The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (2003): A Movie Review

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer is a horror drama starring Lisa Brenner as Ellen Rimbauer and Steven Brand as John Rimbauer. Set in the turn of the century, the movie follows the life of Ellen Rimbauer as she marries John and receives a huge mansion as a wedding present. After returning from her month long honeymoon, Ellen is quite taken with the house and in turn the house is quite taken with her. Warning: my movie review contains plot spoilers.

The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer is a prequel to the Stephen King miniseries Rose Red. It has been awhile since I have seen Rose Red. I do remember enjoying the movie but I don't remember many plot details. That being said, I found The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer very interesting and now I want to watch Rose Red again. I feel a lot was left unexplained but that just adds to the appeal of the house.

Lisa Brenner did an excellent job portraying Ellen Rimbauer, the naïve girl who is quickly shown the ways of the world by her adulterous husband. Steven Brand was also excellent as John Rimbauer, the head of the household who enjoys taken advantage of any woman in his employment.

I was disturbed by how the movie seemed to focus on John and his sexual appetite. Yes I got the point after the first scene on their honeymoon where John "forces" his wife into a threesome. Yes John is a very bad man. I have force in quotes because I really got the impression that Ellen didn't put up much of a fight. Anyway, yep John is a creep but did the movie really need scene after scene showing John's creepiness. Plus the more scenes between Ellen and John just made me feel less sorry for her because she certainly seemed to enjoy his sexual behavior more often then naught.

I liked the plot on how the house is alive and cares for Ellen. But why is the house alive? Why can't they ever explain that? We know John had the house shipped piece by piece from another country so a little more back story explaining the previous history of the house would have helped.

Overall I did enjoy the movie. I give the movie 3 out of 5 stars. Now I need to go rent Rose Red.