DVD Review: Amusement
Amusement (2009)
Studio: Studio
DVD Release Date: January 20, 2009
Directed By: John Simpson
Cast: Keir O’Donnell, Katheryn Winnick, Laura Breckenridge, Jessica Lucas & Rena Owens
Brutal As Hell Rating: 2 ½ out of 5 stars
Review By: Annie Riordan
Three hot young thangs – Shelby, Lisa and Tabby – have a lot in common. They went to the same elementary school as children, they were the best of friends, and they all thought that the creepy little boy who hung around them was, well…creepy. The years have gone by and the girls have gone their separate ways and have all but forgotten about that creepy little boy who ended up in a loony bin. But creepy little boy has not forgotten about them, and he’s hunting them down one by one for reasons that remain a tad on the fuzzy side.
No matter, though. I admit that I wasn’t expecting much, if anything, from Amusement, a seemingly cheesy little slasher flick with an opening credit sequence that had me convinced that I was about to dive headfirst into a shitloaf that no amount of ketchup could conquer.
But Amusement surprised me. It started out good, stayed tense and didn’t start unraveling until the final twenty minutes. Even then, it still managed to throw a few surprises at my head that I didn’t see coming and which I was, honestly – no pun intended – amused by.. There’s little in the way of character development or common sense to be found here, but if you can unplug your brain for the duration, you just might find yourself enjoying this silly, splattery walk through a bloody funhouse. Keir O’Donnell as the unnamed Creepy Boy turned Creepy Adult is well worth watching; his one-dimensional boogeyman comes off as a weird cross between Giovanni Ribisi and Jeffrey Combs, and his facial expressions give some needed depth to an otherwise disposable boogeyman.
Amusement is a lot like drunk sex – it’s klutzy, messy and maybe not the best, but it’s fun while it lasts.
