The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer

I have certainly seen bigger budgeted movies in the genre far worse than this effort, it is competently acted, has some nice visual touches, and the director knows how to best utilise the monolithic house. That said, without genuine suspense it is hard to succeed in the genre, so without a fearful story as well it has little to no chance of making it. The crux of the matter is that the story really isn't that interesting, we have seen and read about this plot on numerous occasions, so for a TV movie to win you round it really is asking way too much. Basic ingredients are all here, creepy house, pretty wife confused, servant with big role to play, and of course the genre staple of sexual deviant husband with dark overtones. The film moves along sedately which is fine if the pay off is worth the wait, sadly it isn't here and it limps over the finish line instead of leaping over as the build up had promised.

Just below average for me, but a gentle round of applause for effort to those involved, 4/10.

I haven't seen the original Rose Red yet, but I did pick up this dvd at the rental store. It was decently acted, had appropriately scary mood music, in other words everything you needed to make a good horror flick. Well apart from heart that is. It just seemed to me like they just weren't trying too hard to make this thing work. It did scare you in various places, but it was almost formulaic scariness. I'd pass on this, unless you've seen Rose Red and wanted to see it's history.

I'll possibly pick up Rose Red at the video store one of these days, or maybe not -- just wasn't compelling enough from this prequel. I'll give it a 6 out of 10.

"The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" is a prequel to the Mini-Series "Rose Red" (2002). The cinematography and the art direction are excellent, depicting Seattle in 1910 and a few years after. The cast is also great with good performances. However, the story is weak and disclosed in a very slow pace. The great mystery of the disappearances of women is never explained and there is no explanation about the evil entity that torments Ellen Rimbauer. In the end, "The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer" is a huge disappointment and never satisfies fans of horror, thriller, drama and romance genres. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "O Diário de Ellen Rimbauer" ("The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer")

This definitely qualifies as one of them. Twice as good as the mini-series, and only one-third the length! Good period detail. Suitably creepy all the way through. I give it four stars, to the original's two-and-a-quarter!

I wasn't aware that Stephen Kings Rose Red (2002) had a prequel, upon finding out I was quite excited as the potential was really quite good.

Sadly this was not penned by Stephen King at all which I find to be a really strange decision.

It tells the story of Rose Reds construction and how it came to be. The setting, the cinematography, the writing is all quite good but feels forced.

I enjoyed Rose Red, though I don't think it was exactly ground breaking it did manage to accomplish what it set out to do. I don't think however that this does.

Though it tells a great story it gradually falls apart and when the credits rolled I was left with a frustrating number of unanswered questions.

I think perhaps it could have done with an additional 30-60 minutes to flesh it out, in it's present state it is passable but very underwhelming.

The Good:

Couple of great moments

Looks great

The Bad:

Few plot holes

Too short

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I'm anti-remakes/reboots but this and Rose Red could perhaps be considered