The portion of the film from the time that they arrive at Rose Red until the last half hour is extremely effective. The fact that the apparitions appear with no music or fanfare or gaudy special effects make it all the more scary. All right the acting isn't that great (poor Nancy Travis, who is usually good, is miscast), the special effects look like a class project, and the house is too unbelievably large to really exist in the US (trust me, houses don't have to be big and old and overblown to be haunted...I live in a 1000 sq. foot house that is very haunted).
SPOILERS An example of the scariness that is most effective is when Emery's mother is tied up in the kitchen and she looks over to see the ghosts of Sukeena and Ellen standing in the wine cellar. It strikes fear in your heart, it makes your skin stand on end, but isn't over the top. You know that the ghosts are there for her but no one else does...you know that she's doomed.
There were several scenes that literally made me jump and yell out in fright. But, we had to get through the yawnfest of the first hour to 90 minutes. Then, in the last half hour (after Nick disappears) everything unhinges. It becomes a knock- off of the remake of The Haunting (instead of a knock-off of the incredibly superior original). It becomes a special effects fest with over-the-top acting, ham-fisted plot resolutions, and (as is usual for almost every haunted house movie after Amityville Horror) the destruction of the house and the fleeing of the main players.
It was just too much. It would have been much better to have the haunting come to a believeable crescendo (one that doesn't involve the destruction of the house or wailing CG banshees chasing the cast about), take Annie out of the house and have everything to quiet down. Believeable, doesn't betray the preceeding events, and doesn't cross into the camp realm.
SPOILERS An example of the scariness that is most effective is when Emery's mother is tied up in the kitchen and she looks over to see the ghosts of Sukeena and Ellen standing in the wine cellar. It strikes fear in your heart, it makes your skin stand on end, but isn't over the top. You know that the ghosts are there for her but no one else does...you know that she's doomed.
There were several scenes that literally made me jump and yell out in fright. But, we had to get through the yawnfest of the first hour to 90 minutes. Then, in the last half hour (after Nick disappears) everything unhinges. It becomes a knock- off of the remake of The Haunting (instead of a knock-off of the incredibly superior original). It becomes a special effects fest with over-the-top acting, ham-fisted plot resolutions, and (as is usual for almost every haunted house movie after Amityville Horror) the destruction of the house and the fleeing of the main players.
It was just too much. It would have been much better to have the haunting come to a believeable crescendo (one that doesn't involve the destruction of the house or wailing CG banshees chasing the cast about), take Annie out of the house and have everything to quiet down. Believeable, doesn't betray the preceeding events, and doesn't cross into the camp realm.
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