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Movie Review - The Amityville Horror (2005)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Andrew Douglas |
| Starring: |
Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George |
| Rated: |
R (for violence, disturbing images, language, brief sexuality and drug use) |
| Length: |
86 minutes |
| Genre: |
Horror |
| Tagline: |
For God's sake ... get out! |
| Studio: |
MGM |
| Website: |
The Amityville Horror |
| Release: |
April 15, 2005 |
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PLOT
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Man brutally murders his family in house. New family moves into house. New family starts to see weird
visions and hear strange voices. Dad goes crazy. Family finally flees the house after 28 days. Ryan
Reynolds doing an impersonation of Johnny Betts' abs ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Based on a true story. I'm sure you've seen that phrase posted all over the movie's posters and its
trailers. But is it true? Well, at least part of it is. As for the rest? The Lutz family claims
everything that happened to them is true. It's not my job to convince you one way or the other of that,
so I'll just stick to what my actual job is - I'll write a thankless review that 4 of you will read and
about 2 of you will care about.
One of the things that *is* true is Ronald "Butch" DeFeo, Jr. murdered his family while they slept, and
the opening scene in the movie portrays this in a very disturbing manner. As the lightning flashes and the
thunder cracks, we watch Butch maniacally roam from room to room, brutally shooting and killing his parents,
two brothers, and two sisters. This is the stuff that horror movies and nightmares are made of. Knowing
it actually happened makes it hard to watch, but it immediately pulls you into the story.
Now abandoned and on the market, the house can't find any buyers. At least not until the Lutz family
comes along and decides it's too good of a deal to pass up. They're a little skeptical as to why it is
such a good deal. When they find out the truth they decide that the fact that six people were slaughtered
in the house shouldn't deter them from buying it. What's really weird is that in real life they bought it
furnished and even slept on the murderer's mattress. Yeah, I don't think so. At the very least get a
NEW MATTRESS!
Anyway, it's at this point that things start to go really wrong. It's also at this point that this
remake starts to stray from the book and the original movie. Amityville purists may take issue with this,
but I couldn't care less. The only thing that concerns me with a movie like this is whether or not
it'll scare me, creep me out, or disturb me in some way, and Amityville accomplishes that.
It definitely scared my 18-year-old sister. She was curled up in her seat like a little baby, clutching
Stephanie's arm. Wuss. It didn't really scare me, but I felt it did a great job of staying creepy and
tense throughout its runtime. One of my favorite scenes is when the little daughter is lured onto the
roof by her "imaginary friend." Take a deep breath as the scene starts and then exhale deeply upon its
conclusion.
Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George are very good in their roles. Ryan starts off as a funny, charming husband
and step dad who likes to prance around the house shirtless, showing off his abs. For a while there I thought
I was looking in a mirror, but Stephanie claims I wasn't. Everybody starts to hear weird noises and see
strange visions in the house, but Ryan seems to be the most negatively affected. He's quite effective
at transforming into the bad guy. One thing I really liked is that his character's portrayal is a little
more "realistic" in regard to what you would expect to happen if somebody became demon possessed. The guy's
neck doesn't start doing 360s and he doesn't start talking like Darth Vader – he just becomes freakin’
scary.
You may start to wonder why in the world the family stayed in the house for 28 days. Good question. But
hey, this is supposedly based on a "true story," and the real Lutz family did in fact live in the house
for 28 days until they ran ... to a publishing company, no doubt, to inquire about the book rights. Can I get
a rim shot please??? I'm pretty sure if I got the sense that a demon was living in my house then I'd go
ahead and get out of Dodge.
If you ever hear a demonic voice inside your house tell you to kill your family then that's probably a
good sign that it's time to mooooooove on. Is there really sense in being stubborn at that point?
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Budget: $18 million
- Based on the novel by Jay Anson.
- The original movie starred James Brolin and Margot Kidder.
- Johnny thinks Josh Brolin would've been perfect in the lead role for this remake. Of course, his
less talented dad would've gotten jealous over Josh outdoing his performance.
- Amityville FAQ - This site provides both sides of
the story but seems to lean more towards the "pro-haunting" theory.
- Amityville: Horror or Hoax? - This
site explains why it thinks the haunted house story is a hoax.
- Ryan Reynolds was in Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place with Traylor Howard who was in
Son of the Mask with Jamie Kennedy was in Scream with David
Arquette who was in Road Killers with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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There is some harsh language at times (a few f-bombs and a handful of G-d**n's), and there's one scene of
sexuality (no nudity) that'd have mama squirming and sighing. I highly recommend keeping the kids away from
this one. Does your 10-year-old really need to see little kids getting blasted with a shotgun?
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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No big surprises. If the trailer grabbed your attention then the movie should definitely hold it.
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THE GIST
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The Amityville Horror is not the most original or story-driven horror movie on the market, but it is
the creepiest of the year. It's quick, it's dark, it's disturbing, and it reminds us of our childhood
imaginations when we'd look at the creepy old house in the neighborhood and wonder what exactly went on
inside. If your neighborhood lacked that creepy old house, then you lived a deprived childhood, my
friend.
It's definitely worth at least a matinee if you're in the mood for a few scares.
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