The Amityville Horror (2005) Movie Review, Trailer and Poster

USA 2005
Director: Andrew Douglas
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, Rachel Nichols, Jesse James, Chloe Moretz,Jimmy Bennett, Isabel Conner
Rating: R
Release Date: 7 April 2005
Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

The Movie Review

It seems that every country has her own haunted houses, and I do think there is a list of ten most haunted houses in each country. Whether the ghosts really exist or not, whether you're a believer or a skeptic, let's face it, the list exists. In Indonesia, one of the most haunted houses (well notoriously haunted) is the one in Pondok Indah, Jakarta. Though silly rumors are abundant about the real existence of the ghost, still this house has a tragic past. Interestingly, what happened to this house is very similar to the house in America that mostly enlisted in the "Top 10 most haunted house in the U.S.", the house of Amityville. As an enthusiast of haunted houses, I did really have high expectation to the outcome of this piece of supernatural horror film. So let's see how this movie turns out to be.


The AMITYVILLE HORROR (remake)
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

The tragic history of Amityville, was that a young guy who went mad at one night and with his rifle he murdered all of his family who were sleeping at that time for believing that they're demons. This incident causes a big commotion in the area with police intensively investigating the incident. Several years later, a family, Kathy Lutz (Melissa George), her three kids and their stepfather George Lutz (Ryan Reynolds) move in to the house enticed by the cheap price of the house. From day 1, George has already experience a fearsome sighting while having sex with his wife. Afterwards supernatural stuff starts to show up one thing after another. Do the house really is haunted? What will happen to the George, Kathy and their kids?

Some says a picture says more than a thousand words. Well then how about a 1 hour & 30 minutes long motion picture? Mathematically speaking, it should say more than million words right? No. After watching this horror movie, I really miss those books about Amityville. It's a wonder how those books turned out to be more frightening than this movie. How could this movie ruin that legendary story? Well, I solely blame the storyline. The horror scenes build mostly out of boo scares. And even then, they aren't effective, one scene of that hanged girl is at some point is actually ridiculous, mostly for the expression that the child actor gave. The intense scenes of this movie make The Amityville Horror more like an action flick. Especially the rooftop scene, that kind reminds me of Vertical Limit. The ghosts are not scary, it's just that pale ‘n bruised n bloody regular ghost of supernatural horror.

The Amityville Horror (2005) is actually a remake of the 1979 The Amityville Horror which features James Brolin and Margot Kidder. From the producers of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 remake) is what the marketing words boast about the remake. And this movie isn't without any merit. I always like how Melissa George performs. And it's a relief how all the cast could perform remarkably. From Ryan Reynolds who develops his character from his Van Wilder's charm to an agro husband, although still a bit miscast. Melissa who acts brilliant with her hysterical/depressed mom character and even the child actors which I think have a pretty good future in movie industry. The musical score is not bad but they're also not that great enough that could save the whole storyline. In a nutshell the action is good, the drama's good but the horror's not.

This movie might scare fellow moviegoers who haven’t seen the likes of The Shining (1980), The Sixth Sense (1999) or The Eye (2002). But for the grown ups or for those who have had knowledge about Amityville horror before, likely you'll be disappointed. If you're really curious to see this movie, then watch it after midnight when there's no one around, or I think this movie might be a good movie to watch while having a vacation in a villa with your friends. Anyways, Rent/Buy/Show this movie for your kids to stop them from wanting to move to a bigger house! Lolz :-)

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
posted: Oct 18th 2009 04:30 am