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"Scary House....Not."
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2005 horror film directed by Andrew Douglas for United Artists and Dimension Films
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THE AMITYVILLE HORROR is a scary-house movie. It's one of those films about a house being haunted. The film is very loosely based upon a real-story about the Lutz family and the DeFeo family. The DeFeos were the original owners of the Amityville house and 28 days after moving in the father of the family went insane and killed his entire family. Years later the Lutz family purchases the house and moves in. Soon afterwards some really bizarre things start to happen: they start seeing ghosts, the wallpaper peels really funny, and the father, George (Ryan Reynolds) starts acting really strange. As the 28th day of their move in draws near the coincidences between what happens with the Lutzs and the DeFeos becomes too much to ignore.
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THE AMITVILLE HORROR has some good acting from the entire cast. The story builds up nicely and does a fairly decent job of characterization. However, I really didn't like the movie that much. It really isn't all that frightening and the things that are supposed to be frightening come off looking like expensive special effects gags. There's also the whole bit about the house supposedly being built on an old Indian burial ground (I know the original came out before, but POLTERGEIST handles that much better) and the basement having been used as a sacrificial temple by a colonial-aged witch named J. Katchum--that made no sense at all to me in the movie. I realize that this is either a remake or re-imagining of the original film, so the filmmakers were trying to walk the line between staying true to the spirit of the original, but make it fresh. That would have been alright, but THE AMITYVILLE HORROR wasn't a movie worth remaking in the first place.
When's all said and done the thing this version of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR will probably be best remembered for is that it was the last film that MGM released as an independent company (it was bought out by Sony and other studios during the promotion of the movie). What a sad way for a great studio of the past to die out. That is a true horror.
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woopak_the_thrill
November 21, 2011
I saw this when it came out in theaters and it bored the heck out of me.
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Im not one of those people whi are easily scared when watching todays "horror" films with the exception of one movie (ok william do you remember what it is...this is a test lol) so it was no suprise that this movie didnt even come close to scaring me. It is a remake, but having never seen the origional i cant judge on the remake quality. But if you are one of those people who is scared of those "jumpy" types of movies where you are fully prepaired for whats coming and jump anyway when it happens, … more
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I saw the original Amityville Horror movie and was scared to death, so I wanted to see this remake, especially after learning that Michael Bay, producer of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was producing it. He did a frightening job with that one. This movie is based on the fact that a family of six was brutally murdered in a real house in Amityville, New York in 1974. It starts with an unsuspecting young couple and their children moving into the house which is now haunted by an … more
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Quick Tip by stacie12.
June 14, 2010
Couldn't sleep for days!
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review by Captain_Couth.
May 05, 2009
The Amityville Horror remake is a flat out disaster. The remake was highly unnecessary and pretty terrible. There was a lot of things about this movie that I just didn't like. It lacked pacing, substance and actual scares. Slapping together bloody scenes, nasty set pieces and bad acting doesn't make a movie. I couldn't believe how bad this movie was. The original was no classic either but it's a classic compared to this mess. Hell, the first three movies were way better than this tripe (that's not … more
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review by gradyharp.
January 18, 2007
Just the name of this film constitutes a long sigh - 'How many times are they going to make this hokey story into yet another film?' And yet the current team of director Andrew Douglas, screenwriter Scott Kosar (based on Jay Anson's novel) and a cast of fresh faces to the genre carry off this much told tale with vigor and a good dollop of tension. For starters the film opens with the re-enactment of the 'actual crime'. Apparently in 1974 Ronald DeFeo (here Brendan Donaldson) … more
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review by MzJen_2_review.
October 30, 2006
This movie remake was pretty good. Even though I saw the original movie and knew what was coming, I did jump out of my seat a few times for it also put a chill up my spin. There were several scary scenes that were excellent; "The Amityville Horror" delivers just that, fast pacing and some pretty effective jumps by using some cheap shock effects. Since this is a remake it is forgivable that it doesn't come up with anything remotely new or original. There's the ever so familiar … more
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tomtom13
Ranked #28
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About this movie
A 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror.
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
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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
Cast:
Jesse James,
Rachel Nichols,
Melissa George,
Baxter Harris,
Ryan Reynolds,
Jimmy Bennett,
Isabel Conner,
Brendan Donaldson,
Annabel Armour,
Rich Komenich,
David Michael Gee,
Danny McCarthy,
Nancy Lollar,
Jose Taitano
Director:
Andrew Douglas (IV)
Genre:
Horror
Release Date:
April 15, 2005
MPAA Rating:
R
Runtime:
1hr 29min
Studio:
MGM
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