Rose Red
Genre: Horror Television Series
Year: 2004
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Format: Full Frame
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Movie Length: 4hrs 14mins
Movie Size: 1 Disc
Director: Craig R. Baxley
Distributor: Trimark Video (USA)
DVD Release Date: May 12, 2002
MSRP: $24.95 | Click For Best Price |
Craig R. Baxley is the director of the Rose Red miniseries, as he was in Storm Of The Century. Craig does an excellent job, and I would guess the reason why Rose Red works so well, is because it's not too long of a miniseries, and each episode has several intermingling events beginning to take form which will eventually give rise to a great ending. In contrast with Kingdom Hospital which does require a more tolerant viewership due to the 13-hour long miniseries, Rose Red is a little more compact and condensed and gives the viewer a quicker completion. Of course, if you're a fan of the King-To-TV miniseries, length probably doesn't matter, but at least a 4-hour miniseries is palatable in one night.
Rose Red is based on a haunted house in the Seattle area. But this is not your ordinary haunted house. What makes Rose Red "real" is the use of special effects where they are needed. They are not overdone, and when they do happen, it's like a little treat. One of the best cameos by Stephen King is shown below.
 
Dr. Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis) is a psychology professor who is fascinated with the supernatural and wants to investigate the biggest haunt in town: Rose Red. She also wants to wake it up. She can't do it on her own, and so the recruitment of a extra-sensory posse is necessary.
 
Reardon's primary extra-sensory help though, is from a young girl, Annie Wheaton (played by Kimberly J. Brown). Annie is stronger than any of the others, and Dr. Reardon is aware of it, which is why she goes to great lengths to get Annie to come along with the others to embark in the Rose Red mansion.
 
Some great care was taken to convey the massive size of the Rose Red mansion, and it's underlying restlessness. The special effects on the mansion alone are really something to be seen, and I would've hoped this was filmed in widescreen because viewing it on a widescreen television would be absolutely stunning. One of my favorite areas is the garden room with all the twigs and dead branches. This took some time to create the effect and paid off.
About The DVD
Video quality was quite good with sharp images (possibly a little too much but nothing I was concerned about) and seemed to be a little too dark in a few scenes. I noticed no problems with the DD5.1 audio and sounded great.
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Overall Score
7.83
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