UHM - Review - The Amityville Horror (Remake)

Ooohh, "based on a true story". It seems like that phrase has been thrown around more than it should now-a-days. Especially with these horror flicks, because we all know when they say that, it's usually like 1% true and the rest is a figment of the writer's imagination. Some people still believe that the story behind the Amityville Horror is true. Well my reply to those people is.. *slap*. Originally based on a 1978 book, which then turned into a theatrical release in 1979. The only thing "true" about the tale is the convicted murderer Ronald DeFao. He did kill those people in the house, but the haunting and everything else was made up. He fesses up on the radio in '79 and the real George Lutz confessed in 1992.

When word on a remake was released from MGM the horror genre just rolled its eyes and said "here we go again", but the odd thing was the fact that it was announced twice, and from different companies no-less. Apparently Dimension Films wanted to make a remake as well, so originally we were going to have two different remakes, which would both be released generally around the same time too. Eventually Dimension caved and joined forces with MGM. Either way, I doubt Dimension could do any better than MGM, because usually when they remake a classic film like Amityville they try too hard to appeal to a younger audience, which then strays away from just focusing on making a solid horror film. Thus, we have The Amityville Horror remake, which in my opinion is just another unnecessary retelling of a horror story that would be best "retold" through its DVD sales rather than a lame remake.

In this movie we've got a post Blade Trinity beefed-up Ryan Reynolds as George Lutz, who moves into the Amityville home with his family, in hopes of starting a fresh life in a new town. Of course with their bargain they received for the home they have to deal with the other-worldly spirits, namely that of the daughter of the previous owner. If I remember correctly the original just focused on the haunting and not a specific ghost, but of course with today's audience and in the producer's minds they have to have a ghost for the audience to see for one reason or another. This movie tries to scare the audience like the original did, but fails.. Badly. In the end the movie just turns out as another boring remake, with the same-old scare tactics and predictability.

Sure I thought the movie was interesting (hence the 6-rating), but other than that it's nothing special. It's obvious that they just remade this movie for the $$$$$ and nothing more; there's obviously no fans of the original or the genre behind it.

OVERALL

If you're a big fan of the original, you probably wont like the remake. Not recommended unless you like unnecessary remakes.

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Punishment From Below :

Posted 82 days ago

I think Amityville 1, 2, and the remake are pretty good movies.

Bert Lumsden :

Posted 95 days ago

I thought this movie was really good. The original was great but it was nice to get a jump going here and there and the ending was good. I would say go out and check it out if you are looking for a good jump out of your seat movie.

s.zombie :

Posted 115 days ago

this movie blew the original away for a couple of reasons. #1 ryan renolds performance was unbelievible & #2 special effects blew the 1st away, had a ghoulish fealing throughout. 8 of 10 easily

Beshem :

Posted 168 days ago

The remake was just as good as the original. Both scared the shit outta me!

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