Delays are bound to happen when making movies, but something was clearly wrong when Amusement was postponed not once but twice in 2008. It wasn’t long before John Simpson’s American directorial debut was removed from the theatrical schedule altogether and then later dropped on DVD that following year. Although going from the big-screen to direct-to-video is an undeserved fate in some cases, this movie’s new destination was understandable. The unfavorable feedback from an early test screening — the word “disastrous” was tossed around — forced Warner Bros to salvage the potential flop now on its hands. Nevertheless, the negative consensus hasn’t stopped Amusement from amassing a small fan base over the years; its followers focus on this panned movie’s few merits rather than its many shortcomings.
At first, Amusement looks to be an anthology; this horror movie’s first three acts are well defined and almost function as standalone short features. Screenwriter Jake Wade Wall (When a Stranger Calls, The Hitcher) even called his script an anthology in its infancy. However, as viewers learn with each passing account of terror, everything is actually connected. Katheryn Winnick, Laura Breckenridge and Jessica Lucas’ characters turn out to be more than random victims of a madman known only as The Laugh.
Similar to the format of the 1974 proto-slasher The Centerfold Girls, Amusement chronicles the homicidal tendencies of its villain, who, like the killer of Terror Train, dons a number of clever disguises throughout the movie. The opening credits signal a connection between these various murders and abductions; mixed in with the introduction’s assemblage of yearbook photos and superlatives are fragments of a young patient’s medical records. Emphasized portions of text within this brief sequence —such as, “appears to blame classmates” and “most likely to succeed” — establish a history as well as indicate what all lies ahead.
Image: Laura Breckenridge and Tad Hilgenbrink’s characters drive toward danger.
Like a standard anthology movie might do, Amusement uses titles to set its acts apart; each of the three sub-stories are named after one of the main characters. Laura Breckenridge’s Shelby is the first to encounter The Laugh (Keir O’Donnell) as she and her boyfriend (Tad Hilgenbrink) make the long drive home after an uncomfortable weekend together. All three segments double as basic cautionary tales, but “Shelby” is the most admonitory. Anyone who did not grow up around truckers or on C.W. McCall’s music also gets a quick lesson on convoys. This opener is in the vein of better “road horror” movies, however, unlike the two subsequent stories, it has the luxury of surprise. From here on out it is easier to pick out the incognito killer and figure out his intent
The showpiece of Amusement is “Tabitha.” This segment resonates the most with viewers because it puts a fresh spin on a familiar idea. Inspired by an update of a classic urban legend, Katheryn Winnick’s character visits her aunt and uncle’s new home. Her two young nephews were originally left with a babysitter, who has since disappeared without a word or trace. Even her boyfriend has no idea where she is now. This effective segment shakes things up while also manifesting the “the calls are coming from inside the house” trope in brilliant fashion. Winnick, whose character’s logic is questionable as she sleeps in a bedroom teeming with clown dolls both small and life-sized, paves the way for a fun yet foreseeable reveal. The audience being in on the twist before Tabitha herself finds out does not diminish the story’s overall enjoyability. Answering the call as intended only makes the outcome more satisfying.
Jessica Lucas is assigned the most straightforward of the three vignettes; the foolish namesake of “Lisa” enters a creepy old hotel in search of her missing roommate and later her own boyfriend (Reid Scott). What this part lacks in unpredictability — not to mention tension — it makes up for in creepy real estate. The mouse surely delivers herself straight to the cat, but her grand tour of the Pere Pension includes a grisly waypoint or two.
Image: Jessica Lucas as Lisa.
Amusement is at its best when counting off The Laugh’s victims in a tidy and briskly told manner. Even though “Tabitha” soars higher than the rest, all three initial segments make for a diverting package. Once Wall’s script attempts to stitch everything together toward the end, the movie falls apart from a logical perspective. It is too easy — and maybe also misguided — to become hung up on the details of the overarching plot. The logistics of The Laugh’s plan of attack are dubious enough without the audience then thinking long and hard about all the other stuff. It is far easier to accept the movie’s contrivances than it is to make sense of the story.
Coming to the defense of Amusement is not easy, but that task is nothing compared to the hurdles this movie endured just to be released. New Line Cinema picked up Wall’s script all the way back in 2005 with Bernard Rose attached to direct. When Rose exited the project, Irish filmmaker John Simpson stepped in shortly before shooting began in Budapest in ‘06. Eventually the closure of original producer and theatrical distributor Picturehouse, the joint venture of New Line Cinema and HBO Films, led to an unknown future for Amusement. And as it is now known, the movie suffered from recuts, which explains why the final product is so perceivably disjointed.
Knowing Amusement’s troubled history, it is a miracle that the movie saw the light of day, much less turned out to be watchable. The end result is, more or less, just a series of extended set pieces, however, they are good-looking ones that neither overstay their welcome nor fail to leave an impression (be it good or otherwise). Without argument, Amusement is a formulaic movie where the not-so-sound story is stretched so thin that it practically tears apart near the end. After everything, though, there are still small pleasures to be found here. Nothing that can entirely undo its long-lasting glut of rotten reviews, but this cinematic equivalent of a scary carnival funhouse achieves what it set out to do. Audiences can get in and out with little fuss and at least a few cheap thrills to remember the movie by. Amusing indeed.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
Image: Katheryn Winnick’s character Tabitha spots The Laugh’s eye through a hole in the wall.
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