Rose Red (2002)

It is not that scary, but it is a lot of fun

It was fun but it didn't really explain the house's or land's powers.

Excellent film. Fun and atmospheric.

Thanks for the reminder OP. Old favorite. It's not based on one of King's books so it's not as well known. It's a TV miniseries he wrote about a haunted house. Sort of his version of the Shirley Jackson Hill House story. Very entertaining. He has a cameo as a pizza delivery guy. I'm gonna dig out the DVD and watch it again.

I’ve never heard of this.

I remember next to nothing about this. Not sure if that's a good sign.

This is what we get for doing a horror miniseries for network television. Almost no blood, violence, distress, sexual horror, or other ingredients.

It's like watching 7-Eleven try to sell food truck tacos. They're just embarrassing themselves.

R7 I don't think horror needs all of those things to necessarily be effective.

I remember Rose Madder, but not this.

David Dukes was a well respected and famous New York stage actor. He played Nancy Travis' sophisticated, pompous, and arrogant boss who was skeptical. Dukes had a heart attack while playing tennis during filming. King said his character was to be more prominent in Part III, but because of Dukes death, they altered the third act.

I always wondered how the ending would be different if Dukes lived.

Very dull series. One of his many misses.

R8 I would've settled for Rose Red having ONE of those things.

It's atmospheric, which I appreciate. But it isn't a favorite. From King, or otherwise. To each their own.

R4: The story was inspired by the Winchester Mystery House in Northern California.

I loved the house. It’s not the best of the best, but it’s fun and perfect for a rainy day like OP said. I wonder if this is available to stream anywhere?

Dullsville -- to my mind ONLY memorable as one of the few film appearances of the gorgeous Matt Keeslar.

R15 No it isn't.

Does anyone else remember a King produced or written series on tv set in a hospital? Didn't last long.

R18, that was a misguided effort to Americanize the brilliant Lars von Trier original.

The Danish mini-series was spooky.

There was a companion book that delved into the history of the sadistic builder, the wife, and her slave/lover.

I prefer Miss Rose White.

Nancy Travis is a charisma black hole. She got so many shots at sitcoms for some reason, but they were all failures due to her almost terrifying lack of ability to be interesting in any way whatsoever. Blech.

Sad but true, r24.

[quote]Stephen King set out to make the scariest haunted house movie ever.

And failed.

R24 She is in Last Man Standing. Evangelical Conservatives everywhere love it now that Roseanne was canceled

R27 But who's that leather muppet they cast to play her husband?

Looks like Joan Rivers, only with another five bad eyejobs.

R28 I think it was some washed up television star. Not too sure though.

And I bet despite having TWO long-lasting network series, plus TWO bankable movie franchises under his belt, this talking naugahyde couch still bitches about what a victim he is and how Hollywood is oppressing him, right?

Did they ever explain why the land that Rose Red was built on was evil?

Stolen from Native Americans, but I can’t remember if it was the usual burial ground or a slaughter taking possession.

I’m starting to blur the background with AHS Murder House.

This scared me shitless as a 10 year old.

Laura Kenny who played Matt Ross's mom was great as the first Karen of the 21st Century

[quote]I remember Rose Madder, but not this.

Me, too!

It had its moments. And Melanie Lynskey, who I always enjoy. But it lost me (at least as far as scaring me) when they all levitated while dancing the charleston. Agree with Nancy Travis being wretched.

I thought it was a bit of a ripoff of House of Leaves, at least in the idea of a house having no static boundaries. But maybe that idea has been done even before that, & I just wasn't aware.

This one is a schlockfest. I can see Mr King enjoying a cup of hot tea. He glances down at the tea bag. Hmmm. Can't call it Red Rose that's two obvious. I'll switch the words! (genius!). Also love how they CGiI in a huge broken down mansion in the middle of downtown Seattle since you can see the skyscrapers in the background. I live in Seattle. You can trust me when I say it's not there.

I always thought David Dukes was very good looking and was sorry when he died.

The story is a disaster. The haunting is completely inconsistent and the so-called psychic powers the visitors have are never called into play. The idiots running around the garden endlessly are one step away from Benny Hill. Random things are not scary once you realize they're merely random things.

One thing that really doesn't make sense is the head ghost's daughter with the withered arm gets "consumed" by the house as a child, yet she attacks them in the attic, she's a withered husk like the others but she's an adult...how?

BUMP

A Julian Sands vehicle to posthumously pick apart! How was he in this?

I enjoyed the atmosphere and sometimes rewatch it. The cast standout for me was Matt Ross, who played Emery the creep psychic with the hideous mother. He didn't soften or play the character for sympathy, he was just as creepy and obnoxious as could be. Great character acting.

Breakthrough role for Bones Star Emily Deschanel. I was in a L&O: CI episode that week so both our names was in that week’s TV Guide. I still have it.

Were not was

Stephen King's love of THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE is well-known, and this deadly dull miniseries is his sad attempt to do a modern version of it.

STORM OF THE CENTURY, on the other hand, is one of the best films of his work. It deftly combines aspects of THE LOTTERY and THE VISIT [OF THE OLD LADY] to superb effect.

There are three movies:

One is a well acted story about ghosts and haunted houses. This stars Julian Sands, Judith Ivey, Kevin Tighe, Matt Ross, and David Dukes.

The second is a family drama about a girl with special powers. It starts Kimberly J, Brown, Melanie Lynskey, and Matt Keeslar.

The third is a about a crazy lady who kidnaps and kills people in a haunted house. It stars Nancy Travis.

It is set on Memorial Day weekend in 2000.

2001 sorry!

As with every entry of "The Stephen King Miniseries," this one was killed by being on network TV.

R49 yeah. Imagine if it was an HBO miniseries.

I just count the hours until the odious Nancy Travis is killed

She did have a neat little scene with David D., where her hand is all bloody and she's freaking him out by talking about the world that exists beneath the rational universe he is a prisoner to. People like him derive great security and superiority in knowing the rational world, the scientific world, and thinking it holds all the answers to the universe. But there are things in this world that defy reasonable explanation or purpose, and they're worth examining just the same. Insecure eggheads laugh at them, but they're really unsettled to encounter something they cannot fit into a box.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Emery's screeching muumuu mother is a DL icon.

You just know that heifer barged her way into parent-teacher night to shout about how her little boy is too sensitive and asthmatic to do gym class or read a book report to the class.

R56 That is 100% correct

It had good moments and a great premise, but it didn't quite work.

Oh, this is now on Hulu and I actually started it, I'm only on ep 1, wondering if it's worth finishing. I'm not a Melanie Lynskey fan, though. Her and Megan Mullaly grate on me for the obvious vocal reasons.

R42 Agree, I love him as Albie on "Big Love" too.

R46 Nancy Travis kidnaps and kills people? That sounds interesting.

R59 you should finish it!

Julian Sands is in a completely different, am much better, movie

R60 really? Okay, I got nothing else to do and I do like scary stuff before Halloween. I think storm of the century is also on Hulu. I started that movie when it aired, is it really any good? I like Colm Feore (sp).

R62 I have not seen The Storm of the Century. I say finish Rose Red, but be warned you will wish it was a novel.

It would have been such a great novel with how King goes into characters and paints pictures, etc.

Oh really? Good R63, it sounds promising. I'll put it back on after a few of my fave "Friends" episodes

STORM OF THE CENTURY is excellent -- one of the best King adaptations, I'd say, with a wonderful cast headed by the great Colm Feore.

Yay! R65, then that will be my next watch. I remember the mini series when I was in my 20's. I started it with my dad, and then did 20 year old things and forgot it. It seemed good, though.

It needed Nancy Grace instead of Nancy Travis.

Rose Red is one of my favorite haunted house movies ever. I wish it was remade as a series with a Netflix budget.

We'll miss you, Julian Sands!

He was such a good actor

Who R70? Julian Sands? Too bad he acted like an experienced hiker when he clearly wasn't.

A fun Halloween movie night

Wasn't King so high on drink and durgs during the writing of Rose Madder (or was it Rose Red?) that he barely remembered writing it?

That could explain why the psychics powers kept changing throughout the film.

R73, he was sober by the time of Rose Madder and Rose Red. He has said that about Cujo, however.

I thought Rose Red was okay, but it was a let down after Storm of the Century, his previous original TV mini-series, which was very good.

[quote] Also love how they CGiI in a huge broken down mansion in the middle of downtown Seattle since you can see the skyscrapers in the background. I live in Seattle. You can trust me when I say it's not there.

Thanks for the sworn testimony, but I somehow doubt anyone who saw it actually believed it was an actual gigantic mansion in Seattle.

R76 Lol, I was thinking the same thing, it wasn't purporting to be a documentary. I thought it was "Maximum Overdrive" when King was so coked up. I finished this and it was okay, just okay. I'll have to start "Storm of the Century" but now I'm watching my comfort show, "Cheers", only the Diane years.

r52: Well, that's what people given to hysterics and superstitious fear like to think about people who look for rational explanations grounded in science. Look, probably 99% of horror-house-haunted-family-curse melodrama is really about hidden child sexual abuse and family secrets protecting a patriarch. You do realize this thread is discussing fictional characters in a fictional universe, right? Steven King can make anything seem "real" because he writes it that way.

[quote]I’ve never heard of this.

That’s because Stephen King has written more books than he’s read.

[quote]We'll miss you, Julian Sands!

Like Sands through the hourglass ….

First of all, it is a SERIES not a MOVIE, OP. Second, it kinda sucks.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this, but I remember finding the DVD bonus features somewhat more interesting than the series itself. This was back when I got my first DVD player and extra features were still a novelty.

Learning how they had to cover for David Dukes’ death was interesting - using doubles with prosthetics to fill in a few of the missing gaps, plus expanding the role of Emery’s crazy mother. Everyone on set seemed to love him and were incredibly saddened by his passing.

As well, they realised in editing that Nancy Travis disappeared for half-an-hour so called her back for additional shooting, by which time she was very visibly pregnant. They covered by shooting her in extreme closeup, wandering around with the paranormal detector, with a double for the wide-shots.

R83 Yeah. The Making Of Featurette is really cool. Attached:

R75 Thanks for the clarification.

I watch the terrific Storm of the Century once a year.

Is the Storm of the Century good?

It's okay R85, but it overstays it's welcome.

R85 it scared the shit out of my 11 year old self.

Better than Rose Red?

About once a week I’ll have a nightmare I’m trapped in Rose Red. It’s getting rather old and a bit traumatic now.

My only grip is that for a group of psychics, they seemed REALLY Uninformed about a genuinely haunted house.

An incoherent mess.

The psychic powers go nowhere and do nothing.

The haunting is a jumble of different details that never add up.

There is no explanation for anything - and no sense of the nightmare illogic that can make that work.

I agree with the above poster that the running around in the garden is borderline comical.

Some decent performances, and I don't get the hate for Nancy Travis. The scene where she cuts her hand was a deft picture of someone with a dark side - had they maintained that level of acuity, this would have been brilliant.

Also, Why did the cursed land bathed in the blood of Native Americans give its life-sucking powers to an evil old white lady?!

So very red.

The deaths were very satisfying, but that last one came after too many false starts. If they had gone mute or had a voiceover it would have been more pleasant, but it is what it is.

As I think this was created when King was in his painkiller addiction (not to be confused with his late 80s cocaine addiction, where. he claims to not remember actually writing The Tommyknockers), it's probably miraculous it hands together as well as it does.