(49) Amusement

Directed by John Simpson
Rated R
2009
85 minutes

1/2 *

I remember, back in November 2007, seeing a trailer for this film at the 8 Films to Die For Horrorfest. After seeing it before all eight films, I decided it looked like it could be a fun, scary, blood-spattering mess. Unfortunately, 14 months later, when it has bypassed a theatrical release and come straight to DVD, only the last word in that description applies. There are so many things wrong with this film writing about them in the general way would take up too much space, so i'll just list a few:

• The film begins with about an hour of backstory on the three main characters, then proceeds to begin the actual film itself at about the 65 minute mark.
• A character is introduced, then killed off, within about five minutes. No explanation is given to how this character got where they were, and they are never discussed again.
• The film seems to make apologies for it's brutally sadistic villain in the final v.o. monologue of the film.
• Jessica Lucas, so good in Cloverfield, is absolutely wasted. Instead, we get Katheryn Winnick and Laura Breckenridge, who are serviceable at best, awful at worst.

There are a ton more problems (not very scary, bad acting, etc. etc.), but I don't think it's fair to go into anymore of them. Just stay the hell away from this.