I have an announcement to make… this movie actually caught me by surprise.
Don’t start wondering if I’ve lost my steely nerve that makes it near-impossible for me to jump while watching scary movies, I assure you that that is not the case. The reason I say this movie caught me by surprise was because I fully expected it to be terrible, and it wasn’t.
Okay, except for the last fifteen seconds where they add a small scene just so we wouldn’t forget what the little dead girl looked like. They could have left that on the editing room floor.
Although I am a fan of the original The Amityville Horror, I would almost say that I preferred this one. (Heresy, I know.) The reason is because this one gave us a little bit more of the background behind what makes that house so terribly troubled by the dead and soon-to-be-dead.
The ghosts are downright creepy and the house itself has a wonderful personality and a deranged sense of humor. The “scare moments” were well timed and most of the effects were nicely executed.
As for the human and still breathing characters, I can’t say I was terribly fond of any one of them. The kids were obnoxious, the older son was a prick, the mother was one-sided, and the man of the house probably should have lost his mind years beforehand. In this case I think that some families just really need to be slaughtered by vengeful real estate.
Of course like the original, this film plays on being based on a true story. I’m beginning to think that there should be a new law that restricts films from being able to say that unless at least 50% of the occurrences in the story actually did happen. Of course, it could be loopholed by saying that the true events involve buying a house, spousal abuse, kids being brats, and someone murders his family… just a composite film taken from four different real-life stories.
All and all, this is a good film for a dark and stormy night. Watch it with someone you love.
Film information: The Amityville Horror
The Original Film:
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