Forum for Geeks

That does sound like a good match!

Considering his devotion to the Haunted Mansion (I mean, a Haunted Mansion room in his house?!), and his specific mention of the Hatbox Ghost, I think this will turn out just dandy.

I actually like the original in a sort of low rent sort of way, but I want a big time spookfest!

Luke,
That reminds me, buddy. Check out episode 241 of "Inside the Magic". All your questions about the refurbed Space Mountain were addressed in that one. Sounds like they did a masterful job of in-with-the-new, but not so much out-with-the-old.

I'm very excited for a new Haunted Mansion movie. It's such a shame that the previous one stunk. By all rights, it SHOULD have been awesome. Disney spared no expense on that movie. The final chapter of "The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies" is devoted to the making of the then soon-to-be-released film and it is a fascinating story. They truly went all out to recreate and capture all the best elements of both American versions of the attraction. Unfortunately, they had all the ingredients but couldn't make a palatable dish with them.

Sounds cool to me. Hopefully, the film will be a financial success and Del Toro can finally get the back to make his other dream project, an adaptation of HP Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.

And Hellboy 2 wasn't that bad. It just got away from what made the comics cool: Beating up Nazis.

I thought Del Toro's "dream project" was The Hobbit?

Del Toro has been trying to get the money and backing to make At the Mountains of Madness for years now. It even appeared on his IMdB pages as being in pre-production just after the first Hellboy movie came out. But considering the effects and nature of the story, it's been hard to keep a studio interested.

In the market scene on Hellboy 2, there is an Elder Thing on screen. It was a test run for the effects of AtMoM and it looked great. Then the film tanked at the box office and the money for AtMoM went away.

I was hoping he'd do the two Hobbit films and make bags of cash for the studio This would then allow Del Toro pull a 'Peter Jackson' and make AtMoM. But, he pulled out of being the director of the Hobbits. Now if the new Haunted Mansion movie is a hit, it all works out the same.

I thought the big problem with Hellboy 2 is that it was too ambitious. Del Toro tried to do an awful lot in the running time and so the overall film is jumbled. I like a lot of the scenes and setpieces in the film when taken seperately, but string them together and its too much all at once. Although I must admit I LOVE the ending of Hellboy 2. It makes me laugh every single time.

Its like the opposite of Pirates Of The Caribbean 2 & 3 -- which had enough ideas for one movie and spread it over two with lots of filler.

Count me in the camp that really had a blast with Hellboy 2. It was big and attempted to be more than just a monster mash, and the characters are just a joy to watch onscreen. I love the Mignola comics, but the films give far more weight and personality to the characters I think.