The Haunted Mansion is one of those films that are beyond criticism. Saying something negative about The Haunted Mansion would be like complaining about the speed of the kiddie coaster in the children’s section of the amusement park. Haunted Mansion is clearly catered towards children and ought to be treated as such. Of course, as Finding Nemo showed us earlier this year, children’s films don’t have to suck – which is exactly what Haunted Mansion does.

Based on the comically fun Haunted Mansion ride in Disneyland, The Haunted Mansion provides us with a similar experience. We are led throughout a fearsome yet ultimately harmless mansion of ghosts, skeletons, magic mirrors, singing sculptures, animated knights, hidden chambers and dark mysteries. The story is bound under the trappings of a haunted mansion and thus never goes further than giving the characters a reason to stumble upon the next ghastly room.

What narrative we do get centers on the Evers family, which is drawn to titular mansion because the mansion’s owner, Master Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), believes that Sara Evers (Marsha Thomason) is his former bride reincarnated. The Evers family goes to the mansion, however, because they are led to believe the owner is trying to sell the house and Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is a real-estate agent.

Jim soon learns that Gracey is more interested in his wife than signing contracts and spends the majority of the film with his children, Michael (Marc John Jeffries) and Megan (Aree Davis), unlocking the secrets and breaking the spell that will bring everything back to normal.

The one mildly redeeming aspect of The Haunted Mansion is the haunted mansion itself. Well shot with fun special effects and an elaborately decorated set, it’s somewhat enjoyable just to go for a ride through a haunted house that’s haunted in all the ways that its original amusement ride source is.

But that still doesn’t make the film an enjoyable ride. Eddie Murphy simply isn’t that funny. Rather, he’s funny when he’s given the chance to be – which isn’t often. Similarly, Mansion isn’t that well written. Rather, it’s written for the lowest level audience on the lowest level possible.

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