What
with the current abundance of remakes doing the rounds at the cinemas, some
bright spark had the idea of re-making the Amityville Horror, thinking they
could get some extra mileage out of it being a "true" story (AHEM!!!!).
Though
what actually follows is your typical haunted house plot, with a few elements
based on Jay Anson's novel, about what supposedly happened to the Lutz
family at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville thrown in.
The basic plot remains the same as the original, in this we see newlyweds George and Kathy Lutz (played here by Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George) moving into a new house with their 3 kids, only to find the house isn't very receptive to them.
George becomes extremely bad tempered and starts seeing strange things, they ask the local priest to come over to bless their new house, except he runs out shortly after. The babysitter manages to lock herself in the cupboard (again) despite the fact there's no lock on the door and the younger daughter claims to have an invisible friend. The walls start to drip blood and worst of all, someone keeps leaving the windows open. Which may or may not have something to do with series of brutal murders that took place there years earlier.
In the end, it all proves too much, but although deciding to bail out, George decides he has other plans in a surprise twist that goes against the book and earlier film.
Although I've been fairly critical here, on a pure enjoyment level, this
isn't half bad and certainly proved entertaining enough viewing, if you can
just accept that the Lutz's story was bogus. Ryan Reynolds and Melissa
George certainly handle their roles well, and the film is visually very
impressive. The teenagers will love it, although horror aficionados my
find find it a touch clichéd.
