The Amityville Horror

I saw this film on April 10 2005 in the evening 7:00pm time over at Coral Ridge 10 Cinema. Being it is a horror film, remake and familiar plotline aside, seeing it at night seemed the right setting to choose.

The original The Amityville Horror movie was made in 1979, and a few films after that one have been made as well, all of questionable historical basis and all utterly awful. This film is a remake of the original book written in 1978 by Jay Anson just like the 1979 film. The movie follows the story of a newly married couple, George Lutz (Ryan Reynolds) and Kathy Lutz (Melissa George), and Kathy's 3 children from her first marriage. The children haven't really learned to know or trust George yet, and the move into this new home is supposed to give them the life they are seeking of upward mobility and family togetherness. Unfortunately, this house isn't all what it seems. It was the location of a mass murder just one year before, and the Lutzs have no idea of the full history behind the house.

The film is well-produced and the scenes are well done with some tense moments. There are, however, cheap shots with the freaky dead girl (yeah, a lot of films like to have freaky dead or weird children like The Grudge last year or Boogeyman this year to name a few). Additionally, Ryan Reynolds' portrayal of George Lutz is not as intense as it needs to be and the children's dislike of him and his separation from the other members of the family wasn't as profound as it could have been.

In the final analysis, this movie is better than the original but not that good, so I am rating it as okay. I even went to see it 2 times to give it a second chance because horror films are my favorite kind, but the film can't rate higher than an ok.

Please feel free to comment on this review or on the movie itself at the forum thread devoted to it at this location.