Product Details

• Actors: Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George
• Directors: Andrew Douglas
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: MGM
• DVD Release Date: October 4, 2005
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (236 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000AA4JKW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,683 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Amityville Horror" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Most horror movies establish an atmosphere of normalcy, which they gradually rupture with spooky or creepy or stomach-churning images. The Amityville Horror--a remake of the 1979 movie about a possessed house that torments the family that moves into it--tosses normalcy out the window in the first five minutes, unleashing a nonstop barrage of unsettling camera angles, decaying wood and stained wallpaper, half-glimpsed shadows in motion, fast edits of grotesque ghosts, and dozens of other horror-movie devices. Whether you like the movie will depend on whether you like feeling slightly nauseated and cut off from any semblance of reality--for many people, that's why they go to horror movies. Others won't be able to suspend disbelief that anyone but an actor would spend the time necessary to develop Ryan Reynold's insanely buff physique, prominently displayed as he runs around wearing nothing but a pair of loose-fitting pajama bottoms. In addition to Reynolds (Van Wilder, Blade: Trinity), the movie also features Philip Baker Hall (Magnolia) and Melissa George (Down With Love). --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

From Michael Bay, the producer of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," comes the true story of Amityville. In November 1974, a family of six was brutally murdered. Now, a year later, an unsuspecting young couple, George (Ryan Reynolds, "Blade: Trinity," "The

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sexed up version of the bland original, October 12, 2005

By	Nicholas Carroll (Portland OR United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Amityville Horror (Widescreen Special Edition) (DVD)

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.

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

By	Eddie Lancekick "A Regulator" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Amityville Horror (Widescreen Special Edition) (DVD)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a masterpiece...but good horror, January 16, 2007

By	Nathan Christian (New Stanton, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Amityville Horror (Widescreen Special Edition) (DVD)

This movie made me cringe in several places. I couldn't take it when the little girl was balancing herself on the top of the roof. The camera angles really got me. And when George made the kid hold the log wile he swung the axe to chop it was a reeal nail biter.

If you over analize it, you'll be disappointed. But if you approach this fast moving film as a joyride through terror...hop on!

At least rent it if you don't buy it.