While I can't imagine ‘Amusement’ performing well at theaters, it does provide a decently creepy low-key night for fright fans. The film was once destined for theaters, but instead gets this straight to DVD/BD release.
Filmed and wrapped in Hungary in early '07 and languishing on the TBD shelf since, the production values of 'Amusement' fall somewhere in between the decent budgets of glossy, crapfests like 'Prom Night' and always intended for video releases like 'Rest Stop' with the anthology-like narrative being equally hit or miss.
With a script by Jake Wade Walls (crappy remake maestro, apparently, with 'When a Stranger Calls' and 'The Hitcher' under his batbelt) and some sharp direction from John Simpson ('Freeze Frame'), who milks as much tension as he can out of the stolid, ultimately incomprehensible script, the film gets a mild pass based on the genuinely effective scares of the second episode because...clowns? Scary.
The premise is fine and allows for a fun short film structure that naturally comes together at the end, we basically follow three gals, once childhood friends, who have their own night of horror to deal with at the hands of a psychotic killer who terrorizes the girls for his own 'amusement'.
The first episode concerns a young couple on the highway who stupidly heeds the advice of a trucker at a gas station and takes a "shortcut" to avoid traffic. Despite one chilling moment where the gal of our young couple spies somebody in the port window of the rear cabin of the truck, there's not much here that would prove promising including the meh twist.
The highlight of the film comes next when a babysitter arrives at a perfectly perfect suburban home ready to babysit and discovers an extremely creepy guest room full of clowns including a life-size version in a rocking chair. It's obvious where this segment is heading but that doesn't slight the chills any. If the script leaves a lot to be desired, there's no denying that the director Simpson can stage an effective scare sequence.
Which makes this second sequence so effective as there is very little dialogue to screw things up. It's all atmosphere and accomplished framing and the design of that damn clown will prove haunting. I might be a bit biased, however, as for some ungodly reason, my parents decided I was a clown fan at an early age which resulted in a room full of clown pics and figures - clowns have scared the *%&# out of me ever since.
The third episode where all the stories converge concerns a gal whose roommate disappeared and the last known location was a freaky hotel known as Pete's Pension. When she cajoles her boyfriend into checking it out, he disappears and she has no choice but to sneak in herself to see what happened (she actually does have a choice with the choice she made being mind-numbingly stupid).
This Blu-ray release is presented with a VC-1 1080p transfer at 2.35:1 and looks great for a limited budget. Mostly dark as expected, blacks and detail are great throughout. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is also better than expected for a direct-to-video effort. On a sour note, not one special feature is included.
No doubt a lot of redundancy here with stupid characters and goofy plot developments, I still found a fair amount of enjoyment to be had from the film as long as expectations are kept in check. The clown sequence is genuinely chilling and there are a few effective scare moments outside of that so if direct-to-video horror is your thing, this pic should prove to be worth your time.
Amusement [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story