The Amityville Horror

Andrew Douglas 2005

George and Kathy Lutz find a dream home but soon after moving, it turns into a nightmare forcing the family to flee after just 28 days.

Now maybe its just me, but if I asked the Estate Agent what the catch was with regards to the dirt cheap house and they recount a story of grisly murder I wouldn’t be getting my cheque book out any time soon. Maybe in the 1970’s the housing market was as bad as it today but I would have imagined the Lutz’s would have given it a little more thought.

Yet another remake it squeezed out of Hollywood like a stinky cinematic fart. Whether this film is based on real events or not doesn’t matter anymore, its whether some more money can be sucked out of it that counts.

A convoluted plot that somehow involves Native Americans seems far removed from the ‘Amityville’ I remember. The scares are basic Ghost Train stuff, with things popping out at you but nothing really sticks in the mind. Ryan Reynolds and Melissa (Home and Away) George are too perfect looking to be believable. Jodie the demonic pig has been replaced with the ghost of one of the Defeo children, yawn. This is the kind of film that leaves you with the taste of despair in your mouth as you ponder the future of filmmaking.