Amusement
by John Simpson
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DVD details
Actor: Jessica Lucas, Katheryn Winnick, Keir O'Donnell, Laura Breckenridge, Tad HilgenbrinkDirector: John Simpson
Brand: NEW Line Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.40:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-01-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
DVD Reviews of Amusement
DVD Review: Highly Effective And Unique Movie Crossing Through Multiple Horror Sub-Genres - 4.5 Stars
Summary: 4 Stars
Amusement is an imaginatively put-together movie - it starts off seeming like an anthology movie, only one whose portions are more like end-slices of full-length films rather than individual stories. Then it starts drawing these pieces in together until you have the full story unfold. It taps on elements familiar from such movies as Friday The 13th to House Of Wax to Trick R Treat to Saw, creating a whole that's very well-produced, original, sexy, and with genuine shock moments that don't telegraph themselves a mile away, or even an inch away. Personally, I think a movie like this - where it's the intention that you don't figure out the actual connecting story until about half-way through - is best watched with as little foreknowledge as possible, and for anyone already considering getting this I'd advise you to stop reading and just go ahead and get it - if you're into horror, you won't likely be disappointed.
However, most people are going to want a bit more to go on, so I'll elaborate a bit, first with my usual warning.
***WARNING - POSSIBLE SEMI-SPOILERS AHEAD*****
The various seemingly unrelated segments are connected by a common past shared by at least one character in each segment - a past in which they each came into contact with a demented individual who's now tracking each of them down. The killer likes to play games with his targets, but it's not just another variation on the widely influential Saw theme where the victims are trapped and challenged to survive tests. In this case, it's elaborate scenarios that the targets don't even know Are set-ups orchestrated by the killer, often where the disguised killer himself is playing a role completely unbeknownest to any of the other people involved. Often there's nothing at all to indicate that events are being manipulated.
A couple of these sceanrios, admittedly, have flaws from a story stand-point. Some are very believable, but at other times coincidence plays too large a role, and in at least one case it's difficult to see how the character in question could have walked into the circumstances without major alarm bells being set off. So how much of a hinderance is it to the whole movie? Not very much, really. A little bit of retooling could have probably eliminated most of the problem; and if you want to think about it a bit it's not too hard to come up with a "Well, maybe if..." explanation as to how a seemingly nonfeasible situation could have actually worked, perhaps with events that simply took place offscreen. When you're this good, if your biggest fault is that it calls for a bit of conjecture on the part of the viewer to fit a couple of the pieces together, that's not too big a problem. Ninety per cent of Amusement is very well crafted and thought out, only about ten per cent affected by some plot holes.
As for what it's got right - original concept and (mostly) highly skillful execution, fine acting, good solid production values, freaky visual imagery, nice characteriztion, high-quality special effects, gorgeous female cast members, genuine suspense and a couple of real jolts. What is there left to say? Four-and-a-half stars.
Description of Amusement
Tabitha. Shelby. Lisa. Theyre 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. Something someone wants payback: warped vengeance?mind-games vengeance?taunting, shredding, slashing vengeance. Inside a stonewalled chamber of prison cells and mechanisms of doom, the three women and other victims face a fierce fight to survive. Who lives? Who dies? Its all for someones Amusement. From screenwriter Jake Wade Wall (The Hitcher) and director John Simpson (Freeze Frame) comes a new film foray into horror. Turn down the lights. Turn up the fear.Amusement opens with a too-long scene involving a girl named Shelby?s (Laura Breckenridge) reluctance to join a trucking convoy that her boyfriend behind the wheel is for some reason totally dedicated to. One can guess if they ever return from this fateful road trip. From here, the film splinters into three more parts, focusing on Shelby?s childhood friends, Lisa (Jessica Lucas) and Tabitha (Katheryn Winnick), and finally, a serial killer who aims to ensnare them all because they didn?t laugh at his animal-torturing diorama in grade school. The killer, a brainiac who sports rubber apron, gloves, and goggles for his sick enterprises, operates on the premise that his killings are funny, and cackles ring throughout the film. There is not a tremendous amount of gore in Amusement, as it focuses on what little suspense it manages, as citizens and FBI agents alike fail to catch the crafty villain. Perhaps the most notable aspect to this film is the mysterious criminal ringleader, a clown doll, who appears midway through as Tabitha tries to babysit. Furthering Stephen King?s It tradition, this movie gets slightly better when the girls enter this evil clown?s territory, a bedroom packed with clown toys. However, the clown and his clown posse are a bit non sequitur, and the entire film feels confused and patched together. Return to Child?s Play if you really want to delve into evil toys and the young boys who play with them. --Trinie Dalton
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