Product Details

• Actors: Nancy Travis, Matt Keeslar, Kimberly J. Brown, David Dukes, Judith Ivey
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: May 14, 2002
• Run Time: 254 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (224 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000063US5
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,340 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #65 in Movies & TV > DVD > Horror
• For more information about "Rose Red" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

THE CHILLING TALE OF DR. JOYCE REARDON, AN OBSESSED PSYCHOLOGYPROFESSOR WHO COMMISSIONS A TEAM OF PSYCHICS AND A GIFTED 15-YEAR-OLD AUTISTIC GIRL, ANNIE WHEATON, TO LITERALLY WAKE UPA SUPPOSEDLY DORMANT HAUNTED MANSION, ROSE RED. THEIR EFFORTS UNLEASH MYRIAD SPIRITS AND UNCOVER HORRIFYING SECRETS.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Habitat for Inhumanity, March 21, 2005

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Rose Red (DVD)

Sometimes I am blithely unobservant. Arriving at the decision to see Rose Red based on one of those AI recommendation machines, I never noticed that it was 1) by Stephen King, and 2) the four hour version of a television special. In retrospect, I'm really not sure why I decided to see it, since haunted house horror movies generally don't grab me. But I did, and after a moment of shocked realization discovered that I was having fun watching it.

The story isn't anything spectacularly original. Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis), a parapsychology teacher, bets her entire career on the possibility of finding measurable psychic phenomena at an eerie old mansion (Rose Red) in the heart of Seattle. Said mansion has a long history of eating people, and Reardon's plan is to invite a selection of psychics to spend a weekend at the house in order to wake it from a dormant state. Her ace in the hole is Annie Wheaton (Kimberly Brown), an autistic 15 year old who is an industrial strength tele-everything.

Sure enough, the house wakes up, fingers get lopped off, people drown, and a whole host of equally nasty things start to happen. As the mysteries about the house begin to unravel, things get even worse and it becomes clear that Rose Red has no intention of letting anyone go. From that point on it is a pure battle for survival.

The house is the real star of the film. It is huge, full of weird rooms and interconnected hallways, and has a knack for rebuilding and changing itself. CBS went all out to make it a spooky masterpiece, and they did a good job of it. It's the kind of nightmare that you really would like to visit. Think of it as a haunted theme park and you have the atmosphere.

Acting varies, but is generally decent. I'm not sure about Nancy Travis though. She makes Joyce on of those sublimely irritating characters that you start out sympathizing with and wind up hoping she gets his with an axe. No such luck. Julian Sands and Matt Ross are brilliant and everyone else has moments of greatness.

So I likes the show after all. Since it's made for TV, don't expect a lot of gore or out and out violence. The film starts a bit slowly, but the upside of that is that king spends as much time on character development as he does on plot twists. While this isn't a masterpiece, it's worth watching on a lazy Saturday afternoon with buckets of popcorn.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Every House Has a Story to tell...This One Will Kill You", May 19, 2002

By 

Tyler Antoine (Houston, DE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rose Red (DVD)

Rose Red, a spectacular miniseries written by horror-master Stephen King and directed by Craig Baxley (Storm of the Century), was shown on ABC in late January 2002. Many reviewers in the media were not exactly excited about this film. I did not see it when it first aired, though I deeply wished to. Eventually, I bought the DVD; I was ready to watch it. I enjoyed it throughly.

I think Nancy Travis' role as Joyce Reardon was a little overdone, however. (Maybe Ms. Travis should just stick to Comedy.) I was hypnotized by Kimberly J. Brown's performance as Annie Wheaton, a autistic telepath. I also could not help but love Julian Sands' portrayal as the incredibly witty, incredibly psychic Nick Hardaway. The score is haunting and beautiful, and it makes me wish there was a CD available that had that on it (10 points go to Gary Chang!).

As for the movie, I think that the beginning characterization is something that was necessary, and it was a nice switch from the usuaul gore fest you in Horrors today. Bravo, Stephen. The special effects are superb. Flying stones, building houses, close-ups that get your heart going, ghosts that make you afraid of what may be sleeping on the other side of your bed. Not to mention the stunning animatronics made for the role of Ellen Rimbauer. Some people have found it chillingly scary, but I didn't find it all that frightening (And I'm only 13!).

Now for the plot. The basic story is much like Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. (Or was it Hell House?) "Some Houses Are Born Bad". You betcha. This house, which was built in the late 1800s/early 1900s, builds on to itself (To understand more about the history of Rose Red, I highly suggest the page-turner THE DIARY OF ELLEN RIMBAUER: MY LIFE AT ROSE RED). So, crazy Joyce Reardon, obsessed with Rose Red, leads a team of psychics into Rose Red to wake up the supposed "dead cell". Soon, the house's dead spirits, who were never really gone, start to reek havoc and people start disappearing. Everything leads up to dark secrets revealed and a climatic ending that is predictable.

The reason why I say FOUR STARS, and not five, is that by the time you arrive to Disk Two of the DVD, after the "statue incident" (You'll know what I mean when you get there), you begin wondering when this movie will end. Though every single part is necessary in my view, I believe it does get slightly long-winded. The Special Effects are quite amazing, however.

As for the Special Features of the DVD, there isn't a whole lot. There's original storyboard designs, a 50 minute long documentary on the making of ROSE RED, a fake documentary on Ellen's diary (I think that was supremely creative), artwork, a trailer and Commentary. It does give a in-depth look at everything, but it didn't get me exicted or anything.

All in all, I believe it is a great movie to watch when you have an open four hours (insert snicker here). Kudos to King and Baxley for a job well done.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Mini Series since Stephen King's IT!!, May 25, 2002

By 

Melissa (Dallas Tx) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rose Red (DVD)

I love Stephen King's mini series, I would make sure and set my VCR every time one would come on. This was no exception I had to sit and watch. Yes its long but very detailed and enthrawlling masterpiece. Stephen King captures this Haunted House tale of "Rose Red." If you love good old haunted houses and scary stories you'll love this. It has the sense of reality, maybe perhapes because some haunted houses are real or we would like to think so. Every house has a story, and this one is certainly has it's tale to tell.
It's about a mansion of a house thats been built by John Rimbauer who built it for his wife as a wedding gift. Some gift I have to say. His wife then gets the idea about ghosts, and her having to build the house until it's done. It's a spectacular house with mysteries to every room. And every room having a story to tell. But that's not where the story ends. Dr. Joyce Reardon played by a very great Nancy Travis, loves the story of Rose Red...who wouldn't? She embarkes on getting a group of psychics with their own specialties to awaken the house of Rose Red. The one with the key to open the house is an amazing teenage girl who's Autistic girl named Annie Wheaton who has a special gift. I think that's why I love most of Stephen King's stories he seems to use children as the key to the unseen world. Such as in Stephen King's IT. Not to mention he's a fantastic story teller bringing together a remarkable cast and crew together to tell this haunted tale of which originally aired on ABC. It has a wonderful haunted tale, amazing characters that you'll love and love to hate.
The DVD is a great buy! I was really impressed with it. It has a fantasic The Making of Rose Red. Which is very detailed and I think longer than a half an hour. It goes through the special effects, and how Stephen King got his idea to tell the tale, which is in fact based on the Winchester House in San Jose, California. It also goes through make up, and the cast tells their story of the making of the film. It's Stephen King's first I think since his accident. At least his television story mini series. And not to worry, Stephen King makes an appearance in his movie of course. The making of it is great I loved it. If you like the behind the scene's stuff that goes into the movie. It also pays tribute to David Dukes who sadly passed away in the movie. It also goes into detail of the book, The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, with Dr. Joyce Reardon. But they leave that part up to you whether to believe or not any way it's fun and detailed of the story before the team enters Rose Red. It also has production commentary which I have yet to view and other languages to select. I give the movie and DVD an A+!!! Just remember, "Every house has a story to tell...this one will kill you."