Reviews & Ratings for
Amusement More at IMDbPro »

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71 out of 87 people found the following review useful:
For the studio pocketbook's amusement, not the audience's., 26 January 2009

Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland

I wasn't amused with "Amusement".The laughable synopsis on the cover goes like that: Tabitha,Shelby and Lisa.They're 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.Someone wants payback:warped vengeance...mind-games vengeance...taunting,shredding,slashing vengeance.Inside a stone-walled chamber of prison cells and mechanisms of doom,the three women and other victims face a fierce fight to survive."Amusement" is terrible.With dumb plot and zero scares it offers nothing even remotely interesting even for seasoned horror fan.The killer is an underdeveloped cliché with truly annoying laugh.There is only one effectively creepy scene in which the emerging female lead is confronted with a room stuffed with dolls and clowns.The violence is tame so gorehounds and slasher fans will be disappointed.4 out of 10.

74 out of 95 people found the following review useful:
Far below the average, 17 January 2009

Author: dschmeding from Germany

To give this movie an above average rating is a waste of stars. Sure, visually the movie looks nice and like most people mentioned the Clown Segment is pretty creepy... BUT like everything else in this movie its totally ripped off and leads nowhere. The whole basic premise of "Amusement" with the subplots just doesn't work at all... Car lost in the woods, Babysitter home alone and stalked by crazy guy, old abandoned hotel with crazy people in it... you've seen it all before and it isn't even bound together by a clever script. Far from that... Chicks get abducted by some crazy guy, then some strange interrogation in a FBI Cell takes place ... I guess just because they needed some reason for the flashback sequences. Beside that the whole part is idiotic... how could a psychologist fall for a crazy guy in FBI dress with an interrogation room in an old flooded cellar??

"Amusement" is basically just a collection of ideas stuffed into a messy script... Let's make a horror movie with beautiful chicks and a crazy guy! OK, but I want a clown in there and Joyride was fun, so let's also put that in and have some people being stabbed in the eye. If we make the crazy guy an inventor with killer gimmicks and some Dr. Giggles laughter I am in! OK, deal... but we need a psychologist in there plus some unexpected twist and a moral ending to at least make it look smart on first sight.

Phew...things build up, the whole reason for the movie title is unfolded and pretty meaningless, the characters get killed in most uninspired ways possible, the flashbacks are clumsy and don't explain much and we never learn why people are sown into mattresses or crazy guy has a fetish for pulling living things open. It just happens.. random shreds of stolen ideas like in a cheesy clip show.

THIS IS A MESS!! For the few scenes that work its 90 Minute too much wasted and the ending should make anybody angry. Avoid!

77 out of 104 people found the following review useful:
We are not amused!!!, 25 January 2009

Author: JoeB131 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This wasn't a very good movie, despite having some okay actors and some above par production values.

The premise is that these three girls got their playmate into trouble for torturing a squirrel to death when he was a kid, and now that he's grown up, he arranges to have them all killed in very creepy ways. Most of the scenarios defy plausibility. (The killer just HAPPENS to be following his victim, whose boyfriend just HAPPENS to be following a truck with a psycho truck driver and a truck stop hooker?)

Amazingly, none of these people think to do the sensible thing, which is to call the police when they think something is amiss.

It's low grade torture porn, and if you're into that kind of thing, you can watch this movie. But it telegraphs its suspense a mile away.

64 out of 87 people found the following review useful:
Totally misleading DVD cover, and the movie would still be bad regardless...,, 18 February 2009

Author: sambahorror from United States

This movie was a big disappointment for a number of reasons. As iterated in other comments, the DVD contains story elements that are entirely absent from the film itself (i.e. the clown!) I thought the whole film would be about that clown! well, not so my friends! The film has no cohesive sense at all. Brainless. It was just sort of thrown together haphazardly and without any thought. Also, as noted by other reviewers, the characters were totally one dimensional, surfacey, and straight up archetypes completely lacking in any development, depth, or uniqueness.

To me, it seems like a really bad indie film that somehow got a lot of funding and made it into DVD market. I feel like I can't really make any comment on the acting because, honestly, I can't imagine any actors or actresses who would be able to give this film the animation and depth that it so sorely lacks.

In short, save your money and your time, and don't see it.

54 out of 68 people found the following review useful:
Among the WORST movies I've ever seen, 31 January 2009

Author: Steve Anderson from Southern California

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I was angry when the number rating scale didn't offer a "0" so I was forced to give this movie an undeserved "1" instead. I am fifty-one years old and this may be the biggest waste of time I've seen in my life. There is no need to warn of spoilers in this review because there is absolutely no plot to spoil. The acting was atrocious, the weak excuse for a plot was filled with numerous holes and implausible coincidences, and there was not a single shocking or scary scene anywhere in it. The clown sequence was lifted from an old urban legend that has been around for twenty years.

Avoid this piece of garbage at all costs. The fact that his movie has received an average rating of 5.5 means one of two things: 1. The sensibilities of mankind are declining at a rate beyond belief.

or 2. The producers and principals associated with this movie have spent a great amount of time writing bogus reviews to pump up the ratings to dupe suckers into renting this trash.

Please save your money and your time--DO NOT RENT THIS MOVIE!!!

48 out of 62 people found the following review useful:
Could Have Been Something, 19 January 2009

Author: cmf1056 from United States

This movie started off decently, then slowly after about five minutes it just goes down hill. The film has terrible acting and the characters make the most idiotic choices. The plot, which no one can even comprehend by the end of the movie, is just awful. Nothing makes sense and you will be left scratching your head. The only scary part about this movie is the clown. The clown is creepy and looks very original and cool. If they would have focused on the clown, had a more defined plot structure, and better acting...well it wouldn't have gone straight to video. The whole film is just completely ruined, and with their budget and scenery it could have actually been scary and cool. This is a complete waste of your time, so please don't spend any money on this garbage.

48 out of 67 people found the following review useful:
this film is nearly as bad as the writers remakes, 21 January 2009

Author: movieman_kev from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

A mildly bullied kid grows up and decides to get even with the trio of girls (yes girls) who bullied him by scaring them before brutally killing them in the uninspired, clichéd-ridden horror film. Visually it looks better than the budget the film had, but that's about the best thing i can say. The rest is trite and asinine. The victims act so VERY stupid in their actions that one can't help but actually root for their deaths. I was kind of looking forward to this one, needless to say I was disappointed. Well in all honesty, with the same writer that wrote this the equally awful "Hitcher" & "When a Stranger Calls" remakes, I should ave had diminished expectations from the onset.

My Grade: D

DVD Extras: Both widescreen & fullscreen versions of the film (I'd opt for the 'neither' option) an anti-piracy PSA; corporate schilling for Blu-Ray; trailers for "Alien Raiders", "Friday the 13th"; and trailers for the X-box 360 games "Tomb Raider: Underworld" & "Project Origin"

40 out of 54 people found the following review useful:
At most average, 16 January 2009

Author: shamirgupta from Australia

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.

36 out of 48 people found the following review useful:
Horrible...so many plot holes, 17 April 2009

Author: my_anywhere from United States

I thought this movie might be something, but even from the beginning not only was it bad, it had so many plot holes! I don't think this will spoil anything for anyone because it wouldn't make any sense anyways so there's no way to guess any of it. in the first scene, when the "amusement" guy is sneaking up on the "bad" man talking in the house, why would the truck driver (the one on the phone) be inside the house because for one thing, it's not his. And two, later on we find out it's the "amusement" guys house (i'm sorry if i'm not making sense with the "amusement"/"bad" guy titles but the movie wasn't significant enough for me to remember their names. Also wrong with this scene is, because it relies on the crazy girl throwing herself out of the truck, how would anybody have known that she was going to do that? There is no logical reason the "amusement" guy could have known she was going to throw herself out. Later on, there's a therapist who's interviewing the blonde girl, and in the middle of the interview she discovers (the therapist) that shes in the trap of one of her old patients (the "amusement" guy) she tries to escape but is killed, but how could she not know that she wasn't in an FBI station when there's a maze of pathways to get out, some of which lead to dangerous situations. She would have to be a complete dolt not to recognize it as a trap. I've tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. I tried to say she thought it was a crime scene, but then why would they give the blonde girl trauma therapy on site? Why was the "amusement" guy so stupid? Why does he leave his weapons lying around where his "subjects" can easily get them? It was stupid, boring, confused, and a complete waste of time. I'm glad I only rented it. I could keep going about plot holes, but I won't because i'd be here all day.

26 out of 37 people found the following review useful:
The Plot Is So Unreasonable (Actually Absurd) that Irritates, 3 April 2009

Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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")

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