Michael Ledo Pierce Bronson plays Michael Noonan, a New England author, in a continuing of Stephen King's write about things you are series. When is wife, who he truly loved, dies, he is drawn to their lake home. Noonan has nightmares about his wife in the final scene of "Quarantine". At the lake home he inadvertently gets involved in a local drama and discovers some small town secrets that frankly would make a good novel, which BTW he has to write.I enjoyed the simple ghostly images and hauntings. Noonan takes the paranormal in stride as he tries to uncover more about the illness known as Dark Score Crazy which causes people to drown their daughters. What is unfortunate is any Stephen King fan can watch the film and see where the master has done this before. For instance when we see the computer screen with the same line written over and over, one can not help think about "The Shining." The question begs: Does King want us to think about "The Shining" and give us a clue that Noonan is crazy or is it a deliberate misdirection? Or maybe King is starting to recycle old trunk novels as does the writer in the story. Outside of Noonan, the characters were poorly developed, especially considering the length of the film.While I enjoyed the film, I have come to expect more from Stephen King.Made for TV. Includes a rape scene.

rioplaydrum After reading several other reviewer's comments who didn't like this production at all, it became evident they were highly disappointed because the adaptation didn't follow the book very well.I didn't read the book. I guess it's good that I didn't.Pierce Brosnan gives a completely believable performance as a distraught writer dealing with the sudden death of his wife while trying to propel his stalled career. After moving into the lake house he inherited some years before, his mission quickly moves from originally trying to get his writing act together to solving the mystery of Dark Score Lake.Our protagonist experiences poltergeist events, nightmares and terrifying visions involving his dead wife's spirit and the presence of a jazz singer who was brutally murdered along with her young daughter in 1939.I found the two-part series great fun, as the 'firecracker' moments made me physically jump in my chair every time.The work is not without it's cheesy, cheap moments however. Who names a lake 'Dark Score' anyway? The automatic reference to evil was unnecessary, and the chief antagonist, Max Devore, keeps close company with an assistant who could pass for Natasha from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show.None the less, a great show to plop the kids in front of on a Halloween night.

wwc-johnb I'm giving this a 9 just because one reviewer exclaimed "I can't believe this got a 9!" Actually, I would probably rate it 7-8. I'm not a big Pierce Brosnan fan, but he does quite a good job here. Brosnan is nicely understated in his acting, which is a real treat compared to over the top renderings by the likes of Jack Nicholson. The tension builds nicely and the villains are appropriately creepy (I'm primarily thinking of old Bill Schallert and his uber creepy female consort). Despite many reviewer jibes at Mick Garris, I think he also does a creditable job. To the reviewer who asks why Garris continues to be allowed to "hatchet" King stories, maybe King likes the guy's work? Ever think of that?

Neil Welch Writer Mike Noonan, trying to overcome writer's block following the accidental death of his wife, falls in with some oddnesses on going to the old family lake house.I read Bag Of Bones on publication (the first novel after Stephen King's near-fatal accident, it was touted untruthfully as his final novel - this turned out to be inspired press in tieing the predicament of the main character to the personal circumstances of the author. I thoroughly enjoyed it: time constraints have prevented me from re-reading, so much of the detail of the novel has slipped from my memory. This miniseries therefore arrives fairly fresh and I shan't be comparing it to the book.It's OK. There is nothing exceptionally good about it, nor anything exceptionally bad - it is simply a generic ghost story, mildly horrific, but with most of the scares coming from sudden shock moments. I can't warn viewers away from it: neither can I recommend it.Director Mick Garris has had a lot of stabs at directing Stephen King stories - at least 7 by my count - and at best they have been adequate. Would that he could take a leaf out of Frank Darabont's book, with a success rate of 3 out of 3 so far.