Customer Reviews

Rose Red

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

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.

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.

Rose Red is a complex film but if you pay attention, it can be followed easily.
The setting is an awesome old house. But there are ghosts that still live there. As the plot unravels, the characters special supernatural abilities bring out the answers to what the group is looking for. Scary scenes, bizzare happenings as the house "lives." One of King's best films.

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".

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.

IF you love old Victorian or Mansion style homes and furnishings; IF you love the mysterious supernatural instead of blood and guts; IF you love to watch lenghty movies; YOU WILL want to add this one to your collection. The video quality and sound quality are great.

I bought the movie because I loved the miniseries, which ran more than a decade ago. I love this untarnished movie for the same reasons: an unparalled cast (a rousing bravo/a to the casting director, because it was the memory of the actors who sparked my idea of tracking this down on the net); a mystery surrounding the cause of the haunting of this house, bad from its literal foundation (thanks to Shirley Jackson personally from me, to add to Mr. King's acknowledgment in the movie's intro); and one really great, pell mell, reckless, run-for-your life, utterly Godforsaken and Godforsook disaster in which they blowed stuff up good for us! Tales of the Crypt monsters and truly imaginative, multi-coloured make-up and prostheses on the characters who didn't make it out are always fun, too; I'm not sure if I saw ghosts, zombies, or ghouls, but I probably saw them all! I have only one quibble. The miniseries was cut down, I suppose to put it on two DVDs. We viewers lost out on some things; a character just wasn't on screen any longer, with no explanation, and two others showed up, again without explanation; the mystery of the haunting lay within the triangular relationship of the husband, wife and maid (sister under the skin?), but much of that interaction was cut, and without it the underlying plotline seems a little sparse and the characterizations aren't as well developed. I now have a burning desire to find a copy of the book to read again, and if Lions Gate, who imo does horror very well, puts out a second set with the entire miniseries on it, I'll rush to buy it too. But this coming Hallowe'en, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is going to have to battle it out with Stephen King's Rose Red for my midnight viewing. Mwahahahaha!

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.

This will be my all time favorite Horror flick. All though most may stay away thinking this is another Stephen King Movie gone astray from his writtings as has with some of his other movies where the book is far superior to the movie. This movie in fact is Really well made. One of the best Ghost story movies I have ever seen. In fact other than he has his usual cameo apperance as he usually does, you would never know he had anything to do with this film. A great prouction and a well directed movie (actually it was a made for T.V. mini series, you do see where the places for the commercial inserts were to be, about the only draw back to the suspence). It is long for a horror movie over 250 minutes, but it certainly doesn't feel drawn out. Definately a good movie. I even went and puchased the Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, not as long as Rose Red, only about 90 minutes.It gives a back ground description of Ellen through her diary, and a better understanding of the house and Ellen, but still a good ghost story on it's own.

Sounded exciting, degenerated into pretty basic horror house genre. The story made no sense, the acting was forced, the ending was almost laughably bad.