Rosewood Lane (2011) User Reviews

Third Time Lucky..

[devonkheadley · 4/10 · 16 November 2016]

It took me three attempts to watch this movie in its entirety.

I found the start super slow and I just couldn't get hooked into it, I felt like there was a lot of repeating and I didn't find it scary or jumpy or even creepy.

I was starting to go down the route of 'demon paperboy' after the multiple signs, which is why I came back a third time to finish the movie. I was hoping it'd turn a little bit paranormal or scary but it didn't.

I found the ending really confusing. I don't understand what happened to Bennett or Monster. After the character gets killed through the cat flap I found it almost hit fast forward and everything happened at once.

You don't get told why the cop stayed around or snuck back into the house after the power cut and that really annoyed me. I felt like it was another plot hole after Bennett going missing.

After the paperboy gets killed, and you see his triplets at the funeral, I hoped that there would be a little more explanation but it just kinda ended. I've searched online for one but everyone seems to be as confused as me.

I'd watch it again if I was with someone who wanted to see it but I wouldn't purchase it on DVD or recommend.

What the?

[grahamcarter-1 · 4/10 · 27 August 2018]

This is a comment not a review. Knowing Victor Salva's history, how on earth did Rose McGowan end up cast in it?!?

Get in Lane

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 2 June 2012]

Or rather don't get there, if you know what's good for you. Something our main protagonist seems to ignore. But I think that's not the only thing that people were missing in this movie. While it is a nice change from the Jeepers Creepers franchise for Victor Salva, he doesn't seem too much at home with this.

I wish I could share Ray Wises enthusiasm for that film (I'm guessing the script read a lot better), but I can also see what he liked about the movie. There are some genuine scary or at lease eerie scenes in it. Plus you've got a bad guy in here, who's really good (at being bad). The acting is above par, but for all the weird things that happen, there are other things that will not completely satisfy your viewing needs.

Laughable Horror Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 14 March 2012]

The psychiatrist and host of the radio talk show Talk Line, Dr. Sonny Blake (Rose McGowan), returns to Rosewood Lane, in Stillwater, one year after the death of her father to live in his house. Sonny was raised with brutality by her father and is a traumatized woman that was submitted to therapy by Dr. Cloey (Lesley-Anne Down). Sonny's boyfriend, the DA Barrett Tanner (Sonny Marinelli), helps her to bring her things to her new home.

On the arrival, her next door neighbor advises Sonny that the paperboy (Daniel Ross Owens) is a dangerous weirdo. Sonny finds that the paperboy has broken in her house and might have killed her father, but Detectives Briggs (Ray Wise) and Sabatino (Tom Tarantini) do not believe on Sonny and think that it is her imagination. When Barrett is attacked and is missing, Sonny and her friend Paula Crenshaw (Lauren Vélez) call the police but he is not found in the house. Is Sonny freaking out or is the paperboy an evil being? "Rosewood Lane" is a laughable horror movie with terrible story and screenplay with many plot holes. I have already spent my time watching this garbage and it does not worth to spend more time writing about this awful film. If you do not believe on my words, do the same I did to feel how bad a movie can be. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "A Vila do Medo" ("The Villa of the Fear")

I want my TWO DOLLARS!

[rooprect · 12 May 2017]

If you recognize the line in my title then you might want to turn away because you won't be able to sit through this movie with a straight face. Through no fault of "Rosewood Lane" which otherwise is a good thriller, it dives into a plot that seems so preposterous that it became the running gag in the hilarious 80s dark comedy "Better Off Dead". That plot is, of course, that a supernatural psycho paperboy terrorizes the town.

Excuse me, I just spewed milk out my nose.

OK getting serious for a minute, "Rosewood Lane" handles itself very well. It should be noted that it is NOT a horror movie; it's a thriller. And, as the filmmakers explain in the "Making Of" feature, that means it has a slower pace, more character development and more atmospheric investment than the average slasher. Aside from a death in the opening scene, half the movie focuses on the main character's psychological complexities (growing up abused, dealing with newly surfaced demons of her past, a failed relationship, issues of professional ethics, and perhaps a slight nod to her OCD). While this side of the movie doesn't provide many popcorn spilling shockers, I thought it was a new & interesting angle of approaching the protagonist. In a sentence: she's just 1 psychology degree away from the looney bin, herself.

So when she starts seeing a psycho paperboy stalking her around every corner, we're not quite sure how much is real and how much is delusion. I think Rose McGowan did an excellent job of playing a tough, mentally guarded character who is overcompensating for deep, suppressed issues which she probably hasn't conquered as she'd like to claim.

Another good acting job comes from Daniel Ross Owens (creepy paperboy) who, though perhaps looking too old for the role, pulls off the psychotic thing really well, particularly in an awesome "laugh" he delivers toward the end. You'll know the one I'm talking about.

So in the end I recommend this movie to anyone who is not expecting a horror flick but rather a slow moving thriller with some good momentum. In style/feel alone (not in story!) I might compare this to "The Sixth Sense" because it has an atmosphere of darkness with a surreal quality lighting the main actors. In other words it has a dreamlike quality to it, not stark realism. I thought that was a nice choice considering the psychological spin. In the interviews, the director mentions Hitchcock (in particular "Psycho") as perhaps a strong influence, and I can definitely see that, the way the house at Rosewood Lane becomes a sinister character itself, like the Bates Motel.

But... oh lordy help me, I just couldn't get those 80s paperboys out of my head. If you see this movie, then just for laughs afterwards, AFTERwards so not to spoil it, go to YouTube and search for "Better Off Dead two dollars" and you'll see what I mean. Even the foot-in- the-door gag is there, making me wonder if it was a direct homage. Well you know what they say... ghoulies & ghosties & long legged beasties & paperboys who go bump in the night...

What The Hell Was That?

[gillman11 · 2/10 · 11 March 2012]

I'll keep this brief.

Awful, awful movie that outrageously wastes its talented cast on a ludicrous sub-Stephen King premise that goes nowhere and has the dumbest ending I've seen in a long, long time.

I think my dog could have written a better screenplay and my dog is an idiot. And I don't have a dog.

Two things I learned: 1. Houses on Rosewood Lane have front and back doors made of plywood that are mounted on hinges made of paper. 2. Bike spokes and pedals are scary now, apparently.

Lesley-Anne Down is beyond beautiful, though. So there's that.

If I could leave you with one piece of advice it would be: "Don't. Just...don't."

Don't do it, it's a trap

[sol-diese · 1/10 · 29 October 2012]

This is a bad movie, please waste your money on booze or crackers instead of paying for this... Lots of talented actors in that flick but the acting is bad, if it was intended to be a scary movie, it miserably failed to achieve this. This is what happens when you have great actors and a bad director, all actors in there were poorly guided and it shows from the start... I love movies, especially suspense/horror flicks and I hate to say bad stuff or make a bad review but after watching this last night (and I did watch the whole movie) I just felt like I had to warn folks who would be tempted to watch the movie... I felt sorry for the actors, I felt sorry for people who actually paid the full price to see this movie in theatres - if it ever made it. Anyways, watch at your own expenses, this is not a good movie, Rose McGowan and Lauren Velez can do much better when properly directed.

Not good

[fewsternoble · 3/10 · 6 February 2012]

Was looking forward to this due to the other review on here, but what a let down. Slow paced, not remotely scary, only stuck with it because i thought it would get better, it didn't. Actually billed as a "Horror/Thriller" it did neither, the bad guy (boy) was very not scary, sorry but menacing looks and black iris's just don't do it for me (or the wife), in fact to call him a boy was really pushing it. Overall a very big let down and a waste of an evening in :-( Certainly not the worst film i have ever seen, but a long way off recommending to anyone. I couldn't give it any more than a 3 out of a sense of duty, because someone had obviously put effort into this, just a shame it is so mediocre.

Falls Completely Apart at the End

[bababear · 3/10 · 22 May 2016]

Up until the last few minutes, this was a very suspenseful film. Solid actors, a strong plot, and even though characters are required to do incredibly stupid things in order to advance the plot that just comes with the territory. You gotta dance with who brung you, after all.

But a major character disappears without a trace and that plot element is never truly resolved. Yes, we can figure out what probably happened. But closure would be nice.

Then comes the leading lady's final clash with the bad guy, and the whole enterprise goes off the tracks.

MAJOR SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

The triplet plot device is probably the lamest way to resolve the plot of a mystery that I've ever seen. This "paperboy" is played by a 28 year actor and it seems that this character only delivers papers to one street in the town.

There are hints that his character is something other than human, but that's not really developed. And there was a corpse up in that tree that gets a Christian burial and there's talk in the eulogy about his family, but we don't know who they are. What is their part in the plot? Do they not know that their sons are up to no good? Is their mother so stupid that she doesn't know she has two other sons? When the policeman sees the two young men (one with wounds from the confrontation, one unscathed) I fully expected the director to walk from behind the camera and speak into the camera and tell us, "Look, writing movies is hard work. I've torn my hair out trying to come up with an ending and this is the best I can do. If somebody out there has a better idea, come to California and write the sequel." The worst part about the film is seeing such good actors (especially Ray Wise) trapped in a harebrained script. About 90% of the way into the film I'd have given this an 8 or a 9, but inept writing sinks that ship.

As I said, the "demon paperboy" is very effectively played by an actor who was 28 years old at the time of the film's release. Does he terrorize other neighborhoods we don't know about, or go back into a jar with his brothers the rest of the time? By the way, if this story had been set in Texas it would have been about fifteen minutes long. Probably 2/3 of the houses in a typical neighborhood here have firearms so the lad's habit of running and jumping from roof to tree would have seen him brought down like a quail.

Lacking in thrills but still great I thought.

[JimmyCollins · 7/10 · 10 February 2012]

Victor Salva is a very talented director, that's a given, we have the 2 Jeepers Creepers film to thank him for, and a lot of people are very disappointed with his latest effort Rosewood Lane, pretty much straight away I realized that I was watching a very different type of Salva film, obviously the budget is a lot lower than the Jeepers films and this is less of a horror and more of a drama with a supernatural/ thrill edge to it. The story is slightly similar to other movies of the past, but because this has the supernatural twist and the constant guessing throughout it makes it not just a rehash if something already done, in saying that this is really a film that will leave you guessing right up until the end, and you may or may not like the ending but I guess it's 50 50.

Rose McGowan has a great screen presence, she has a kind of sweetness and honesty to her that really make you like the characters she plays, and she can carry an entire film quite easily I think, I hope more directors see what a great investment she could be. The youngster who plays the villain is is also really good, the fact that he is always smiling kinda creeped me out a bit, which is good because that's the point I guess.

Yes it's no Jeepers Creepers, but it is something a little different, people should give it a go, they may enjoy it, just don't go in expecting full strength horror, expect a thrilling drama that will scratching your head afterwards.

Enjoy :)

snooze

[kdblusky · 1/10 · 10 March 2012]

This movie sucked major asp...I nearly fell asleep. Not, in the tiniest bit, scary, just annoying! I will admit that looking at the paper-man's (too old to be a boy) underdeveloped irises was a bit on the creepy side. Other than that, there was nothing else scary or horrific to qualify this as a horror flick. This movie moved far too slowly and was a complete bore. Obviously, he was not a demon if she could beat his asp with a baseball bat. So much for his supernatural powers...LOL! Is that all it took to get rid of this idiot? He terrorized an entire neighborhood...all it took to bring him down was a little bat action...that is illogical. It does not compute. I write better scripts every night in my sleep...LOL! This guy's performance as a pseudo devil was lackluster at best. You know how some horror movies are so cheesy they make you laugh? I did not even get that! I got no horror, no thrill, no laughter, nothing but time wasted.

Not as bad as most people make it out to be.

[Christine_Plymouth_Fury1958 · 8/10 · 2 March 2012]

The film stars Rose McGowan who played a radio talk show psychiatrist named, Dr. Sonny Blake. After her alcoholic father's death, she decided to move back to her childhood home, but once she got back in her old neighborhood, she was immediately warned by her neighbor about the local paperboy who seemed to be a strange young sociopath with supernatural abilities. Unfortunately, the boy immediately took a special interest in her; and when he started calling her show, reciting eerie nursery rhymes, an unnerving game of cat-and-mouse begins. As the game dangerously escalated, she suddenly found herself in a terrifying all-out war, one that forced her to redefine her perception of sanity and had her fighting for her life.

This is not a movie with pails of blood pouring out or tons of gore spewing about, but I thought it was a nice mild suspense thriller that reminded me of the Twilight Zone days. If you're into stories like that, then this is definitely one you wouldn't want to miss.

This actually got a lot of negative review, but I thought it was quite nice. Something you'd love seeing on TV on a slow weekend, sort of thing. One of the many complaints made was the actor who played the antagonist and his being inappropriate to be cast as a paper boy. Granted, he doesn't look like a boy, but take into account his acting skills here, I thought he made a pretty good job on his role.

The story itself isn't perfect, and yeah, some choices the characters made were a bit questionable, but isn't that how movie people have always been? Like how they go into a room when we're screaming for them not to? All in all, I thought the actors were great and the story solid enough to see it through.

Hey I liked it what can i say

[bobmichigan1 · 7/10 · 2 February 2012]

This brought back memories of the Jeeper Creeper without the big monster in it but it sure had the villain. Unlike most movies that have a huge build this one does not. Right from the beginning you know who the villain is and there is no question this kid is screwed up.

The movie is going to go a place that I didn't think it would go. I was sure this kid was the devil with some of the stunts that was going on. I will not spoil the surprise but at the end you will understand everything. I really enjoyed it from beginning to end. If you enjoyed jeepers creepers style type movie than you will enjoy this.

Recommend

What a Piece of "Horrorible" Sh*t

[dynastylounge305 · 1/10 · 29 January 2013]

This movie was completely a waste of my time. The story line gets you no where and doesn't make sense at all. There is no back story to the villain you never find out if the freaking Paper Boy is a real person or some kind of demonic force or triplets or all of the above and you never find out what the F-word his purpose was or who he was. I should expect this from the same douche bag who made those horrible jeepers creepers movies. Also you never find out in the end if her freaking husband is dead or alive. More about this paper boy, number one the paper boy doesn't look like a boy or minor at all. I feel like this movie was horribly thought out with excellent actors. I think everyone watching this movie lost at least 20 point off there IQ. May God have mercy on the souls of these bastards who made this film.

This Paper Boy Did NOT Deliver

[thesar-2 · 2/10 · 3 March 2012]

Very late in Rosewood Lane was an effective scene. While the death via cat-door was preposterous and foreshadowed (like everything other scene), it was still creepy and makes a good 30-seconds of film. Unfortunately, beyond that, what's left is an hour and half of dead-air.

Rosewood Lane was one of those movies that would only work as one of those half-hour TV horror anthology episodes and even then, it would only be a third-ranked show, like Monsters. As a feature length, it was just simply awful.

Inept writing, terribly predictable – including the enormously clichéd camera angles/set-ups and a wandering plot that never narrows down the viewer to what it's really about are all just the tip of the eye-sore this was. Further it was inconsistent, incoherent, unbelievable and it all led to an incredibly stupid ending that looked more like a deleted scene than the actual ending.

Dr. Sonny Blake (McGowan) and her distractingly puffed up lips decide to move from the big city to the burbs one year following her abusive dad's death. Immediately, she's warned to stay away from the paperboy, but that didn't last long. The obviously evil paper "boy" (real-life 29-year old Daniel Ross Owens) instantly begins his stalking of her.

We know he's "evil" because: #1 the old kook next door says to stay away, #2 he's got black eyes – literally and #3 because he's far too old to be delivering newspapers on a 13-year-old's bike.

At any rate, the stalking continues, some characters believe Sonny, some don't. Then they do, then they don't. Then the police look somewhat concerned, then not. Then they do again, but finally they don't believe her. And all the while he's in and out and on her house more often than she's there – but no one does/does not believe her.

See what I mean? This movie's all over the place; it opens ideas and then rapidly shoots them down. It makes attempts at foreshadowing and even though most of that works to the point of utter predictability, some of it doesn't.

If the movie ain't bad enough, you have to look at Rose's lips over and over, and they are hideous. Before you think I'm criticizing her from an outward appearance, I 100% believe she had to have botched plastic surgery. Oh, those ugly LA girls and idiot surgeons. The fantastic parody group: The Key of Awesome! did a, well, awesome job spoofing this with "Pump Up (Lips) Parody" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhC-S8ZErTE.

Side Note: Even though this is the reverse effect, I will never use the company: Two Men And a Truck because of the hilariously OVER product-placement in the first act. How much did they pay and why this movie of all films?

No, It's JUST as awful as these reviews would have you believe

[abraxis0 · 2/10 · 9 September 2015]

As one reviewer mentioned you can't really write anything about this movie that would be a spoiler. There is NOTHING in this movie that you don't see coming from a mile away. Well except for that by the end it never actually forms a cohesive story or gets any better. SPOILER!

The opening scene was a foreshadowing of the movie's extremely flawed logic and believability. Our protagonist Rose arrives at her fathers house where the police are investigating the circumstances of his death. He's just been found dead at the bottom of the stairs to the basement. The detective not only lets her into the house but also asks the police to give her a moment alone with her father's corpse on the basement floor (you know standard police procedure). It's been laying there for some time and has begun to decompose and she places her hand on his forehead while sobbing uncontrollably. This is MEANT to be an emotional scene, a daughter grieving for the loss of her father, and not WTF creepy. Seriously!

From there is just does a logarithmic downward slide into dumb. The entire movie is a series of stale and tired horror clichés. Anything that could be "thrilling" is broadcast from miles away so NOTHING is surprising when it happens. The nursery rhyme thing is embarrassingly cliché and makes the killer's even dumber and less convincing. While the movie gives you some history about the protagonist explaining why she should exist in the context of the story it never develops the paperman's character. Is he just a psychopath? is he some sort of supernatural evil being? Why hasn't anyone complained to the newspaper that their deliveryman is a monster who scares the hell out of them? He breaks into a women's house, assaults a District Attorney, and the police do nothing, why? Speaking of which what the hell happened to the DA at the end of the movie? His disappearance and a threatening call to the main character's show (a nursery rhyme...ughh) was the setup for the final conflict but then they just completely forget about his character and never explain what happened to him. The movie ends at the paperman's funeral but WHO THE F%#K ARE THESE PEOPLE AT HIS FUNERAL!?!?! Who the hell would have even paid for it?!?! Nothing anyone does in the final scenes of the movie make ANY logical sense. The climax is laughably stupid. It's one of the worst and least satisfying endings I've ever seen.

If you still feel compelled to watch because you want to know what is this disastrous ending we reviewers are talking about then here's what you do: Watch the first 15 minutes then fast forward to about the 1hr 1min mark. Enjoy! All you need to know is that at some point in the movie the DA tells Rose a story about his childhood in which some bullies buried him in a hole with just a snorkel for air (yeah I know that means he couldn't have been buried much more then 1.5 feet and should have easily been able to escape but whatever..) and he wasn't found for a long time. Also that's not her dog (where did it come from? doesn't matter!). There is no point at all to watching anything in between. You're welcome!

A tense movie with a very creepy kid that really helps the horror aspect of the movie. Worth renting. I say B-

[cosmo_tiger · 5/10 · 23 July 2012]

"Hickory Dickory Dock..." Talk radio psychiatrist Dr. Sonny Blake (McGowan) is moving back in to her father's house one year after his death. Her neighbor gives her a warning about the neighborhood paperboy. After meeting him she begins to notice that he is very strange and may have actually killed her father. When she goes to the cops they don't believe her stories and she is left to discover the truth on her own. I have to start by saying that overall this was a pretty creepy movie. It was pretty tense and interesting but began to repeat itself after 45 minutes and seemed like the same 2 scenes were being done over and over. The kid in this is very creepy and he makes the movie. This is the kind of movie that makes you want to scream at the people on the TV to turn around. All that said the movie is a little slow in parts but still not a bad watch. Very much worth renting. Overall, tense and creepy and worth seeing. I give it a B-.

Oh dear!

[Haute_Tension · 1/10 · 22 April 2013]

This is not even a movie. It's some ideas and clichés put together in a hope that it would resemble a movie. Alas, it fails completely. I almost fell asleep on several occasions during the ordeal, and that is something I have never experienced while watching a film before.

None of the characters are believable. The dialogue is a disaster. The "villain" is a moron. I hate villains who only annoy me instead of scaring me. I liked the cat, though, he was very convincing.

The plot was non-existent. No suspense buildup. No coherent story. No ending. And how does the beginning fit in? There was no logic either. Not even a horror movie internal supernatural logic.

Don't watch this drivel, is all I can say. I bet you and your friends could make a horror movie that would look like a masterpiece compared to Rosewood Lane.

Lame...disappointing..predictable

[kimbg-935-647578 · 3/10 · 14 October 2012]

I have no idea why I watched this given the director Victor Salva is a convicted child molester and I usually avoid his movies. How this pervert still has any sort of career in Hollywood I'll never know. I have Netflix streaming and was REALLY bored so I watched this. I was not expecting much and sure enough it was a stinker. Rose McGowen's botox face and filled lips are a distraction as she barely resembles her old self. The movie is VERY predictable with a few plot holes, one being you never really find out what happens with one of the characters. The ending was utterly ridiculous and it was not even scary. Epic fail.

Not as bad as they say

[llarian-2 · 7/10 · 16 August 2015]

I think some reviewers have been unfair to this movie. Sure, it's a little derivative of other work but what horror movie isn't?

Yes, some of the acting was a little wooden but there was enough suspense and jumps to keep most people happy, I'd have thought.

The reaction of the police to Derek's live call to the radio station was just pathetic. Also I got the feeling that there was more of the story to come out. Who were Derek and his "siblings" and why were they all psychos? Where *was* Barrett's body? A victim of the film editors maybe?

But what really spoilt it for me was the very last minute. Such a lame ending!

Not Good

[hampersnow-41369 · 3/10 · 2 July 2022]

Victor Salva has made many fine films. Rosewood Lane is not one of them. Rose McGowan is completely miscast in the lead with her annoying voice and bad acting, but it's the script and plot that really sink this movie. Ever see one of those thrillers where to advance the plot characters begin acting like morons ? This movie is filled with that. Nothing comes across as based in reality. It's like a good idea for a movie gone horribly wrong. Worst of all , the best part of the film is the creepy paper boy and he isn't in the movie nearly enough. I'm writing this 11 years after it was released and we now all know what happened to Rose's career. This stinker had to have helped kill it.

Suspense, murder, mystery

[trepessa · 8/10 · 10 December 2014]

I don't see this movie as a bad one at all. I am not going to rehash the movie because many have given a synopsis but this area is for reviews and not a synopsis of the storyline. This was a very eerie movie and not at all boring. I wouldn't call it a horror movie but a psychological thriller. Many in this genre have murdering psychopaths within them. Even though the story could be glossed over as reminiscent of this or that movie it still had it's own differences. Movies like this always have the characters doing something that the average person would not. They have to have that to move the story forward. I guess I'm the only one that noticed at the end, there was one who died, one who was only hurt and another not hurt at all. There appeared to be three of them. So to me there were three brothers who were identical and were doing all of these things. This explained why the old man said he saw him doing things a normal person couldn't because there wasn't just one. There were three, triplets. Whether it was one that could divide up supernaturally, that was never covered in this story and since one actually died I came to the conclusion by the ending there were three of them related to each other causing all the mayhem. They were all crazy and working together to terrorize first the father and next the daughter when she moved into her father's house. Obviously the whole town was scared of him (them) because they couldn't figure out how they could do some of the things like be in three places almost at the same time. The ending explained it.

The acting was very good and Rose McGowan was an excellent choice for the lead. As for the actor playing the paperboy looking too old, I have seen seventeen year-old young men that big and looking that old. Slicing and dicing all of the reasons they chose these actors particularly isn't helpful in a review. They wanted the characters to look a little off. It made you wonder what was going on and if there was something supernatural happening. I came to the conclusion there was not. There wasn't enough information to make one think so other than he was psychopathic. The conclusion explained why he could be on the phone and then be killing someone in the house. The character bled and could be hurt but it wasn't always the same person. I liked the movie and was never bored and on the edge of my seat. It isn't especially graphic which I liked. It could be that they had been separated at birth and found each other. I think they mentioned he had been adopted. I would have to watch it a second time I think to get all the details. The story left you wondering if the paperboy was a supernatural person or not. I decided that was what they wanted you to wonder and that the character was using the fact that no one realized there was more than one of them to terrorize the people of the town and Rose McGowan in particular. I am going to watch it again and see if I missed anything, because I thought the movie was very good. Not a prize winner but entertaining.

Solid psycho thriller for genre fans

[kluseba · 7/10 · 25 July 2015]

"Rosewood Lane" is a quite solid mixture of a gripping psycho thriller and a haunting supernatural horror movie. It may not be an excellent film but it's an entertaining, intense and suitable B movie for genre fans.

The plot isn't the most original one and somewhat predictable for genre fans. On the other side, the fact that the viewers might guess that certain events are going to happen even adds to the anxious anticipation. The movie's atmosphere plays with the audience's expectations. I also liked the somewhat controversial ending of this movie.

Honestly said, some of the characters in this film are rather shallow and quite stereotypical. Their actions are as predictable as stupid. Still, the frustration and nervousness the viewer feels towards the characters raises the emotional connection to the film itself which is a positive element.

The acting isn't extraordinary but solid enough to keep the audience interested until the end. The cameo appearances of cult actors such as Lin Shaye and Ray Wise are a nice gimmick for genre fans as well.

The movie is directed by the controversial Victor Salva and has a similar style as his other movies such as the surprise hit Jeepers Creepers. This film includes several autobiographical elements since the director has had a complicated relationship with his family like the main actress and since he has already worked as a delivery boy similar to the main villain. These elements are well integrated into the story line and add some content to an ordinary plot, depth to an average acting and emotions to an otherwise predictable effort.

The atmospheric elements of this film are solid. The lighting techniques are suitable since a lot of scenes are taking place in the dark. The Locations are simple but efficient. The sound techniques are quite good and include uneasy moments of silence, nerve-wrecking whispers and quiet sounds but also sudden noisy movements and spoken word passages. The score isn't unique but it adds to the sinister atmosphere. All these elements offer at least a handful of creepy moments throughout the movie and one or two light jump scares which is what I'm expecting from such a movie.

Overall, "Rosewood Lane" is a well done horror movie that turns out being entertaining over ninety minutes. It's not the kind of movie I would watch at the cinema, purchase at full price or judge as a genre highlight but I would definitely watch it again, suggest it for a horror movie night with a couple of friends and tell you that the harsh reviews are a little bit too cynical, exaggerated and serious. Genre fans should try this flick out without any hesitation.

A nursery rhyme of middling proportions

[StevePulaski · 4/10 · 13 September 2012]

Rosewood Lane has a premise that would be a sheer nightmare to experience first hand. To see it happen to shallow characters lessens the overall experience into a drab, ineffective muddle from a director clearly capable of churning out suspense on demand. Perhaps he works better with a higher budget and atmospheres that do not mirror those of soap operas.

Despite being surrounded with controversy regarding his molestation case on the set of Clownhouse, one of his first films, I've always respected writer/director Victor Salva in the field of suspense and ideas. The original Jeepers Creepers is a truly suspenseful horror film with solid writing, aware directing, and credible, memorable suspense. Its sequel is a tad hokey, with many flaws in its plot points and aesthetics, but overall, a capable horror film able to at least erect aspects that have made past thrillers successful. I didn't thoroughly despise it.

Rosewood Lane feels like a work in progress. Its actors are well-fitted for the roles, but everything else is the slowest of slowburn, only it isn't building to much of anything. Take Ti West's Innkeepers, a horror film released earlier this year. The film was self-aware of its atmosphere and completely capable of creating smart characters and intelligent, realistic dialog. Rosewood Lane feels cold and tone deaf, never achieving any suspenseful heights nor does it ever appear to be fully trying. Slowburn horror is one thing, but a film that progresses slowly as a distraction to show it doesn't totally know what it wants to do or what it's doing is an unfortunately lethal blow to a film's attempt at likability. The needless cat murder doesn't help its reputation either.

The plot: Dr. Sonny Blake (Rose McGowan) is a talk radio psychiatrist, working the late shift, giving random callers life advice and direction. Dr. Blake decides to move into to her childhood home after her alcoholic father dies, and upon moving in, meets the deeply inept, sociopath paperboy Derek Barber (Daniel Ross Owens), who lives next door. The paperboy, who may or may not have had some sort of relationship with her father, pesters Blake into oblivion, but the results are not taut and scary, but almost inherently laughable. Her first clue that something strange is up is when she sees that her dresser of nick-nacks has been rearranged by someone not herself. For a TV horror film made for a network like USA, or even Lifetime, perhaps that would be mildly frightening. For an audience hungering for tricky tactics of suspense from the man behind Jeepers Creepers, this is pretty third-rate material.

The performances are clearly gifted. Rose McGowan is admirably convincing in scenes that rest on her shoulders, and one of my favorite character actors, Ray Wise, is present, playing a detective hellbent on convincing Dr. Blake that nothing is happening. Despite something clearly being up, he persists that there isn't, and scenes following ones of that nature continue to play out this long, winded excursion of, strange kid does something, victim notices, victim contacts boyfriend and detectives, they say she's crazy, etc.

One wonders if Victor Salva aspired to make something more frightening, and one contemplates if the clearly miniscule budget paralyzed him to work with just the bare basics of horror filmmaking. If life is kind to him, he will make more films. Ones more impressive than Rosewood Lane, hopefully. And hopefully ones that don't feel gridlocked to conventions.

Starring: Rose McGowan, Daniel Ross Owens, and Ray Wise. Directed by: Victor Salva.

Disjointed Dreadful Disaster

[LeonLouisRicci · 2/10 · 22 June 2013]

Nothing much comes together in this sloppy and somewhat confusing entry in the "suburbs are not all that safe" Genre. If we didn't know by now, it is a place with hidden horrors and beneath the clean exteriors lie dirty, and scary secrets.

What secrets reside here, are hardly explored, explained, or for that matter, halfway through this thing you won't care. It is a mishandled, muddled attempt that cannot be forgiven its lame premise and truly awful Script and Direction.

The Movie is disjointed and rarely remotely scary with a dull sense of disbelief. Characters behave in such a way that even Horror Movie conventions are stretched to a point of Audience forgiveness. Everything is telegraphed, draining what little suspense is concocted and it results in a clunky, clever-less Film that can be a chore to get through.

Making it to the end of this dud might be considered an achievement, but that accomplishment will soon dissipate because the End does not justify the Means. It is as flat and uninspired as the rest.