Amusement

To give this movie an above average rating is a waste of stars. Sure, visually the movie looks nice and like most people mentioned the Clown Segment is pretty creepy... BUT like everything else in this movie its totally ripped off and leads nowhere. The whole basic premise of "Amusement" with the subplots just doesn't work at all... Car lost in the woods, Babysitter home alone and stalked by crazy guy, old abandoned hotel with crazy people in it... you've seen it all before and it isn't even bound together by a clever script. Far from that... Chicks get abducted by some crazy guy, then some strange interrogation in a FBI Cell takes place ... I guess just because they needed some reason for the flashback sequences. Beside that the whole part is idiotic... how could a psychologist fall for a crazy guy in FBI dress with an interrogation room in an old flooded cellar??

"Amusement" is basically just a collection of ideas stuffed into a messy script... Let's make a horror movie with beautiful chicks and a crazy guy! OK, but I want a clown in there and Joyride was fun, so let's also put that in and have some people being stabbed in the eye. If we make the crazy guy an inventor with killer gimmicks and some Dr. Giggles laughter I am in! OK, deal... but we need a psychologist in there plus some unexpected twist and a moral ending to at least make it look smart on first sight.

Phew...things build up, the whole reason for the movie title is unfolded and pretty meaningless, the characters get killed in most uninspired ways possible, the flashbacks are clumsy and don't explain much and we never learn why people are sown into mattresses or crazy guy has a fetish for pulling living things open. It just happens.. random shreds of stolen ideas like in a cheesy clip show.

THIS IS A MESS!! For the few scenes that work its 90 Minute too much wasted and the ending should make anybody angry. Avoid!

I wasn't amused with "Amusement".The laughable synopsis on the cover goes like that: Tabitha,Shelby and Lisa.They're longtime friends on separate life paths.But they share a horrific destination when a seemingly innocent incident from their school days comes back to terrify them.Someone wants payback:warped vengeance...mind-games vengeance...taunting,shredding,slashing vengeance.Inside a stone-walled chamber of prison cells and mechanisms of doom,the three women and other victims face a fierce fight to survive."Amusement" is terrible.With dumb plot and zero scares it offers nothing even remotely interesting even for seasoned horror fan.The killer is an underdeveloped cliché with truly annoying laugh.There is only one effectively creepy scene in which the emerging female lead is confronted with a room stuffed with dolls and clowns.The violence is tame so gorehounds and slasher fans will be disappointed.4 out of 10.

AMUSEMENT tells the story of three women who are stalked by a psychopathic friend from their childhood who has a murderous sense of humor.

The movie was actually shot well, and at least in outline the story could intrigue because of its unusual structure. So there was potential here, but black hole-sized plotholes ruined the movie.

Let's forget about how a mental case released from psychiatric hospital can gather the financial resources to pull off all the outlandish things shown in the movie. Or how he can apparently carry out tasks that would take some time literally in seconds. Or how he can fall of a down a long shaft and survive without major injuries.

No, this movie takes stupid character syndrome to heights unseen, like past the event horizon of those aforementioned black plotholes.

Guy notices two people in the backseat, covered in fabric and bound up, but moving and making noises, only after he finishes his car trip? Check!

Girl has a phone on her while looking for her disappeared housemate and her lover inside a super creepy house, but never bothers to call the police? Check!

Girl manages to subdue the villain momentarily but then runs away instead of finishing him off? Check!

The movie ends with one of the cringiest voice over narrations I have ever heard, which includes this diamond: "He was a joke that crossed the line".

The garbage quality screenplay is by far the worst aspect of this movie. If you still want to watch it for the visuals, make sure to shut off your brain first.

Back when I was a young lad and got my first computer, all I did was visiting horror-movie-themed forums and websites.

I remember "Amusement" being advertised in one of the forums; they didn't post the trailer, just the poster and a couple of production stills, but the little I could see looked enticing enough.

Anyway, the movie was never brought to my country's cinemas and I eventually forgot about it, until...

Cinemax decided to air it.

They had several airings scheduled for the week, but I missed the first 3, because I was too damn tired and had school the next day.

Turns out the fourth and last airing was very late into the night, and I had to go to school, but I outright REFUSED to miss it again.

And so, I saw it...

Staying up late and falling asleep in Chemistry, was it worth it?

No.

I'm no cinephile and certainly wasn't one at 14, but I was so dissapointed, I honestly hated it and could not find a single thing to enjoy.

Why I am here, you may ask.

Well, now that I'm older and have a job, I've been collecting movies like there is no tomorrow.

I figured that I could make some shelf space for low-rated, almost-universally panned movies, because why not? I need to shut off the brain and let it rest every once in a while.

That's how "Amusement" found a space in my library.

And you may wonder, does this guy like it now that he's older?

I...think I do, not gonna lie!

My point still mostly stands, the movie is filled with plot holes (now that's ironic, Alanis), the plot makes little to absolutely no sense and the acting is subpar.

But, this thing is entertaining and doesn't overstay its welcome, so few positive points here.

I also enjoyed the production design and settings; again, the place where the climax takes place and that one student house make absolutely no sense, but they're visually appealing.

However, it was completely lacking in the scare/tension department, but that one scene with the phone call (you know the one), is genuinely chilling, so at least there's one thing to look forward to.

I didn't know up until now, but apparently Warner Bros rushed the production, then shelved the movie, and then tossed it to home video almost 2 years later of its completion, with little to no fanfare...and it shows.

Those of you who might be thinking of seeing it, use this as a warning if you don't enjoy stupid movies. But if you do, be my guest.

I must admit that I've already seen it twice this year, and it will definitely be in the line-up for this year's Halloween movie marathon.

You could say it grew on me...like a rash, but it grew nonetheless.

While driving in a side road following a truck with her boyfriend Rob (Tad Hilgenbrink), there is a strange accident and Shelby (Laura Breckenridge) is abducted by a deranged driver. Tabitha (Katheryn Winnick) is kidnapped from her uncle's house by a man dressed of clown. Lisa (Jessica Lucas) is caught in an old pension by a twisted man. The three women are former school friends from Briar Hills and sooner they find themselves in an underground prison; further, they discover that the abductor is a former school mate that had psychological problems and is seeking revenge against them.

The plot of "Amusement" is so unreasonable (actually absurd) that irritates. The first segment (Shelby) is dumb with unexplained attitudes that do not make sense. For example, who is the girl in the truck; why she writes a note asking for help and jumps from the truck immediately after? Who would chase a truck with a dangerous kidnapper in the middle of nowhere leaving the girlfriend and a wounded girl behind on the secondary road? Why the truck driver runs over Rob? Why did he stop in a creepy house if he was close to the gas station? Tabitha's segment is the best and slightly inspired in the 1979 "When a Stranger Calls", but uses the bad clichés with the woman running from a backyard to a closed space and finding the body of the babysitter. Lisa's segment is also terrible, and who would sneak in a frightening place after the disappearance of her best friend Cat and her boyfriend Dan inside the house? The annoying and insane criminal is not developed and the viewer never knows how he got the isolated underground facility and why the psychiatrist of Briar Hills would visit a patient in a visibly abandoned spot. Last but not the least, the re-creation of the art boxes by the maniac is simply ridiculous. The good points of this flick are the cinematography and the acting, but that is not enough to save the story. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Diversão Macabra" ("Macabre Diversion")