"The Amityville Horror" (MGM)
Twenty-six years ago there was a movie based on actual events titled “The Amityville Horror.” This film starred James Brolin and Margot Kidder and was very successful. Now that film has been remade and the new stars are Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George. They are much better actors than Brolin and Kidder. In fact everything about the new film is better, from the suspense to the special effects.
George and Kathy Lutz (Reynolds and George) think they have found their dream house when they find the two-story home for sale in Amityville, Long Island. They are only slightly put off when the realtor tells them that the previous occupants of the home were murdered by their twenty-three year old son, who claimed voices told him to commit these atrocities. As George Lutz says, “Houses aren’t evil, people are.”
So into the home move George and Kathy with Kathy’s three children from a previous marriage. Things immediately start to go bad. Their daughter begins to talk about a new friend she has named Jodi. Jodi is the name of the murdered daughter of the previous occupants. Then George begins to behave bizarrely. He is cold all the time and hears strange sounds in the house.
Finally things get so strange that Kathy decides she must take the children and leave. It is twenty-eight days after they moved into the home. The house seems to be evil to the core and even the local priest (Phillip Baker Hall) is afraid of it.
The movie is spooky and creepy and suspenseful, but it is not particularly scary. The psychological intensity is much more prevalent than any “gotcha!” sequences. Watching George’s mental state go downhill fast is one of the real chillers of the plot.
Reynolds and George are both excellent in their roles with Reynolds being particularly good. He has such an easygoing persona that watching him become a raving maniac is chilling by its very happening. George is also good as a woman trying to keep everything rational but having to finally admit that nothing about these events can be explained.
The three actors who play the children – Jesse James as Billy, Jimmy Bennett as Michael, and Chloe Grace Moretz as Chelsea – are all solid in their roles. Rachel Nichols is impressive as the babysitter Lisa.
The movie is rated R for profanity and violence.
“The Amityville Horror” is a movie that will hold your interest from beginning to end. It isn’t a classic like “The Exorcist” but it is a step up from the original film. Reynolds and George are good enough to make you feel the character’s fears and desperation.
I scored “The Amityville Horror” a spooked 6 out of 10.
