Customer Reviews

Haunted Honeymoon

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This movie is a strange mix of laughs, chills, and the usually oddity of any movie with Dom Deluise in it. I have watched this movie since I was little and I still love it. The interesting cast of characters and surprisingly good storyline keep the entertainment going throughout the whole movie. And Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner and the others do a great job of making you laugh one minute, and sneak under the blanket the next. A wonderful movie for those times that you want something fulfilling to watch.

It's a rare event that I find someone who knows about this movie other than myself... but those who HAVE seen it absolutely adore it! Gene and Gilda together at their best, in love on film as in life... what more can you say? Funny, touching, memorable. You MUST see this movie. Dom deLouise in drag is worth it, if nothing else. ;)

...i think it is one of the bset films made in recent years, the actors and plot are next to none, just the feel of the film being a spoof of chillers such as the spiral staircase is great, aunt kate plays the best part Dom does this part really well, also the set is wonderfully dramatic and liveing in england i have actually been to the mantion used in the film, Knebworth House, witch is in Hertfordshire, if ever you are in the UK you must go there
its good to know there are other haunted honeymoon fans out here...

Going home to see your family is daunting enough, but in a Draculean castle with a werewolf, a dead transvestite, and a new will that makes you a walking target?

That's the basic plot behind "Haunted Honeymoon," an amusing and vaguely Mel Brooksian comedy movie about a man with a crumbling mind, a new fiancee, and a really abnormal family. The plot is pretty much a mess -- full of holes and dangling plot threads -- but the brilliant comic actors and hilarious scripting ("Oh, it's so COMPLICATED!") magically keep it from collapsing.

Larry Abbot (Gene Wilder) and Vickie Pearle (Gilda Radner) are actors in the hit show Manhattan Mystery Theater, and newly engaged. Unfortunately Larry's engagement has sparked off a psychological meltdown, and his uncle Dr. Paul Abbot decides there is only one way to cure him: scare him more. So he sends off Larry and Vickie to the old gothic estate where Larry grew up, to stay with his family.

Well, they're not quite the Addams Family. Actually, they're way worse -- most of them are broke, one is a transvestite, one is a creepy magician, and one is a creepier lawyer. One may also be a werewolf. The only decent one seems to be kindly, filthy-rich Aunt Kate (Dom Deluise).

And dear ol' Aunt Kate has left all her money to Larry (unless he expires before she does, in which case everyone else will get a share). And soon some very bizarre happenings are cropping up around the old mansion -- including a murdered werewolf, a cobra, and a dead body that pops up in Larry's bed. Is Larry going insane, or is a member of his family trying to make him that way... for filthy lucre?

I get the feeling that "Haunted Honeymoon" was made up on the fly -- it's basically a disintegrating mass of subplots that are introduced and then left to flap in the breeze. Sylvia, Monty's vaguely vampiric, glowy-eyed hypnosis, the dog's hatred of Susan, and other seemingly important plot elements turn out to be red herrings... and I'm not sure what's going on with the guy in the werewolf suit.

So basically the actual plot has more holes than a ripped-up sieve. Fortunately everything OTHER than the plot works. The presence of so many brilliant comic actors keeps it from completely falling apart -- there's plenty of funny dialogue ("Whoever you are, may God strike you DEAD! Now let's have coffee and dessert in the music room...") and humorous comic scenarios (the scene in which Larry sexily cuddles a dead body, mistaking it for Vicki). And it's one of my life's goals to greet a group of people with the line, "I know that one of you is a werewolf."

And those actors do a brilliant job -- though this was the last movie Gilda Radner ever did (and she looks painfully emaciated), she and Wilder are both hilarious and have plenty of loving chemistry. Dom Deluise has plenty of fun as the eccentric, dramatic and rotund Aunt Kate, and has plenty of great lines as well ("... and when the police dragged him out of the ladies' room at Saks Fifth Avenue, THAT was fun too!").

Admittedly not all the actors are great -- Jo Ross, Jim Carter and Eve Ferret give merely adequate performances. But there are some great lesser performances from Jonathan Pryce, Ann Way, and especially Bryan Pringle as a butler with a dual personality... or an evil twin ("I just found Cousin Francis in my bed!" "Was he wearing a dress?" "Yes, he was!" "Just ask him to leave, sir. Tell him you have a headache").

"Haunted Honeymoon" lacks something vital -- a plot that doesn't totally unravel. If it weren't filled with awe-inspiringly good comic actors and dialogue, it would be a disaster. As it is, it's an amusing fluff piece.

Haunted Honeymoon is a silly movie. If you like silly movies, its great! Wilder is silly, Radner's role is charming (=understated) and silly, and Dom Deluise steals the show in drag playing a huge eccentric old lady! What a scream! The plot is simple, the gags are predictable and it's all just silly. It's a fun movie.

haunted honeymoon, directed by gene wilder and starring gene wilder - as well as gilda radner, dom delouise, and jonathon pryce - will make you laugh ! the plot of the mystery in this movie is easy enough to follow ; it is simply a take on the " staying the weekend at the scary mansion " genre. what keeps this story "bubbley" is that the film features stars with such prescence.... they all seem so light-heartedly immersed in the project that their acting is fun to watch - almost like an snl skit, at times, at its contagiously mirthful best. i dare anyone not to laugh during the scene in which the "monster" comes out of the ceiling as gene wilder is trying to sleep. i have seen this movie three times, and i have laughed and laughed at that scene, every time. gene wilder simply knows how to strike the proverbial universal chord.

This movie is totally and completely funny! For anyone who loved Young Frankenstein, you don't want to miss this! Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner are a riot!
Sometimes the best movies are the older ones!

This is a movie I saw when I was young, then it was forgotten and
missed for a long time as I could remember parts of the movie but
not the name of the movie. Then a few months back I saw it again
and it was as good as I remember it was and the scenes I had
remembered was really as good or even better than I remembered
them to be. Gene is brilliant in playing both lost and surprised.
Its a overall a good movie, and I recommend this movie to everybody
but especially those who likes Genes silly humour =)

this is a funny movie but you have to like gene wilders style cause its classic gene.Not to mention that dom is hillarious dressed as a women.

Haunted Honeymoon
It arrived quickly and in decent condition. Though the disc center holder was chipped, leaving it to rattle around during shipping, I was lucky enough that it isn't terribly scratched. Movie is great and I am so glad to have found it on DVD instead of VHS (my old VHS tape was near breaking point!). Absolutely a charm of a movie. Even if it doesn't make much sense, its a riot!