This short film, approximately a half hour long, is based on a short story by D. H. Lawrence. After seeing the movie, I found the short story online, read it, and discovered that -- wonder of wonders -- the short story is actually good! A brief summary:

"The Rocking Horse Winner" is about a boy, Paul, who makes a great deal of money by betting on horses. He knows which horses to bet on because somehow, when he rides his rocking horse, it tells him which one will win. The story itself has a very good message to it: "Materialism is bad." The movie, however, obliterates that message beneath piles of, well, just strange stuff.

First of all, in the story, the family lives in a modest house in a nice neighborhood. In the movie, their residence is transformed into a large, spooky, medieval-style castle. While it does make for a scarier setting, it doesn't fit: why doesn't the family just sell the house to get money to pay off all of their enormous bills? Also, the story very specifically says that everyone in the house can FEEL the house whispering "more money." It gives the impression that the HOUSE is behind the boy knowing which horse to bet on. The movie, on the other hand, makes the horse the culprit, while in the story it's just rather strange.

Then there are all the random other things stuck in there. Why does the horse seem to move while he's riding it? Why, in one shot, does the house rock back and forth? And why oh WHY did they put in that one, horrible, make-you-laugh-until-you-cry scene? In the scene, the boy is riding the rocking horse. You see his mother coming up the stairs, and you can hear him on his horse. His words: "Yes! Yes! Take me there! I can see it! Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!" My entire class was practically on the floor laughing.

Rating: three turkeys.

Scene to watch for: Mother coming up the stairs; any scene where Paul is riding his horse.

Best line: Too many.

Things that make you go "Huh?": Why do the horse's eyes turn red? And why don't they just sell the daggone house?