Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sexed up version of the bland original, October 12, 2005
In 2002, I happened to see the original Amityville house on Long Island (which was renovated to replace the creepy looking windows). That got me interested in the story and I finally watched the original horror film, which was so bland and lacking in suspense that I don't know why previews of that movie gave me nightmares as a child.
With today's film technology, I looked forward to seeing this new version. Signs were not good when the film's distributors refused to allow film critics to pre-screen the movie for the Friday write-ups. Roger Ebert created his "finger wave" category for the distributor's cowardice in facing the film critics.
While this film is a big improvement on the 1979 film, it still has a lot of cheap shots and comes across as manipulative. What it lacks in horror, they make up for it by spiking the scary music and quick jumps to startle the audience. Although based on a true story (whether it happened or was an elaborate hoax continues to be debated), so many instances strained credibility...such as the daughter walking dangerously on the roof. Yeah, right.
The scene I most like in this film, however, deals with the babysitter, as she adds much humor to the story. Because of her and having actor Ryan Reynolds walk around shirtless, showing off his well-sculpted body, its obvious that the makers of the film settled for a sexed up version for modern audiences to make up for the lack of suspense and true drama/horror. That also strains credibility, but its only a movie...one that's hard to take seriously from the get-go.
The truly horrifying scene takes audiences into the basement to discover the house's secret past that explains the haunting. It is the most graphic part of the film and the scariest. If this film had more of that, instead of trying to be a cheap imitation of "The Sixth Sense" (which is what I thought of everytime that ghost girl popped up unexpectedly for no other reason than to startle the audience), I would give it another star. As is, its an okay film for a few laughs and an improvement upon the original.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Houses don't kill people" ...or do they?, October 12, 2005
The most popular haunted house in America (and rightly so!) is brought to the screen a second time by producer Michael Bay.
George and Kathy Lutz (Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George) are a young couple who are searching for a new home to move to. This takes them to a lil' place called Amityville, Long Island where they find a sprawling multi-storied home by a lake that on first glance they think is way out of their price range. They suddenly find out from a hesitant realtor why the house is so underpriced - a year before, a man living in the house murdered his family in their sleep, claiming he was commanded to commit the crime by demonic voices.
"Houses don't kill people" George decideds, so that's that! The family soon move into their dream of a lifetime, only to discover that soon they would be living a nightmare.
George is doing his best to better relations with his kids, who were his wife's from her former marriage (her 1st husband died). Suddenly he starts spending more time in the basement, and thinks's he's hearing things from the air vents.
Some of this you may think sounds cliche' and like any other haunted house story..the difference is the movie was based on an actual documented event! The murders were real, the family buying the home after the murder's were real..what happened next is anyone's guess, but let's say that the experiences they have in this house would change their lives forever.
There are still strange unanswered questions surrounding the murders of the original family that first lived in the house and several supernatural presumptions are interwoven within it.
Ammityville rises above the norm of haunted house stories and what enables this in large part is the cast! The actors are all well suited for their roles and do an excellent job bringing life into a movie that is bent on death.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The butchering of a great movie!, September 26, 2007
With so many remakes tarnishing horror films during the past few years, it didnt surprise me one bit that this would be a piece of trash. Sure, the first ten minutes probely had more action then the 1979 version, which of course makes it so silly and ludicrious since this is supposed to be based on a true story. Let me state that there are those that think this is true, and others that think it was a made up hoex. I myself, happen to believe it was true, even though there wasnt any real evidence of any happenings. If you believe, the ORIGINAL is a definate fright, and still gives me goose bumps. The orginal was much very accurate to the book, which is a fine read. This remake doesnt even touch on the supense as the book or the 1979 version. This is why so many horror movies fail and that hollywood writers are running out of ideas. The slow paced suspense that builds up our fear meters seems to not be in the agenda of most hollywood films. Instead of that we get pretty much a bloodbath and more bodycount then Rambo. I dont detest violence or anything, I love a great splatter flick. But when you take stories such as this, or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which were made to build up suspense slowly, and try to make it a fast paced action bloodbath, then most of the time it fails. This is why most remakes suck, as you are taking away from what you dont see (which can be more suspenseful and terrifying) and adding more of what you didnt see in the orginals, but it just tarnishs the film. Even though films like Saw and Hostel, use tons of violence, there still is a great suspense factor added, which adds more to the story making it more shocking and frighting. Blair Witch and Open Water, two indie films, use the same suspensful story which make them great. If Blair Witch was made for todays younger audience, it probely would have bombed, since I think todays younger crowd just doesnt get it. If you really want to see this and have interest, please check out the 1979 version or read the book. This does the story of the Amityville Horror no justice and its a piece of garbage.
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