'Haunted Wedding' Reviews: "With a few tweaks and changes, Haunted Wedding could have been such a fun movie, but its disjointed tone and broad characters distract from a promising premise."

         On October 12, 2024, Hallmark Channel premiered 'Haunted Wedding', which has earned a mixed reception from critics. In the film, the wedding between two ghost hunters is disrupted by a spirit that believes the groom is dead fiancé. The ensemble cast includes Dominic Sherwood, Janel Parrish, and Cassandra Potenza. But what did the critics say?

Photo Courtesy of Hallmark Media and Stephen Ackerman

        Rebekah's Readings and Watchings says, This one started out great but lost its way, got pretty confused, and floundered around aimlessly to the inevitable happy conclusion. It’s a shame because the premise was a fresh one for Hallmark, the two lead actors were good and likable as were the characters they played, and in the beginning, there were several cute lines in the script. It opened with a spoof of Ghost Hunter-type reality shows with which I am very familiar because a lot of reasons. Ghost hunting is our couple Jana and Brian’s hobby and the movie opens with them doing just that. They really nailed the usual lingo and crazy machines that all respectable ghost hunters would not be without. It turns out that on this occasion Brian has lured Jana into a haunted insane asylum to propose marriage. It was cute. I really liked their relationship and that they were so enthusiastic about the unusual hobby that they shared in common. 6 months later they arrive at the (3-tombstone rated!) Keystone Manor, a haunted inn that they have chosen as their wedding venue. And this is about where it all starts to go downhill." Adding, "Hardly anything in this movie made sense. For over 200 years Angelique has not been able to communicate with or be seen by anyone until the arrival of Jana and Brian. They are her one chance to finally be reunited with Malcolm and they vow to help her do so. They are ghost hunters. Brian is an ancestor of Malcolm. What could be more coincidentally fortuitous?  Yet Angelique is spiteful and hostile off and on (mostly on) throughout the movie. She sabotages their wedding preparations and plays mean tricks like turning their wine into vinegar. This ghost has powers outside the realm of the usual poltergeist activities. She whines all the damn time. She would have been well served if Jana and Brian left and had their wedding at “The Radisson (like normal people)”."

        Liz Kocan of Decider notes, "As I watched Haunted Wedding, I kept coming back to the thought that this movie feels more like something you would have seen on Nickelodeon in the 1990s than something on the Hallmark Channel. The characters are all big and broad and are forced to deliver hacky lines, the physical comedy feels designed to make kids laugh, and and the paranormal aspect had a real O.G. Goosebumps feel to it. All of this to say that it feels very silly and a little too basic. And while basic and predictable can be fine if the performances elevate the material, in this case, they don’t. While I appreciated Sherwood in his dual roles and feel like he actually showed range as both Malcolm and Brian, and Janel Parrish is fine as Jana, the rest of the movie feels filled with stereotypes and silly characters who don’t act like real people." Continuing, "SKIP IT. With a few tweaks and changes, Haunted Wedding could have been such a fun movie, but its disjointed tone and broad characters distract from a promising premise."