Amusement

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.

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!

After languishing for so long in 2008, Amusement is finally making its debut on DVD. I had high hopes for the movie after watching the trailer but it is nowhere near what I had expected it to be.

The movie can be summarized as a series of vignettes.Each vignette tells the tale of three women and their encounter with a psychotic killer, out to get them for they had done to him in the past. The plot is similar to Valentine (2001) but the movie was weighed, measured and found wanting.

For starters the editing could have been a lot better. The movie starts off with the Shelby story when it could have been much better placed when the psychiatrist questions Tabitha about Shelby. Another scene in which Lisa tries to enter the hotel and accidentally breaks a bottle, when the psycho steps out the bottle is still on the steps untouched and in one piece.

The story was not impressive at all. The whole Tabitha portion of the story of her babysitting her cousins and being attacked by the clown was very similar to Halloween (1978). The back-story which told why the psycho had such an animosity towards the girls in the first place should have been well explained.

The characters where not plausible at all. For instance, when Lisa sends her boyfriend to check on her friend at the hotel and when he doesn't come out, she doesn't call the cops, she goes in herself. I mean how stupid can you get. The movie is nothing more than a compilation of several slasher movies made in the past all jumbled up into one movie. No wonder why this movie never made it to the big screen.

If you want to watch a good horror movie rent out Halloween(1978), Psycho(1960) or The Changeling(1980)because this movie is nothing more than another futile attempt by Hollywood to create a decent, original horror movie.