The Lost Room

OK, first of all let me just start by saying that I watch a lot of movies and read a lot of books, but I hardly ever write any sort of comments or critiques on what I've watched or read. I am a big fan of anything supernatural, unexplainable, mysterious, or horrifying and this mini-series absolutely hooked me from the beginning and I wish that it would have been much longer than 6 hours.

I was a huge fan of the series Six Feet Under when it was on the air, and Peter Krause is in my opinion one of the best actors on television. If it were not for him, I probably wouldn't have even watched the first part of the series...I am so glad that I did. I don't think anyone could watch the first two hours of this mini-series and not be completely engrossed and fascinated by the storyline.

I think that the writers of this series did an excellent job and were brilliant in setting the stage for what I hope will either spin off into a series, or at least another mini-series. I really do not see how this will not have a sequel in some form, it was really that brilliant and imaginative.

I recommend watching this to anyone that loves science fiction or supernatural-type phenomenons. The makers of this show really exceeded my expectations on this one, which were initially not that high. Please let the Sci-Fi channel have the foresight and intelligence to green light this for a followup, I'm sure I won't be alone in eagerly awaiting for this to happen.

Though I like fantasy and SF, I have to admit to being fondest of rule-based fantasy, like that of Tim Powers -- as a reader or viewer, you have an idea of what's possible and impossible, despite the supernatural elements of the story. Fantasy without rules is far less satisfactory, since characters in those stories can do whatever the writer arbitrarily decides they can do (or can't), and as a result, the writing is lazier.

"The Lost Room" is all about rules and the characters who find creative ways to abuse them. (Tim Powers fans would like it, I'm sure.) The writers have come up with cool supernatural powers for a host of innocuous looking objects (combs, pens, cards, bus tickets, watches, a key, etc.) Each object has a power and rules to govern them. Many of the powers don't seem that nifty, until you see how creatively they are used. And, along those lines, virtually every scene contains a fun, "Hey, that's a good idea!" move, and they tend to come at you faster than you can anticipate them if you aren't taping the show and hitting pause.

What's best about this is that the writers stick with it all the way. Many of these shows go David Lynch/Twin Peaks on us, setting us up with the promise of great stuff to come, and then disappointing us in a big way later. (Dean Koontz novels always seem to fall apart in this way, at least for me.) "The Lost Room" keeps up its promises all the way to the very end, which, like the rest of the miniseries, is clever and interesting and makes perfect sense in hindsight, given the rules.

I honestly can't think of the last time I saw a miniseries or movie of this ilk that pulled off its ending this well. It's a darned good miniseries, and I sincerely hope it becomes a full-blown series, as apparently is being considered.

I have to give this movie very high marks because it maintained an incredibly high level of suspense, surprise and novelty through most of its 4.4 hour (without commercials) run-time. This is very unusual for the sci-fi genre - most ideas and plots are very well-known.

I won't give anything away about the story because the unusual plot is is part of the wonderful experience you'll get from watching this movie. Suffice it to say that the story follows a detective who comes across a very unusual key to a very unusual hotel room. Admittedly, it sounds like the movie is going to be a bomb (what I thought), but it is anything but that.

Once you start watching - you'll be hard pressed to stop. The pace is excellent: something interesting is always going on - hardly a moment is wasted during the multi-hour runtime.

This movie could not have been as good without a good strong lead character. Peter Krause does a great job - he presents a well-balanced, intelligent and easy to like character. The supporting characters are pretty well done - even though some of them are a bit wacky. Everything seems to work.

One thing I really appreciated in the movie was the intelligence of its characters. There aren't any ridiculous decisions that are made to advance the plot (or remove characters). In fact, they are mostly very smart ones - so you don't feel shortchanged by the story or the filmmakers. Applaud them in this case. It really makes a story go from interesting to fascinating.

Is it perfect? I can squabble about a few things towards the end - but it doesn't matter. What matters is that I was strongly entertained for 4.4 hours and am going to watch it again.

I could go on, but you'd be better served by watching the movie. This level of film-making will appeal to all moviegoers. Strongly recommended for all.

I saw the trailer for this TV-mini on some obscure satellite channel and thought, hey that's a cool looking movie. I'm a huge sci-fi fan so naturally I had to see this. To my surprise it wasn't a feature film but a TV-mini series. That sort of put my high hopes into lower gear since quite a few sci-fi mini's has been either low budget looking or plain simply bad.

Well, I started to watch and I was slowly but surely sucked in and saw the entire set from start to finish. Yep 4½ hours non-stop watching. I just couldn't stop.

The story is so cleverly written that I was (and am) simply amazed. I have seen it four times now and every time I see something new or find new answers that I didn't see before. To come up with this kind of story and use it so well must come from some tremendously inventive minds. Everyday items with some special power that came to be because....well you just have to see for yourself.

The cast performance is top notch. I especially like the performance of Kevin Pollack as Karl Kreuzfeld, Dennis Christopher as Ruber and the absolutely superb, paranoid but believable performance of Ewen Bremmer as Harold Stritzke. Character development is good and even the shorter guest episode appearances like Ewen Bremmers are handled very well.

The effects and production design fits the story very well and are nicely executed. Add to this a well written score and you have a winner. I'm really, really glad they made this into a mini series and not a feature film because the running time is needed. It doesn't feel like it's dragging or boring anywhere but rather every minute is used wisely. It starts slowly and builds and adds to itself in an even pace.

Had they made this into a feature film I'm afraid it would probably have been destroyed by too much effects or too much action. Or even worse, the story been dumbed down to please audiences.

If you like clever sci-fi drama with nice twists and turns and a creative original story you absolutely have to see this. It beats soo many big budget movies at so many levels.

Really great stuff!

While investigating a weird murder case in a pawn shop, Detective Joe Miller (Peter Krause) finds that a key opens any door to a mysterious hotel room in another dimension. Joe´s daughter Anna Miller (Elle Fanning), who is his pride and joy, is kidnapped by the criminal Weasel (Roger Bart) that proposes to swap the girl per the key. However, Anna flees and uses the key to escape from the criminals that retrieve the key. Weasel resets the door and Anna is lost in another dimension. Now her father learns that there are sects and people from the underworld using the power of the mysterious objects from the room and he teams up with Jennifer Bloom (Julianna Margulies) from The Legion and the millionaire and collector Karl Kreutzfeld (Kevin Pollak) expecting to rescue his beloved daughter.

"The Lost Room" is mini-series divided in six chapters - The Key, The Clock, The Comb, The Box, The Eye and the Occupant - with a fascinating premise. The story is a sort of "The Twilight Zone" with a good cast. Unfortunately there are many flaws in the conclusion that does not close many situations and forget important characters. Maybe the intention of the producers would be another season that was never done. Anyway the intriguing and original plot entertains. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available