‘I was really adamant about the movie not pulling its punches’: ‘Haunted Mansion’ director on escaping the shadow of Guillermo del Toro’s ‘too scary’ take

We’re days away from Haunted Mansion‘s theatrical debut, and it’s been something of a bumpy ride so far. Despite earning promising first reactions just a week and a half ago, the reviews have since declined into something a bit more lukewarm than it would have preferred. Indeed, try as one might, you can never escape the phantom of being viewed as a cinematic Disney Parks advertisement.

Director Justin Simien and writer Katie Dippold tag-teamed Disney’s latest feature, which is further armed with an all-star cast consisting of LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Winona Ryder. But, in another timeline, Haunted Mansion could have looked very different.

Before the project descended into development hell nearly a decade ago, it was set to be spearheaded by none other than Guillermo del Toro, and anyone familiar with the horror maestro’s work knows good and well that each and every creative liberty would have been taken on the del Toro cut.

Distinctly and darkly delightful as it no doubt would have been, it’s safe to say that Disney wouldn’t have been quite on board with it, and while Simien’s version took no notes from del Toro’s vision, their goals weren’t totally unaligned, either. In a recent interview with The Direct, Simien revealed that he had no intention of shying away from Haunted Mansion‘s more chilling elements, noting that such an ethos is actually quite reminiscent of the Disney films of yore.

I was really adamant about the movie not pulling its punches because the classic Disney movies don’t pull their punches. The classic Disney movies are terrifying to this day. And they’re more terrifying as you get older and recognize the existential implications of things like Donkey Kid Island and being haunted by your stepmother and your uncle killing your father. 

With comments like that, we can’t help but wonder what sort of final product Simien took out of the oven here, especially considering that Dawson has also hinted at the film boasting a spook factor that could very well surprise many a moviegoer. Either way, we won’t have to wait long to find out how much weight was behind either set of words; here’s hoping the critics got this one wrong.

Haunted Mansion arrives in theaters on July 28.