THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (R) **

 

Directed by Andrew Douglas. 85 minutes.

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, Philip Baker Hall, Jesse James, Jimmy Bennett and Chloe Moretz. Released by MGM Pictures and Dimension Films.

 

George Lutz spent 28 days in the now infamous home on Ocean Boulevard in Long Island in 1975 with his family before quickly evacuating, due to some otherworldly problems. Just one year before the Lutz family moved in, a shocking series of murders took place in the house, wiping out an entire family. Ronald DeFeo, one of the sons in the DeFeo family, murdered his parents and siblings and said voices in the house told him to do it. Lutz wrote a book about his family’s short-lived experience in the house, which sold millions, was turned into the 1979 Amityville Horror film and spawned nearly a half dozen sequels.

 

Lutz is currently angry about the new film version that stars Ryan Reynolds and will go down in history as the last film released by the great MGM Pictures before it transfers over to Sony. He is upset that he was not consulted on the new film and says that it is 100 percent phony. Now, my qualm is not whether or not either story- Lutz’s or the new film version- is true. I could care less. This is a fiction film and, personally, I find that Lutz’s story is sort of fun to believe. Tales of the supernatural are nearly always fascinating. My issue is why Lutz is so upset with the new film, considering a buff, good-looking Ryan Reynolds walks around shirtless, displaying his well-exercised torso for most of the film. If they make a movie of my life, I hope I am as well-represented. Then again, Lutz is portrayed in this new film as a man possessed who nearly kills his family on more than a few occasions, so, never mind.

 

So, how good is the new Amityville Horror? Well, it is much better than the original 1979 version. On the other hand, its predecessor did not exactly set the bar very high. There are some genuine scares here and more than a few scenes in which I found my self squirming in my seat. The cinematography here is also effective and creates a sort of confined creepiness.

 

The problem is that there really is no story here. It is simply a series of eerie events taking place one after the other: boy goes to bathroom at night and sees bleeding ghost, girl gets locked in closet, Reynolds sees creepy faces on home video footage, etc. Things just happen and happen and happen, then the family evacuates the house and, voila, the end. There is also a very strange sequence in which a babysitter, for no real purpose, acts real creepy and tells the children some pretty nasty tales when George and, his wife, Kathy, are out to dinner. Another great scene is when a priest, played by Philip Baker Hall, who has been solicited by Kathy to bless the house, tells her to get her children out of the house immediately. We next see her arriving home alone to evacuate them. If the priest was so concerned and knew the danger her children were in, why did he not accompany her? There is, however, a scary scene in the film in which one of the young boys goes beyond the call of duty in helping George chop some wood.

 

Regardless, among the wave of horror film remakes, of which there are many, The Amityville Horror is about average. It is not as good as Dawn of the Dead, is better than The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but we will have to wait and see how it compares to House of Wax in May. There is also a remake of The Last House on the Left on the way, as well as Hillbillys in a Haunted House- I’m joking. Horror works on a certain level, in that it is pretty scary, at moments. But those looking for some characterization or great storytelling may want to sit this one out.