Amusement

source: Amusement

I think it is the best horror movie of recent times. very much underrated movie but worth watching. scares scenes are great, specially acting of lead girls are good. This movie has all a true thriller movie fan can demand.Three girls with connection from childhood trapped in a building with a killer on a run.I think director manage it well. And this movie does'nt deserve to go direct to video.It is much better then that.If u following movies for quite some time then u must see the difference between a b grade movie and this great flick.One thing i think u must say after watching this movie that u don't waste your money.I recommend it go for it.Its really fun.

After watching countless number of horror films, I believe that before I saw this film that I had come to the conclusion that I had seen every formula in this genre that there could possibly be. From slashers, to monsters, to dream manipulators and every possible way to tell and manipulate the story. 'Amusement' has not only shattered that mold that the horror genre has lost itself in but has also single handedly raised the bar for any horror films to come. The whole film is split so that we not only are introduced to each character but also how each girl meets their impending doom... or so it seems. Each story is unique in its own right, but leaves the viewer to imagine just how all of this will come together. We are given small clues, but there is no way any of us could guess what exactly will happen next. Small holes in the plot are met with sufficient patches, so that we may concentrate on the suspenseful masterpiece of a climax that unfolds after the stories inner twine. I can see how this could be a real love it or hate it type of flick. Yes, Orginality like this is hard to embrace. I guarantee you have never seen one like this before and probably never will - This is truly original cinematic art in horror... and like all great art, some will just not understand it. However, those who are willing to put all their notions of what defines a horror film aside will be able to truly appreciate this film for the truly original work of art that it really is.

The horror genre has been battling for its very survival. Little in the way of effects or sheer terror surprises audiences anymore. But Amusement comes at it from a different angle and it's surprisingly effective. Three childhood friends are stalked by a psychotic serial killer - someone they used to know - with chilling consequences. A deranged, identity-hazy killer is on the prowl and he's concocted a sadistic, brutal game for his own amusement. The angst, terror and adrenalin flow thick and fast in this one. The ending is shoddy but Amusement fully succeeds in keeping audiences glued to the screen throughout. ***/5

While driving in a side road following a truck with her boyfriend Rob (Tad Hilgenbrink), there is a strange accident and Shelby (Laura Breckenridge) is abducted by a deranged driver. Tabitha (Katheryn Winnick) is kidnapped from her uncle's house by a man dressed of clown. Lisa (Jessica Lucas) is caught in an old pension by a twisted man. The three women are former school friends from Briar Hills and sooner they find themselves in an underground prison; further, they discover that the abductor is a former school mate that had psychological problems and is seeking revenge against them. The plot of "Amusement" is so unreasonable (actually absurd) that irritates. The first segment (Shelby) is dumb with unexplained attitudes that do not make sense. For example, who is the girl in the truck; why she writes a note asking for help and jumps from the truck immediately after? Who would chase a truck with a dangerous kidnapper in the middle of nowhere leaving the girlfriend and a wounded girl behind on the secondary road? Why the truck driver runs over Rob? Why did he stop in a creepy house if he was close to the gas station? Tabitha's segment is the best and slightly inspired in the 1979 "When a Stranger Calls", but uses the bad clichés with the woman running from a backyard to a closed space and finding the body of the babysitter. Lisa's segment is also terrible, and who would sneak in a frightening place after the disappearance of her best friend Cat and her boyfriend Dan inside the house? The annoying and insane criminal is not developed and the viewer never knows how he got the isolated underground facility and why the psychiatrist of Briar Hills would visit a patient in a visibly abandoned spot. Last but not the least, the re-creation of the art boxes by the maniac is simply ridiculous. The good points of this flick are the cinematography and the acting, but that is not enough to save the story. My vote is four. Title (Brazil): "Diversão Macabra" ("Macabre Diversion")

When I first bought this movie, one thing that I couldn't stop thinking was its name! "Amusement" .. Strange name for a horror movie, don't you think? Well anyways, as I expected it's a movie with little story or no story at all. All that I could understand is that the 3 women were once close friends, and they hated a boy's project. That boy now stalks then. Although it might sound awful, it sure scared me a lot. If you're afraid of big rusty clowns like me, you're gonna cry to death for at least 10 minutes. In general, it had its scary parts and it was entertaining to watch. When I watch a horror movie, I expect to get scared, and I did. What else would I want?

I've seen a lot of horror films and, while amusement has its problems, it's much better than the low/no budget fare of the 1980s and a great deal better than the endless stream of 'Scream' clones that have been flooding the theaters since the late 90s. Although the acting and dialogue aren't great, they're both better than what I've seen in most horror movies of recent vintage. I've absolutely seen far worse acting and goofier dialogue in horror films that have achieved some sizeable following (most of the old Nightmare on Elm Street sequels, for example). The only truly notable pitfalls of Amusement are the multiple plot holes that plague the film and the fact that the director gives away the 'twist' ending far too early for it to be considered a 'twist' ending. That said, if you can suspend your disbelief for the physics-defying movement of a certain hockey mask killer, neither of these things should interfere too much with your enjoyment of Amusement. The best thing about Amusement is that it doesn't try to be anything other than a horror movie. It's not trying to be arthaus theatre or shock cinema, it's not trying to be a high-tension thriller, and it certainly isn't designed to 'make you think' or carry some kind of a pseudo-political 'message' to viewers. Amusement isn't great cinema, but it's definitely a decent popcorn horror flick.

I couldn't wait to see this movie, so when i finally did, i loved every minute of it. It followed the story line precisely, which made it even better to watch. Keir O'Donnell(Pathology and Mall Cop) played a revenge crazed psychopath, who decides to seek revenge on three women, who as kids, humiliated him, causing him to be locked up in a mental hospital. Katheryn Winnick(Failure to Launch and Hellraiser 8), Jessica Lucas(90210, The Covenant and Cloverfield), and Laura Breckenridge(Hit and Run and Gossip Girl) played the three women, whom the killer targets. Amusement was scary, slick and smart. It had some inventive murder scenes it in, which is definitely worth watching. It also stars Fernanda Dorogi and Tad Hilgenbrink(Lost Boys 2: The Tribe and American Pie: Band Camp). Amusement was released by New Line Cinema.

This is not the greatest movie, but it has its perks. At times it gets very confusing, but try and look past that. There's a few really good scenes in this, the segment about Tabitha, amazing. It was actually suspenseful. The three girls are very attractive, but not the best actresses. Basically, it has a few really good scares. I actually jumped a few times. And the killer's laugh, very VERY disturbing. Every time he laughed i felt like i had to look over my shoulder. The lead is played by Katheryn Winnick, a very beautiful girl. She will probably have a good future in acting but not the best. Overall, i was disappointed when it was supposed to come out in theatres, but then got bumped back to DVD release. But, after watching it i see why. Not the best, but go rent it. 6/10

After languishing for so long in 2008, Amusement is finally making its debut on DVD. I had high hopes for the movie after watching the trailer but it is nowhere near what I had expected it to be. The movie can be summarized as a series of vignettes.Each vignette tells the tale of three women and their encounter with a psychotic killer, out to get them for they had done to him in the past. The plot is similar to Valentine (2001) but the movie was weighed, measured and found wanting. For starters the editing could have been a lot better. The movie starts off with the Shelby story when it could have been much better placed when the psychiatrist questions Tabitha about Shelby. Another scene in which Lisa tries to enter the hotel and accidentally breaks a bottle, when the psycho steps out the bottle is still on the steps untouched and in one piece. The story was not impressive at all. The whole Tabitha portion of the story of her babysitting her cousins and being attacked by the clown was very similar to Halloween (1978). The back-story which told why the psycho had such an animosity towards the girls in the first place should have been well explained. The characters where not plausible at all. For instance, when Lisa sends her boyfriend to check on her friend at the hotel and when he doesn't come out, she doesn't call the cops, she goes in herself. I mean how stupid can you get. The movie is nothing more than a compilation of several slasher movies made in the past all jumbled up into one movie. No wonder why this movie never made it to the big screen. If you want to watch a good horror movie rent out Halloween(1978), Psycho(1960) or The Changeling(1980)because this movie is nothing more than another futile attempt by Hollywood to create a decent, original horror movie.