Rating: 
Summary: Rose Red comes with many a thorn of disappointment
Review: No one admires or idolizes Stephen King more than I do, but Stephen King's Rose Red falls quite short of becoming the ultimate haunted house movie. There's really nothing frightening about it, for one thing. For a six hour miniseries (which equates to just over four hours viewing time on DVD), the characterization is rather spotty, some of the casting is questionable, insufficient background information is provided, and all of the elements in this expanded story production fail to click. There is nowhere near enough blood and gore for my liking, but of course one has to always remember that this was a made-for-TV miniseries and not an R rated theatrical motion picture - there is a nice finger-chopping scene, though. The viewing experience on DVD is much better than the original miniseries experience, I might point out (although the video quality is surprisingly shaky). It basically took the first night of the miniseries for things to really get going, and now one can plunge right into the heart of the story without delay; what little sustained creepiness is to be found inside the walls of Rose Red works much better without the handicap of commercial interruption. This does lead to some soap opera moments, however, in those spaces that lead up to the original commercial breaks. I think the real weakness of the film, though, is the ending, as it comes across as somewhat contrived; it certainly does not satisfy this viewer.Initially, we spend some time meeting the central characters in this drama; I say "meeting" because I never felt as if I actually "got to know" more than two or three of them. Nancy Travis plays Dr. Joyce Reardon, a scientist obsessed with proving the existence of the paranormal. Despite the harassment she receives from her boss Professor Miller (David Dukes), she goes ahead with a scientific investigation of Seattle's supposedly haunted mansion Rose Red, intending to wake up what she perceives is a dormant cell and thereby gain the proof she seeks that spirits do exist. She assembles a most unusual team of helpers, each of them psychic in one way or another (mind reading, post-cognition, automatic writing, etc.). The key, though, is the teenaged Annie Wheaton (Kimberly J. Brown), an autistic youth with a proven track record of psychokinetic powers (e.g., pummeling a neighbor's house with large boulders out of the sky a la Carrie White). The only really interesting characters besides Annie and Dr. Reardon are Steven Rimbauer, the last living descendant of the Rimbauers and sole owner of Rose Red (as well as Dr. Reardon's lover) and Emery Waterman (Matt Ross). Emery sees dead people, is burdened with a mother who is exceedingly overprotective and a compulsive shopper, and whines and complains to beat the band. Naturally, weird things begin to happen, we piece together more of the story of the house, and eventually individuals start wandering around alone basically begging to die. Frayed nerves are snapped like rubber bands, and a few ghostly manifestations appear in zombie fashion from time to time to assist new victims of the house to their untimely deaths. Needless to say, Reardon and her team are trapped inside the house. A couple of other related characters find their way on the land to meet a most unkind fate, and eventually final resolution comes in a rather silly manner. I'm just not sure that Nancy Travis was the right actress to play Dr. Reardon, but there are also problems with the character she plays. Fairly early on in the film, for instance, Reardon has a confrontation with Dr. Miller, and this scene as it played out had a negative impact on my enjoyment of the film as a whole. David Dukes, the man who played Dr. Miller, died tragically during the filming, leaving behind a great performance of a despicable character. I liked Annie, and I make a point to say this because King movies all too often feature young characters so incredibly annoying that you have to hate them. King himself makes another great cameo appearance in the film, which is all the more remarkable considering the after effects of the relatively recent accident which almost killed him. The only important bonus features on the DVD are two documentaries. The Making of Rose Red is good and quite informative, but at fifty minutes it seems to drag on forever. It is certainly worth watching, though, for the Stephen King interview clips if nothing else. Then there is a half-hour feature on The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer; this is a promotional fake documentary ABC put out shortly before the airing of the miniseries itself. It presents the story of the house and the investigation as fact, trying to create the idea in potential viewers' heads that the miniseries was to have strong elements of truth in it, which it does not. If you have never seen Rose Red, I would actually recommend watching this feature before taking in the film itself, as it offers valuable (though still incomplete) information on the background of the house.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT!!!
Review: I LOVED this mini-series! When I invited some friends over one night, they went through my dvd stash and saw Rose Red. At first they said that it would probably be [bad] but watched it anyway. These people NEVER pay attention to a movie even for 1 hour, but they did for this one. They were actually even SCARED at some points and they NEVER get SCARED! (notice the sarcasm). Stephen King did a great job with this and i highly recommend! They also even did a great job with keeping the suspense by making it an EXPERIENCE rather than just a movie. About a month before this mini-series premiered, ABC showed a special about this supposedly haunted house and a woman who was going to explore it. This program was actually promotional and used to get people really feeling like this house actually exists (which it doesn't). They also made a "diary" of Ellen Rimbauer, the woman of the "house" at the time. Great movie...go out and buy it. It made me fear to go to sleep because of the "let's get it on" woman (you'll know if you watch):)
Rating: 
Summary: bad stuff
Review: Sounded exciting, degenerated into pretty basic horror house genre. The story made no sense, the acting was forced, the ending was almost laughably bad.
Rating: 
Summary: A surprise.
Review: I really enjoy this 4 hours movie. The theme is not very original though but it is well done, well directed. The acting is alright and of course it's a Stephen King work before all, with all what it means.Some of the scenes are VERY CREEPY and it's 10 times better than most of the Horror movies you can find in your videoshop. Not to hesitate, it's god stuff. S.King makes a special and funny appearance as the pizza boy :) Only negative point, maybe the SFX.. it reminds me sometimes "The puppet show" or "Creepshow".
Rating:
Summary: "Every House Has a Story to tell...This One Will Kill You"
Review: Rose Red, a spectacular miniseries written by horror-master Stephen King and directed by Craig Baxley (Storm of the Century), was shown on ABC in late January 2002. Many reviewers in the media were not exactly excited about this film. I did not see it when it first aired, though I deeply wished to. Eventually, I bought the DVD; I was ready to watch it. I enjoyed it throughly. I think Nancy Travis' role as Joyce Reardon was a little overdone, however. (Maybe Ms. Travis should just stick to Comedy.) I was hypnotized by Kimberly J. Brown's performance as Annie Wheaton, a autistic telepath. I also could not help but love Julian Sands' portrayal as the incredibly witty, incredibly psychic Nick Hardaway. The score is haunting and beautiful, and it makes me wish there was a CD available that had that on it (10 points go to Gary Chang!). As for the movie, I think that the beginning characterization is something that was necessary, and it was a nice switch from the usuaul gore fest you in Horrors today. Bravo, Stephen. The special effects are superb. Flying stones, building houses, close-ups that get your heart going, ghosts that make you afraid of what may be sleeping on the other side of your bed. Not to mention the stunning animatronics made for the role of Ellen Rimbauer. Some people have found it chillingly scary, but I didn't find it all that frightening (And I'm only 13!). Now for the plot. The basic story is much like Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. (Or was it Hell House?) "Some Houses Are Born Bad". You betcha. This house, which was built in the late 1800s/early 1900s, builds on to itself (To understand more about the history of Rose Red, I highly suggest the page-turner THE DIARY OF ELLEN RIMBAUER: MY LIFE AT ROSE RED). So, crazy Joyce Reardon, obsessed with Rose Red, leads a team of psychics into Rose Red to wake up the supposed "dead cell". Soon, the house's dead spirits, who were never really gone, start to reek havoc and people start disappearing. Everything leads up to dark secrets revealed and a climatic ending that is predictable. The reason why I say FOUR STARS, and not five, is that by the time you arrive to Disk Two of the DVD, after the "statue incident" (You'll know what I mean when you get there), you begin wondering when this movie will end. Though every single part is necessary in my view, I believe it does get slightly long-winded. The Special Effects are quite amazing, however. As for the Special Features of the DVD, there isn't a whole lot. There's original storyboard designs, a 50 minute long documentary on the making of ROSE RED, a fake documentary on Ellen's diary (I think that was supremely creative), artwork, a trailer and Commentary. It does give a in-depth look at everything, but it didn't get me exicted or anything. All in all, I believe it is a great movie to watch when you have an open four hours (insert snicker here). Kudos to King and Baxley for a job well done.
Rating:
Summary: Just barely worth spending the night.
Review: As far as haunted house flicks go, Rose Red is certainly better than most of what Hollywood has had to offer recently (The Haunting remake, Thir13een Ghosts). Still, even though penned by Stephen King, this thriller misses out on some of its own potential and the film is occasionally hampered by its TV limitations (mostly in terms of blood and gore). The picture stars Matt Keeslar as Steven Rimbauer, the last descendant of the Rimbauer family, the builders and owners of the infamous Rose Red, a gigantic mansion purported to be haunted. With his permission, an obsessed professor (Nancy Travis) rounds up a team of psychics to explore the mansion, and within they discover Rose Reds' secrets and terrors. So, basically, the story is pretty much what we've come to expect from a haunted house flick. Just get a bunch of people together, put them in a house, and knock 'em off one-by-one. This one's a bit better than you might expect, thanks to the great production values and decent acting (considering some of the bad dialogue, I'd say the performances are often pretty impressive). As a matter of fact, I'd say this film works in spite of King, whose script offers nothing new to the genre and relies on stupidity from the characters to keep the plot moving (at one point, the group actually leaves a tied-up woman behind despite knowing full well what the house is capable of). Unsurprisingly, the film works best when it concentrates on quiet, creepy horror and the things that go bump in the night. Thus, the second segment of this 254 minute (!) production is the strongest part of the film, offering much in the way of suspense and scares, but is unfortunately bookended by parts that either take too long to get moving (Part 1) or eventually succumb to silliness, which is exactly what occurs in the last fifteen minutes. But this miniseries (at least from the second part on to the end) held my attention, and I was delighted to see that I actually could not predict who would die in what order, so I guess King deserves some credit for that. This is all fairly well orchestrated by director Craig R. Baxley, who's beginning to replace Mick Garris as King's filmmaker of choice.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic movie...Stephen King strikes again!
Review: Well, Stephen King did an absolutely fantastic job writing this story for the production of this movie. Even though the movie is 4 hours long, the movie didn't bore me for one second. I really enjoyed this, especially Annie, the little autistic girl. I thought she was a very good touch to the story line. I would recommend this movie to anyone who's out for a good thrill.
Rating:
Summary: was expecting MUCH better
Review: If you're looking for a good haunted house movie, pass this one up. Its overly long and totally disjointed. The obvious places for commercial breaks don't help. None of the characters are sympathetic in any way. And the ending is neither satisfying nor cathartic. It just ends. Again, if you want a GOOD haunted house movie, watch 'The Haunting' (1963) with Julie Harris or 'The Legend of Hell House' with Roddy McDowall.
Rating:
Summary: Scared the s**t outta me!
Review: I thought I had seen so many horror movies that I had desensitised myself to fear and shock. I can honestly count on a single hand the number of movies that have actually frightened me, and none have done it as thoroughly as Rose Red. Let's face it, the storyline is flimsy, and the acting is atrocious but it has such a powerful aura of suspense that even a shot of trees seems scary. For four hours I sat sweating and white-knuckled, gripping my seat. Don't think I could do it again but it was worth it.
Rating:
Summary: It is THE haunted house movie
Review: If you're going to watch just one haunted house movie, watch Rose Red. The whole story idea is woven together perfectly and the characters are incredible. It is a classic Steven King masterpiece, as you'll see by the twists he threw in to the movie. Rose Red has made me believe that houses are indeed alive and I now look at every house a little differently.
|
