended by Miss Piggy). On their arrival at the mansion, there's the first hint of spooky business afoot, as their chauffeur (Yvette Nicole Brown) mentions that although she often drops guests off in the evening, they've never reappeared to be collected the next day. 

Gonzo and Pepe meet some spooks in the graveyard and are then welcomed to the mansion by their host (Will Arnett). Throughout the night, they attend a ball for the undead and navigate the impossible corridors of the haunted house; Gonzo faces the fears he never knew he had, and Pepe narrowly avoids a marriage to a demonic bride, (Taraji P Henson), who has a suspiciously large tally of late husbands.

Being a Muppets movie, there are naturally some superb song and dance numbers, gripes from the characters about the quality of the show, and a host of cameos from the likes of Danny Trejo, Craig Robinson, Darren Criss and Alfonso Ribeiro. Fans of the Disneyland attraction will enjoy the nods to the original - elongated portraits, ghostly dances and floating candelabra. Like any family-friendly Halloween film, there are some genuine scares among the laughs: I can see Gonzo’s mirror scene and The Bride’s glowing red eyes popping up on “Scenes That Terrified Me As A Kid!” lists in 15 years’ time. 

At 53 minutes, Muppets Haunted Mansion doesn’t drag or overstay its welcome. It’s the perfect option for a Halloween night watch with younger viewers, or as a palate-cleanser if you’ve just watched something on the intense end of the horror scale. So play the music, and light the lights - you won’t regret taking a trip on this delightfully spooky ride with the Muppet Show tonight.  

Members Content
[Editorial] “I control my life, not you!”: Living with Generalised Anxiety Disorder and the catharsis of the Final Destination franchise
[Editorial] “I control my life, not you!”: Living with Generalised Anxiety Disorder and the catharsis of the Final Destination franchise

I can sometimes go months without having a panic attack. Unfortunately, this means that when they do happen, they often feel like they come out of nowhere. They can come on so fast and hard it’s like being hit by a bus, my breath escapes my body, and I can’t get it back.

[Editorial] 5 Slasher Short Horror Films
[Editorial] 5 Slasher Short Horror Films

When people think of horror films, slashers are often the first thing that comes to mind. The sub-genres also spawned a wealth of horror icons: Freddy, Jason, Michael, Chucky - characters so recognisable we’re on first name terms with them. In many ways the slasher distills the genre down to some of its fundamental parts - fear, violence and murder.

[Ghouls Podcast] Maniac (2012) with Zoë Rose Smith and Iona Smith
[Ghouls Podcast] Maniac (2012) with Zoë Rose Smith and Iona Smith

Throughout September we were looking at slasher films, and therefore we decided to cover a slasher film that could be considered as an underrated gem in the horror genre. And the perfect film for this was Franck Khalfoun’s 2012 remake of MANIAC.

[Editorial] If Looks Could Kill: Tom Savini’s Practical Effects in Maniac (1980)
[Editorial] If Looks Could Kill: Tom Savini’s Practical Effects in Maniac (1980)

In the late seventies and early eighties, one man was considered the curator of all things gore in America. During the lovingly named splatter decade, Tom Savini worked on masterpieces of blood and viscera like Dawn of the Dead (1978), a film which gained the attention of hopeful director William Lustig, a man only known for making pornography before his step into horror.

[Editorial] Deeper Cuts: 13 Non-Typical Slashers
[Editorial] Deeper Cuts: 13 Non-Typical Slashers

Looking for some different slasher film recommendations? Then look no fruther as Ariel Powers-Schaub has 13 non-typical slasher horror films for you to watch.

[Editorial] Editor’s Note: Making a slash back into September
[Editorial] Editor’s Note: Making a slash back into September

Even though they are not to my personal liking, there is no denying that slasher films have been an important basis for the horror genre, and helped to build the foundations for other sub-genres throughout the years.

[Editorial] 8 Mind Horror Short films
[Editorial] 8 Mind Horror Short films

But some of the most terrifying horrors are those that take place entirely under the skin, where the mind is the location of the fear. Psychological horror has the power to unsettle by calling into question the basis of the self - one's own brain.

[Editorial]  Eat Shit and Die: Watching The Human Centipede (2009) in Post-Roe America 
[Editorial]  Eat Shit and Die: Watching The Human Centipede (2009) in Post-Roe America 

On Saturday, 17th June 2023, I sat down with two friends to watch The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009) and The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2012). I was nervous to be grossed out (I can’t really handle the idea of eating shit) but excited to cross these two films off my list.

[Editorial] Top 15 Female-Focused Mind Horror Films
[Editorial] Top 15 Female-Focused Mind Horror Films

Many of the most effective horror films involve blurring the lines between waking life and a nightmare. When women in horror are emotionally and psychologically manipulated – whether by other people or more malicious supernatural forces – viewers are pulled into their inner worlds, often left with a chilling unease and the question of where reality ends and the horror begins.

[Editorial] 8 Body Horror Short films
[Editorial] 8 Body Horror Short films

Body horror is one of the fundamental pillars of the horror genre and crops up in some form or another in a huge variety of works. There's straightforward gore - the inherent horror of seeing the body mutilated, and also more nuanced fears.

[Editorial] Metal Heart: Body Dysmorphia As A Battle Ground In Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
[Editorial] Metal Heart: Body Dysmorphia As A Battle Ground In Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

In the sweaty summer of 1989, emerging like a monochrome migraine from the encroaching shadow of Japan’s economic crash, Shin’ya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man shocked and disgusted the (very few) audiences originally in attendance.

[Editorial] Top 15 Female-Focused Body Horror Films
[Editorial] Top 15 Female-Focused Body Horror Films

Whether it's the havoc wreaked on the human body during pregnancy, emotional turmoil producing tiny murderous humans or simply a body turning on its owner, body horror films tend to be shocking. But while they're full of grotesque imagery, they're also full of thoughtful premises and commentary, especially when it comes to women, trauma, and power.

RELATED ARTICLES

Featured
[Film Review] Sympathy for the Devil (2023)
[Film Review] Sympathy for the Devil (2023)

If you know me at all, you know that I love, as many people do, the work of Nic Cage. Live by the Cage, die by the Cage. So, when the opportunity to review this came up, I jumped at it.

[Film Review] V/H/S/85 (2023)
[Film Review] V/H/S/85 (2023)

When V/H/S first hit our screens in 2012, nobody could have foreseen that 11 years later we’d be on our sixth instalment (excluding the two spinoffs) of the series.

[Film Review] Kill Your Lover (2023)
[Film Review] Kill Your Lover (2023)

When someone is in a toxic relationship, it can affect more than just their heart and mind. Their bodies can weaken or change due to the continued stress and unhappiness that comes from the toxicity.

[Film Review] Shaky Shivers (2022)
[Film Review] Shaky Shivers (2022)

If you can’t count on your best friend to check your teeth and hands and stand vigil with you all night to make sure you don’t wolf out, who can you count on? And so begins our story on anything but an ordinary night in 1993…

[Film Review] Elevator Game (2023)
[Film Review] Elevator Game (2023)

The best thing about urban legends is the delicious thrill of the forbidden. Don’t say “Bloody Mary” in the mirror three times in a dark room unless you’re brave enough to summon her. Don’t flash your headlights at a car unless you want to have them drive you to your death.

[Film Review] A Wounded Fawn (2022)
[Film Review] A Wounded Fawn (2022)

A Wounded Fawn (Travis Stevens, 2022) celebrates both art history and female rage in this surreal take on the slasher genre.

[Film Review] Perpetrator (2023)
[Film Review] Perpetrator (2023)

Perpetrator opens with a girl walking alone in the dark. Her hair is long and loose just begging to be yanked back and her bright clothes—a blood red coat, in fact—is a literal matador’s cape for anything that lies beyond the beam of her phone screen.

[Film Review] Mercy Falls (2023)
[Film Review] Mercy Falls (2023)

Filmed on location in Scotland, Ryan Hendrick's new thriller Mercy Falls (2023) uses soaring views of the Scottish Highlands to show that the natural world can either provide shelter or be used as a demented playground for people to hurt each other.

EXPLORE

Featured
[Editorial] 10 Films & Events to Catch at Soho Horror Film Fest 2023
[Editorial] 10 Films & Events to Catch at Soho Horror Film Fest 2023

Now it’s time for Soho’s main 2023 event, which is presented over two weekends: a live film festival at the Whirled Cinema in Brixton, London, and an online festival a week later. Both have very rich and varied programmes (with no overlap this year), with something for every horror fan.

[Editorial] 9 Horror Nintendo Switch Games To Play
[Editorial] 9 Horror Nintendo Switch Games To Play

In the six years since its release the Nintendo Switch has amassed an extensive catalogue of games, with everything from puzzle platformer games to cute farming sims to, uh, whatever Waifu Uncovered is.

[Mother of Fears] Mothering in Silence in A Quiet Place (2018)
[Mother of Fears] Mothering in Silence in A Quiet Place (2018)

A Quiet Place (2018) opens 89 days after a race of extremely sound-sensitive creatures show up on Earth, perhaps from an exterritorial source. If you make any noise, even the slightest sound, you’re likely to be pounced upon by these extremely strong and staggeringly fast creatures and suffer a brutal death.

[Editorial] 5 Female Focused Horror Book Recommendations
[Editorial] 5 Female Focused Horror Book Recommendations

If you like cults, sacrificial parties, and lesbian undertones then Mona Awad’s Bunny is the book for you. Samantha, a student at a prestigious art university, feels isolated from her cliquey classmates, ‘the bunnies’.

[Editorial] 9 Best Slashers Released Within 10 Years of Scream (1996)
[Editorial] 9 Best Slashers Released Within 10 Years of Scream (1996)

The slasher sub genre has always been huge in the world of horror, but after the ‘70s and ‘80s introduced classic characters like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Leatherface, and Jason, it’s not harsh to say that the ‘90s was slightly lacking in the icon department.

[Mother of Fears] Mother Vs. Monster in Silent Hill (2006)
[Mother of Fears] Mother Vs. Monster in Silent Hill (2006)

Mother is God in the eyes of a child, and it seems God has abandoned the town of Silent Hill. Silent Hill is not a place you want to visit.

[Editorial] 9 Terrifying Cerebral Visions in Horror Movies
[Editorial] 9 Terrifying Cerebral Visions in Horror Movies

Being able to see into the future or back into the past is a superpower that a lot of us would like to have. And while it may seem cool, in horror movies it usually involves characters being sucked into terrifying situations as they try to save themselves or other people with the information they’ve gleaned in their visions.

[Mother of Fears] I Don’t Wanna Be Buried in a Pet Sematary (1989) and (2019)
[Mother of Fears] I Don’t Wanna Be Buried in a Pet Sematary (1989) and (2019)

Both the original Pet Sematary (1989) and its 2019 remake are stories about the way death and grief can affect people in different ways. And while the films centre on Louis Creed and his increasingly terrible decision-making process, there’s no doubt that the story wouldn’t pack the same punch or make the same sense without his wife, Rachel.

MORE ARTICLES

Featured
[Editorial] In Her Eyes: Tasya Vos in Possessor (2020)
[Editorial] In Her Eyes: Sara Lowes in Witchfinder General (1968)
[Editorial] The Babadook (2014)
[Editorial] In Her Eyes: Helen Lyle in Candyman (1992)
[Editorial] Lorraine Warren’s Clairvoyant Gift
[Editorial] Sara in Creep 2 (2017)
[Editorial] Sally Hardesty in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
[Editorial] Margaret Robinson: Hammer’s Puppeteer
[Editorial] Re-assessing The Exorcist: Religion, Abuse, and The Rise of the Feminist Mother.
[Editorial] Unravelling Mitzi Peirone’s Braid (2018)
Melissa Cox / Contributor

Twitter | Short and Sour

Previous

[Film Review] Detention (2019)
Next

[Film Review] V/H/S 94 (2021)