_004.jpg)
Directed by Andrew
Douglas.
2005. Rated PG-13, 89
minutes.
Cast:
Melissa George
Jesse James
Jimmy Bennett
In 1979, The Amityville
Horror hit theaters, and not only became a hit movie, but a cultural
phenomenon. People actually made the trek to New York to see the house where
the movie was set because it was supposedly a true story. I don’t knock anyone
for believing in ghosts and/or haunted houses. To each his own. However, I do
have to question the intelligence of people who believe it to be true and go
there on purpose. What if it is? Being in the midst of a demonic paranormal
entity doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs to me. As noted in my review of
the original, whether or not our tale is rooted in reality has been hotly
debated and largely debunked. What is inarguable is that it provided the
template for the modern haunted house movie which is still being ripped off ad
nauseum all these years later.
This brings us to the remake you
came here to read about. The setup is the same as the older movie. The Lutz
family is house shopping for a place suitable for their family of six: George
(Reynolds), Kathy (George), three kids, and one dog. The kids and the dog came
with Kathy as part of a package deal, having remarried after the death of her
first husband. They check out the fateful house and it is obviously out of
their price range. No worries, the real estate agent assures them she’s letting
it go cheap. When asked what gives, she explains what we saw at the very
beginning. The year before, some nut got up out of bed at 3:15 AM and blasted
everyone in his family with a shotgun. Since it is a beautiful house, and
George wants to make his woman happy, the Lutzes decide to buy it. After all,
as George so eloquently puts it, “houses don’t kill people.” We’ll just see
about that, won’t we.
Right away, and every night at
3:15, things go haywire. George is affected more than anyone. The movie,
including Reynolds himself, does a nice job with his rapidly deteriorating
mental state. This is very clearly a man losing it. Just to make sure we know
that it’s the house causing all of his issues, he’s a much nicer guy whenever
he is away from it. For the most part, he drives the movie. The film, and the
house, uses him to crank things up or ratchet them down at the appropriate
times.
The character who shoulders the
rest of the load is the daughter Chelsea. She interacts with the house in a way
no one else does. As a result, she’s often in harm’s way. This is one of the
very early performances of child star Chloë Grace-Moretz. She’s about as solid
as any kid would be in the role, but it’s hard to tell from this that she would
become a top notch and highly sought after talent with many horror titles on
her resumé. Still, the movie effectively uses her to score easy sympathy points
and provide some harrowing scenes.
On its own, this is a briskly pace
film packed with creepy visuals. It hardly gives us a chance to catch our
breath as it is constantly sprinting to the next big moment. Juxtaposed with
its predecessor, we see that it is a more concentrated effort. This version is
almost solely focused on the Lutz family. The story of Father Callaway (Hall), Father
Delaney in the original, ran prominently alongside the main plot in that older
flick, but is barely included here, almost totally diminished in importance and
altered in execution. Conversely, the bit about Lisa (Nichols), the baby-sitter,
is expanded into a much more intense scene and the character herself is completely
different. The other major difference is how the dog is handled. In the
original, it is used to show how caring a person George really is when not
under the house’s influence. This time it’s used to demonstrate George’s
loosening grip on reality.
It is my opinion that this is a
very underrated movie. It ramps up the tension early and doesn't let up. Ryan
Reynolds gives a very convincing performance of a guy flipping out. There are
also excellent and unsettling visuals throughout. Normally, a ninety minute
remake of a two hour movie is cause to ring the alarms. Ring them even louder
when you add the fact that Michael Bay is a producer on this one. Logic tells
us that so much would be left out it would feel incomplete. Honestly, there are
things left out of this version. However, it feels like what was removed made
it a more concise effort without sacrificing the essence of its predecessor. It’s
just plain fun to sit through.
MY SCORE:
7/10
