Dark Memories

Boy, I must be unlucky. Two banal and pointless movies in one week (the other being the extremely bland "Shallow Ground", for reference). I don't think I've been this unfortunate in a long time. Anyway, this is the story of a woman, Karen, who moves back into her grandparents' home after her grandmother dies, following her last wish. She's going to clean up the house and then sell it and marry her boyfriend. But what happens when she starts reliving the horrors of her past every single night?

This seemed promising, like some kind of Amityville Horror or The Shining-type of film. It had the lead actress from Jeepers Creepers, which I thought was a good movie overall. So this one was a good pick for me, and I didn't bother reading reviews or anything. But ehh...it's just mediocre at best, if not flat out awful. The acting is...terrible...especially from Gina Phillips, who was nowhere near this horrible back in Jeepers Creepers. Maybe it's the awful script. She screams way too much and they go on for too long. The caretaker is meant to 'become increasingly more violent', but it's actually more like one moment he's nice and kind and the next moment he's a freak. Doesn't make much sense. By the end it's barely even a horror movie. I don't know what to call it, but this was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

I did give it a point or two extra for making me think, because there is a really intriguing idea buried here if you look hard enough. The ending of the movie seemed trite and lame to me, until I thought about it, and realized exactly what the whole thing meant. All the hazy, distorted flashbacks, the missing pages in the kids' book, and Pierce's sexually violent nature...all of it leads up to something that I think I'll let you figure out yourself. This may be a terrible film, but I had to give it a point for making me think and realize the meaning behind some stuff here.

The best scene in the whole pathetic and ridiculous movie was when Karen got beat up! She was so immature and such a whining sissy that I was happy when she got slammed around. I wanted it to happen almost as soon as she got to the place. She was so spoiled and childish she actually deserved it.She overreacted to everything and she also was a b-tch to her boyfriend.He should have dumped her.This movie really sucked. It has major holes throughout.There are so many unanswered questions. Anyone that has given this thing a good review probably is somehow connected to it and wants to help it save face. It's that bad! Don't waste your time. The cover looks good but don't be fooled.

After seeing the trailer for this on a DVD, it looked like a pretty promising movie. I was led to believe it was a supernatural thriller, which it was... or at least I think it was.

"Ring Around the Rosie" is about a woman named Karen (played be Gina Phillips from "Jeepers Creepers") who goes to clean out her grandparent's secluded old summerhouse after her grandmother passes away. She spends the weekend there with her boyfriend, and he leaves to go back to work while she spends a few more days there to finish up packing. She has some strange visions and dreams about the house, and some odd occurrences take place. While staying there, she is introduced to the caretaker of the place, Pierce (played by Tom Sizemore), who seems nice enough, if not a little strange. Her sister Wendy shows up to help, and as time progresses, Pierce begins to become violent, threatening the girl's lives.

The main problem with this movie is that it can't decide whether or not it's a supernatural horror film or a dramatic thriller. Or maybe it is one of the two, but I just didn't pick up on it. I thought it was some sort of supernatural story for the first 45 minutes or so, and then it turned into a thriller from there. Then when the dream-like twist ending wrapped things up, it seemed to combine the supernatural and thriller elements together - leaving the viewer very, very confused. On the plus side, the acting was pretty good, and it had some good moments. But it doesn't make up for the tangled, confusing plot.

I still don't exactly know what happened, it makes no sense to me. If you watch this film, you will see how many questions are left unanswered, leaving the viewer with the attitude like "What in the hell was that!?". This movie could have been decent, but as it progressed, things got too confusing and it ruined the movie. Perhaps someone else may understand the plot better than I, but it just didn't work for me. 4/10.

The plot is rather stupid and raw. A few questions arise after watching, and if it had been a good, solid horror film, it would hint, give a clue where to find the answers. But, unfortunately, it is not. I bought this film because of Tom Sizemore in a lead. I really love this guy! He is the most smashing dude I have ever seen, especially when he plays bad guys and freaky military men. But I this flick, hmmm... Tom! Were you really so short of cash to agree to "star" in this sh...! I was really disappointed by this movie! It turned to be worse than "Ticker"! Peope,if you really care for Mr. Sizemore, don't watch this film, he will be grateful!

The plot lacks substantial development of character history or resolution of ideas. It has a sudden abrupt ending I saw coming a mile away, but lacked substance and leaves many questions vital to the plot unanswered. To discuss more would reveal spoilers.

I guess one would have to read the book to understand what actually happens... I seams as if the true story was discarded and stomped all over to get some cheap thrills in. The thrills, BTW are not too believable or exciting.

The only good thing I have to say is Sizemore is creepy as hell. Otherwise the acting is completely unbelievable.

"Original" musical scores blatantly composed to sound as if from "The Grudge" and "The Ring" so much so that one has to wonder if plagiarism just occurred. I was fooled into thinking it was the same composer from "The Ring". I see from the message boards I am not alone in this opinion.

I am so disappointed I wasted my time on this movie. The trailer proved to be more exciting. Don't waste your money.