Editorial Reviews

This haunted house jamboree which originally aired as a mini-series on ABC runs a little bit over 4 hours. I viewed the whole thing in one sitting and the fact that I didn’t hit any Zs or set my DVD player on fire means one thing: I had fun.

The main element that kept my eyes on Rose Red was without a doubt its astounding visuals and its inventive horror scenarios. The film sports an extremely impressive setting and the horror possibilities are milked for all they’re worth. I was blown away by the house’s architecture, its many unique trippy rooms and the digital effects that amplified their overall look. The people behind the visual tricks truly succeeded in credibly interpreting King’s wild imagination to the screen. The infinite spiral stair cases, the wall that flies off, the statue that comes to life (brrr), the mirrored room that turns into a pool (wow), the upside down room, the zany hallway…all very well done. Props to the special effect dudes! The quality also transcended to the execution of the ghostly apparitions and the many ghouls that populate the film. They’re designs are dead on and are played for scares. At times they gave me the freaking jeepers-creepers. Thanks guys!

Character wise, the amazing cast really helped make the movie more gripping. All of the actors should get a pat on the back (and a few on the ass) for a job well done. The downside though is that the script isn’t always up to par with the talent. Some of the early dialogue felt awkward, the script has a tendency to dispose of some characters too fast (what happened to Pam, I dug her), to ignore others for a long period of time (Joyce disappeared there for a while) and it doesn’t go deep enough in regards to some of them (who was Nick…I know he’s suave and shite but really…who was he?). Taking into account the lengthy running time, the screenplay snags in regard to the players were hard to forgive. On a positive note, where the script failed, the strong performers usually made up for it, so I still wound up being engaged on a “character” level. Julian Sands (Nick) for example brought lots of humor to his thinly written part and in consequence I cared a lot about the slick hombre. What a great man!

Narrative wise, I really dove into the story and appreciated the extensive exploration of the house’s back-story via flashbacks. I dug the period scenes, the tale they conveyed, the gorgeous costumes and the attention to details. Also knowing more about the haunted pad’s twisted history made me fear it more in the present day sequences. Good move King! On a negative note, King often resorts to clichéd subplots to fill other corners of the movie; unfortunately for me those types of tired subplots get on my damn nerves. You know how it goes, the overly bitter teacher sends in a cocky journalist to foil the other teacher’s research (boring…), or one character’s over the top cartoon like mom can’t seem to check out already. What was the point of that yapping banshee again? Apart from annoying the shit out of me, I still don’t know.

You would also think that a writer (Stephen King) that’s been working in the genre for a while, would be able to write a haunted house script that avoids the common pitfalls of the subgenre. Wrong! Even though people have died and ghosts have manifested themselves strongly, folks still wander alone and still feel the need to “investigate” that strange apparition/sound (bunch of dumbs-dumbs). King even goes as far as having two of its “heroes” tie up some pestering gal in the kitchen and leaving her there, knowing full well that she’ll probably be eaten alive by the the nasty spirits. I still don’t get that one. Why didn’t they just drag her in the living room with the others? The lame excuse they gave wasn’t enough. That was cruel and out of character.

Having said all that Rose Red still came through; even with its screenplay flaws. Sure it’s far from original (House on Haunted Hill, The Haunting, The Legend Of Hell House anyone?) but the film goes further than those puppies in terms of imagination. I’ve also never seen EVERY single haunted house cliché ever written compacted in one movie. It made for a hefty meal that I digested very well. Tag to that it’s multitude of horrific action, its endearing performances, its mad special effects, its inventive sets and it’s efficient directing and you get some groovy times in the house. Let's crash this party!

Plot Summary

• Tagline: There's No Place Like Home
• Plot Outline: A group of people with psychic powers are invited to spend the night in a haunted house.
• Plot Synopsis: Dr. Joyce Reardon, a psychology professor, leads a team of psychics into the decrepit mansion known as Rose Red. Her efforts unleash the spirit of former owner Ellen Rimbauer and uncover the horrifying secrets of those who lived and died there.

Product Details

• Actors: Nancy Travis, Matt Keeslar, Kimberly J. Brown, David Dukes, Judith Ivey
• Directors: Craig R. Baxley
• Format: Closed-Captioned, Color, Dolby Digital, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Disc Origin: Region 1 (USA) Original
• Region: All
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Full Screen)
• Number of discs: 2 (2 x DVD9)
• Rating: PG-13
• DVD Release Date: May 14, 2002
• Run Time: 254 minutes