''The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer'' is a 2003 American television film directed by Craig R. Baxley, and starring

Lisa Brenner Lisa Dawn Brenner ( Goldstein; born February 12, 1974) is an American actress. Brenner played Maggie Cory on '' Another World''. She was also in '' All My Children'' as Allison Sloan. She played Anne in the 2000 film '' The Patriot''. Biograp ...

, Steven Brand, and

Tsidii Le Loka Tsidii Le Loka-Lupindo (born April 3, 1968, in Lesotho) is an actress, vocalist and composer from South Africa and The Kingdom of Lesotho. She is best known for originating the role of Rafiki in the original Broadway production of Disney's stage ...

. It is a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

to the miniseries '' Rose Red'' (2002), and is based on the 2001

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by Ridley Pearson, which itself is an accompaniment piece to the miniseries.

Plot

The miniseries is an adaptation of '' The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red'' (2001), written by Ridley Pearson under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Joyce Reardon, PhD. Pearson's novel was based on the script of ''Stephen King's Rose Red''. The plot revolves around the construction of the Rimbauer mansion, Rose Red, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, tracing a series of mysterious accidents throughout the mansion's early history which cause it to become cursed. Set at the turn of the 20th century, the stately, sinister mansion is constructed by powerful Seattle oil magnate John Rimbauer (Steven Brand) as a wedding present for his timid, submissive young bride, Ellen (Lisa Brenner). Rimbauer uses much of his wealth to build the mansion in the Tudor neo-Gothic style and situate it on of woodland. The site has been a Native American burial ground. The house appeared cursed even as it was being constructed: three construction workers are killed on the site, and a construction foreman is murdered by a co-worker. Shortly after her marriage to Rimbauer, Ellen begins keeping a diary in which she confesses her anxieties about her new marriage, expresses her confusion over her emerging sexuality, and contemplates the nightmare that her life is becoming. Ellen soon has two children which helps soothe her painful relationship with her husband. First, a boy named Adam, and then a girl (born with a deformed withered arm) named April. At first impressed by her husband's extravagance, Ellen eventually hates and fears John, especially when learning unsavory facts about his past. Meanwhile, the number of individual hauntings in the mansion increases, possibly including ghosts of the many people close to John who have mysteriously vanished. Ellen interprets the eerie manifestations as a warning that she, too, may some day disappear without a trace. Years after her young daughter April also vanishes inside the estate, Ellen and her maid and confidant Sukeena still continue to live in the house. After John's death, Ellen believes that if she continues to build the house, she will never die. She uses nearly all of her inherited fortune to continually add to the home over the next several decades, enlarging it significantly. Rose Red begins growing by itself, adding new hallways, new corridors, new rooms and new staircases seemingly overnight. But mysterious disappearances continue: Deanna Petrie, a famous actress friend of Ellen's, and Sukeena both disappear over the next few years. Ellen herself disappears in 1950, never to be seen again.

Cast

as Ellen Gilchrist-Rimbauer * Steven Brand as John Rimbauer *

as Sukeena * Kate Burton as Connie Posey *

Brad Greenquist Brad Greenquist (born October 8, 1959) is an American actor. Career Greenquist appeared in ''Pet Sematary'', the 1989 film adaptation of Stephen King's 1983 novel of the same name, and in films such as '' The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer''. From the ...

as Douglas "Doug" Posey *

Deirdre Quinn Deirdre Quinn (born 1973) is an American model and actress, known for her role as Miss Texas in the 2000 film '' Miss Congeniality''. Biography Quinn grew up outside of Philadelphia, and is a graduate of Germantown Academy. She is a graduate in ...

as Fanny *

Tsai Chin Tsai Chin may refer to: * Tsai Chin (actress) (born 1933), actress from Shanghai, also known as Irene Chow * Tsai Chin (singer) (born 1957), Taiwanese singer {{Hndis ...

as Madame Lu * Hans Altwies as Daniel *

Courtney Taylor Burness Courtney is a name of Old French origin, introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It has two quite distinct interpretations: firstly, the surname may be locational, from places called Courtenay in the regions of Loiret and Gât ...

as April Rimbauer * Jacob Pearce Guzman as Adam Rimbauer *

Eric Keenleyside Eric Keenleyside (born October 11, 1957) is a Canadian actor. Early life Eric was born in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, grew up in London, Ontario, and spent time in Brisbane, Australia. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (acting) from the Univer ...

as Jack Finney

Release

Television airing

The film premiered during

sweeps Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on May 12, 2003.

Critical response

Michael Speier of '' Variety'' noted the film as an "atmospheric period thriller with kinky lining... an elegantly staged and crisp haunted house primer that could have easily popped up as an A&E production or, minus a few gimmicks, even on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

." Ron Wertheimer of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' was critical of the performances in the film, adding that "The only memorable sights in these two hours are the close-ups into the wide eyes of Ms. Brenner and the wider eyes of Ms. LeLoka. They both seem to be truly afraid of something, perhaps that someone they know will see this film."

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

by Lionsgate on October 14, 2003.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, The Television prequel films 2003 horror films American television films Television shows set in Seattle 2003 films Films directed by Craig R. Baxley Films set in country houses American prequel films