Rose Red

There are so many of King's books that didn't go over well as movies. And this one, which was never even a book, did really well. If you have a Friday night and a lot of popcorn to kill, this is a decent one to settle down with. A lot of the actors are unknown, but pull this off well. I like how it's not just a group of people going to spend the night in a haunted house and win money and fame shtick. (i.e. the new House on Haunted Hill) I also liked how all the people who went had a unique specialty in the paranormal/supernatural. Also, it has the regular blend of characters you love to hate, ones who are suspicious, and the adorable ones that you hope don't make the mistake of investigating unknown noises in the middle of the night alone.

Reading through, a l0ot of the hate is for Stephen King and not so much for the series itself. Mind, they are hati8ng on him for being a popular writer in the literary version of the hipster nothing mainstream ethos.

And while they are doing it, they are forgetting the same hatred for the same reasons were targeted at Poe, Lovecraft, Dumas, and Sabatini...so King is in pretty good company for the haters.

His problem is...he doesn't know how to end things. At least most of the time with King the pay off is the build up and that build up is really fun to read...or in this case watch.

But it ends like The Stand, with a solid "meh." And the plot is very Drive-in B-Horror movie, which is fun, because, you know, they aren't trying to do Shakespeare who was also a--gasp--pop writer in his day.

It's King, he does horror and some of it is EPIC, like The Shinning, The Stand, you know the names...

...but most of it is B-Movie fun and enjoyable on a whole different level.

Rose Red is a B-Movie from the haunted house vein and it works, it makes for an enjoyable show with an enjoyable cast.

The is until it tapers out in the last act, but it's long enough where that doesn't matter, we had the build-up and it was worth it.

For the rest of you, though, this mammoth 250 minutes horror miniseries, is well worth the time. Stephen King has probably created one of his best screenplay-to-screen only works (not based on a novel) in "Rose Red", a chore usually not too successful ("Sleepwalkers", anyone?). This haunted house tale, about a creepy enormous mansion in Seatle, and the intrepid psychics that go there for a "field trip", boasts amazing production design and sets, fine acting, especially by Nancy Travis as the determined Joyce Reardon and Matt Ross as Emery ("Go and warn someone who isn't broke!), and decent special effects (especially considering this is made for TV). Although not everything is always clear, and although the middle part tends to sag a little, this is a high quality mini-series which amazingly manages to sustain interest through four hours of haunted house shenanigans, one of the most overused themes in horror. It's length also allows it to dedicate the first hour to character development and story buildup, so that when the characters walk for the first time into "Rose Red", we are almost as anxious as they are. this wouldn't have worked in a two hour film.

Though most people did not appreciate this movie due to lack of insight, I still found it interesting and mentally exercising. I do agree that some of the down time should have been used to go into depth on the characters but it also makes me use my mind to fill in the blanks which could make the movie even more fun and eccentric. Stephen King knows how to tap into peoples minds. This movie didn't scare me or make me jump at the time I was watching it. It was a few days later when I actually started to think about it and analyze it that it struck a cord. It makes you think about the possibilities and consequences. Well all in all I liked this mini series and though I do think they could have done better, it was still mentally captivating.

Great movie!! As for the length, it was perfect for me...yeah, I know that sounds crazy to most of you...but I wish lots of movies were longer, with more of a story line and this one has it!!! I love movies with creepy old houses and ghosts! I give it a 10! So far, it's my favorite horror movie! The characters in the movie were very good! A bit of sarcasm and humor...fun parts, scary parts...!! I bought the DVD and watch it over again from time to time and it never gets boring to me! I can't compare the book to the movie, as I don't read Stephen King's books...I rather wait for the movies :-) !!! And like always, he plays a small part in the movie ;-) Stephen King gets a 10 also, such a wild imagination that doesn't let his fans down!!!