Rose Red

Stephen King has really out done himself this time. Rose Red kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a very exciting movie with lots of special effects. At times it was rather spooky. It's a movie that should be shown without interruptions. I wished I had recorded it to watch again later. I hope it comes out on DVD. I would love to own a copy.

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.

This movie is based on the Winchester mystery House of the woman who lived there continually built on the house after her husband died I think she went insane after losing her husband &because she became a widow. His guns became something Legendary And since the movie is so loosely based off of it I decided to watch it once since I had visited the Winchester mystery House And actually got lost and it scared the hell out of me. This movie is more along the lines of a house that's like the Winchester except it's not evil my visit to the Winchester mystery House was very boring except for when I got lost and it scared the hell out of me I was lucky my tour guide found me huddled in a corner in the meditation room the only way out I found was through a panel in the closet This wasn't found out until after her death I think if her maids went into the room which they were not allowed and they were caught they would be fired immediately I think this is why this movie haunts me so elaborately.

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.