The movie takes place in 1930 or 1940 something. Gene and Gilda have a hit radio program. They are about to get married, and as we watch the movie, the plot moves to Gene's family home, where there is a cast of characters as weird as any that have ever been in a comedy or horror movie. Gene's Aunt Kate (played in drag by Dom DeLuise) has changed her will to leave everything to Gene. Unfortunately, someone overhears Aunt Kate discussing the change in wills, and that someone decides it's time to take action.
As the movie proceeds there are a variety of slipups and bumbling police, several 'comedic' vignettes, ultimately leading to the unmasking of the killer and the end of the movie.
This movie has several problems. The first problem is that the comedic plot is unbelievable. We knew the plot of 'Young Frankenstein' was unbelievable, but the one-liners and periodic slapstick were funny because the characters tried hard to appear to play it straight. In 'Haunted Honeymoon' the characters are going for the laughs, and it's usually not funny. The plot is so thin that it makes tissue paper look thick, and the humor appears too forced.
The next problem is that the humor often isn't humorous. One of the best scenes in the movie is when Gene is sitting atop of the butler so that Gene is matched with the butler's legs. As the butler (knocked unconscious in a struggle with Gene) moves his legs while waking up, Gene does a variety of things that are funny. Don't get your hopes up because that scene is the funniest of the movie.
The dialogue is awful. There's nothing more I can say about the dialogue.
For all my negative criticism, the movie is slightly entertaining. The house is great; I wish I could live there. There are a few humorous moments (though too few). The atmosphere of the movie seems to try hard to recreate the atmosphere of 'Young Frankenstein', though some sets are used way too often. I'm glad I watched the movie, but I do not see me watching it again.
I absolutely do not recommend you buy this movie.
The premise of the film is clever, a parody of the spooky-comedies of the 1940s and 1950s that were popularized by the likes of Red Skelton, Abbot and Costello, and Crosby and Hope. Two radio stars (Wilder and Radner) have become engaged and they rush off to the groom's ancestrial home for the wedding... and promptly encounter everything from cobras in the closet to werewolves in the winecellar. And the script and production values are often quite amusing, with repeated references to James Whale's 1930s classic THE OLD DARK HOUSE, and even the score borrows a few phrases from "I've Written A Letter To Daddy" from WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? But the plot goes no where, and not even the stars of the film can save it.
Which brings us to why the film is nonetheless worth watching. Wilder is excessive, to say the least, but his failings here are as director and writer; as a performer he manages quite well. And his co-star is the late and much missed Gilda Radner. Sadly, Radner never found her place on the big screen before her untimely death, and HAUNTED HONEYMOON is no exception; Wilder doesn't seem to know how best to display her talents. But even so, there are moments when she illuminates the film to a remarkable comic degree, giving the viewer a glimpse of what might have been if the role had been more carefully tailored to her talents. And then there is Dom DeLuise, who offers a hilarious throw-away performance in drag as Aunt Kate... And when Gilda and Dom join forces to perform the old Vaudeville song "Ballin' the Jack" the result is pure movie magic.
Unfortunately, though, it isn't enough. The story is just too weak, too many of the one-liners fall flat, too often cast members who might have given great comic performances are neglected. I'll give it three stars out of five... one each for Wilder, Radner, and DeLuise. But I'm erring on the generous side. Incidently, this film is not to be confused with a Robert Young-Constance Cummings effort of the 1930s, also entitled HAUNTED HONEYMOON and based on the play and novel by mystery author Dorothy Sayers--a very good film, by the way, which sad to say has never been released to the home market.
