In both form and practice, the movie might frequently remind you of Ridley Scott's Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, and Joe Carnahan's The Grey, which remains the finest of the gazillions of macho-badass thrillers clogging Liam Neeson's resume. It's unfortunate that Øvredal's handsomely produced, fiercely acted endeavor isn't half as scary as those aforementioned titles.

If you take one step beyond the promise of Haunted Mansion's cast and ask yourself “Are these distinctive talents going to blend?”, you'll have some idea of the inherent disappointment in director Justin Simien's “adaptation” of the popular theme-park attraction.

“I'm going to need a few more details.” “They just get in the way.” This exchange between characters played by Hayley Atwell and Simon Pegg takes place roughly two hours into the 160 minutes of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and I'm not sure I've ever before heard dialogue that so wholly encapsulated the experience of its movie.

From its introductory 20 minutes involving an impressively de-aged Harrison Ford to the joyously ludicrous finale that's capped by a quiet emotional whopper, I think I had more fun at this fourth followup that at any previous post-1981 Indy outing. While these may still be leftovers from a decadently delicious meal, they're intensely tasty ones re-heated to just the right temperature.