Amusement
BY Ryan LaMarca / 2009-02-01
While a plethora of horror movies is released into theaters every year, there are still some films that manage to slip through the cracks and end up in the direct-to-video market, a market which is still thriving today. The horror movie "Amusement" which had a turbulent time being distributed is a gem of a film that perfectly personifies why I love the direct-to-video horror market. While originally slated to be released into theaters in January of 2008, the movie kept being pushed further and further back by the studio until it made its debut in January of 2009 on DVD and Blu-ray.
Tabitha (Katheryn Winnick), Shelby (Laura Breckenridge), and Lisa (Jessica Lucas) are three women with a shared history who have gone their separate ways in life. But someone from their past has come back for revenge and he's out for blood. And this tormenter will stop at nothing to agonize the three girls through elaborate traps and ambushes, all seemingly for his own amusement.
"Amusement" is one of the more diversified horror efforts I've seen in quite some time, told in the serialized style of great horror anthologies like "The Twilight Zone," "Night Gallery," and "Tales from the Crypt." However, even though the stories in "Amusement" are not of the caliber of those in the aforementioned series, they certainly look to them for guidance. And although the stories would seem to be isolated from one another initially, they are strangely and delightfully pieced together into a convergent storyline. And best of all, this is some of the scariest stuff I've seen in years. One segment, especially, is absolutely terrifying: the clown story.
Even if everything else in the entire movie was completely inept and incompetent, I would still recommend "Amusement" because of the clown segment. The shocking amount of sheer suspense featured in this story was enough to make my skin crawl. Most people have a natural aversion to clowns, but the segment in "Amusement" puts you right in the thick of that fear. In it, a young woman is sent to babysit two children and ends up sleeping in a room in the house filled to the hilt with clown memorabilia. All seems well except for the giant clown sitting in a rocking chair in the middle of the room. See where I'm going with this? Well, just waiting to see what's going to happen was unnerving. You wonder if it's all a game in your mind or if it's going to stand up and attack the girl. That alone made "Amusement" something worth watching.
With the serialized feel to it, "Amusement" gets a chance to channel several different types of horror subgenres for its segments. There's a bit of "Saw," "Hostel," "Halloween," "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and even "The Hitcher," throughout the individual pieces. However, the first story in the movie leads you to wonder exactly how everything is going to work out when it seemingly runs out of things to do, but the way the stories come together is acceptable enough for a satisfactory conclusion. And although the second and third segments could have plausibly been connected, it seems like a long shot that the the first story could have been orchestrated in the same manner.
By and large, "Amusement" is most certainly a terrifying and spine chilling horror experience. If you're not enjoying the movie during the first segment, then I highly recommend skipping to the clown story because that alone is one of the best examples of pure horror at the movies in years. "Amusement" might not have the greatest acting or a perfect overriding narrative, but it's all in how you perceive and watch the film. Nevertheless, the clown story elevates "Amusement" to a higher plain, making it a perfectly acceptable horror romp.
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