In 1974, a family of six was brutally murdered. A year later, George and Kathy Lutz and their children move into the site of the horrific event, which is haunted by a murderous presence.
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I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Fantastic!
The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Rubbish acting and rubbish content. No innovation or decent acting that is a disappointment for the relatively talented cast.
This film is a fairly average 2000s horror movie. Doesn't manage to build up much of an atmosphere throughout relying on jump scares for the fear factor. Some decent performances manage to keep the film interesting enough. The film seems like a worse version of The Shining without the tense atmosphere or the social commentary.
I guess this is one of the least awful of the "Amityville Horror" movies. These movies have become notorious because they were said to be based on a true story. I've done my research and there's no reason to think the writer didn't just make everything up. This is why we shouldn't lie. We get bad movies like this! Anyway, I never liked any of the other movies in this series.This seemed like just a ripoff of "The Shining". I haven't seen the original film in awhile, but I don't think they had the plot of the dad (or stepdad in this case) going crazy and trying to kill the family. It's hard to make flies scary. It's good by the standards of these movies, but at best mediocre by most standards. It's hard to take Ryan Reynolds' acting seriously. Not a horror movie fan to begin with. **
Yet another remake of a classic horror film has uprooted from the Hollywood assembly line, and like most remakes of this genre (or genre for that matter); it falls short of the freshness that made the original a cinematic hit. Based on the 1979 original that was inspired by the infamous true events of the 1974 murder of DeFeo family, the film boasts a re-imagining of the fateful events that took place following the notorious murder, but find itself plagued in a tedious wasteland of abortive scares and cheap thrills that never quite land, at least until the final fifteen minutes. In the end, it more than likely brings you the conclusion that the 1979 horror classic would have been better left alone. Directed by Andrew Douglas, the film follows George (played by Ryan Reynolds) and Kathy Lutz (played by Melissa George), a couple three children including the eldest Billy (played by Jesse James), the middle child Michael (played by Jimmy Bennett), and the youngest Chelsea (played by Chloe Grace Moretz). The New York family moves into an old house marked for sale, despite being warned the grisly murders of a family that took place the following year. While adjusting to the new home life, the family experiences some demonic forces that put their lives in danger, Chelsea begins communicating with Jodie, one of the murder victims, and George gradually descends into cruel, abusive demeanor. Before they know it, the family finds themselves plagued by the evil forces of the dead family.It is in my sad duty is say this movie fails to deliver what is expected, nor does it bring anything new to the table. While Ryan Reynolds manages to come up with an appropriately eerie performance, the fine actor feels a bit miscast as the husband and father who becomes robbed of his mental health. Considering the other roles of his career, you would expect the filmmakers would have went with a better casting choice. Though his performance doesn't quite flounder, it's not enough to save the movie from the underwhelming horror fare that defines it. During these 90 minutes, viewers are forced to spend the majority of the time through tiresome jump scares and images of ghostly figures we've seen more than enough times. And this occurs so many times through the film, it grows stale pretty quick. The ghost of Jodie the younger child begins communicating with is scary-looking, but does very little to add to the scare factor. The supposedly most scary element in the film centers on George Lutz's descent into hostility as he develops a more cruel and abusive attitude towards his wife and children, and for awhile his wife somehow manages to put up with his mean-spirited attitude. Literally, it's not until the final fifteen minutes when she finally responds his transformation. This all leads to a climatic axe chase that is quite tense and surprisingly scary, but feels awfully derivative to the final scene in Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining'. Other than this, the rest of the movie feels soullessly wasted.The Amityville Horror is just another addition to the collection of dull horror remakes Hollywood has provided, and makes for a shamefully forgettable experience. While it may succeed in the acting department, the overall scare factor remains shallow and little to be desired. For those who decide to watch this, don't expect anything impressive.