www.amityvillehorrormovie.co.uk
Dir: Andrew Douglas
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, Jesse James, Philip Baker Hall
Move to evil house
now they all look like demons
woof-woof, chop-chop, oops!
Remakes of seventies horror films are all the rage right now, with the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn Of The Dead and The Toolbox Murders already released and new versions of The Fog and The Hills Have Eyes currently in production. Now we have a re-telling of The Amityville Horror, based on a true story. The Defeo family lived in this spooky old house until Ronald went mad and killed his entire family as they slept. A year later and a new family, the Lutzes, moved in and again strange things started to happen. How much of the Lutzes' story is true we don't know; did they simply exploit the house's morbid past just to make some money for themselves? The movie just concentrates on the Lutzes account of their supernatural experiences. Like Ronald Defeo before him, George Lutz (Reynolds) is slowly descending into madness and his family appear to him as demons. He also likes chopping firewood with a large axe. These are not good omens. Meanwhile the youngest daughter is also seeing ghosts, notably Jodie, the Defeo's daughter who was slaughtered in her bedroom closet. It's a typically modern family-in-peril horror flick and does a decent job, with director Douglas using a mix of jump-cuts and a surprising amount of gore to heighten the tension. Quite aside from the evil house (which does look very imposing) Ryan Reynolds seems to be possessed by the spirit of Jason Lee in this film; his look, his mannerisms, his acting ability... I have to admit he plays the possessed role very well and is genuinely scary here. Melissa George as Kathy Lutz is also good, making the transition from Aussie soap via Alias very well. Oldest kid Billy (James) also deserves credit for another strong performance after his good work in The Butterfly Effect. If you like this type of film then I'd say it's well worth ninety minutes of your time.
soulmining rating: ***
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