The Amityville Horror

Plot synopsis:
In 1974, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered his family at their house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. He claimed that he was persuaded to kill them by voices he heard in the house.
One year later, married couple George and Kathy Lutz move into the house along with Kathy's three children from a previous marriage, Billy, Michael, and Chelsea. The family soon begins experiencing paranormal events in the house. Chelsea claims that she has befriended a girl named Jodie, a name belonging to one of the murdered DeFeo children.
One night the couple decide to go out, and they hire a babysitter to watch the three kids. When the babysitter, Lisa, arrives, they come to find out that she had previously been hired to babysit for the DeFeos. Lisa tells them about the murders that took place in their house. When she goes to Chelsea's room, Chelsea tells her that she is a bad babysitter, claiming that Jodie told her so. Lisa begins to scold Jodie for being the reason behind her getting fired. Then Billy dares Lisa to go inside the closet (the same closet where Jodie was murdered), and she gets locked inside. After a few seconds she encounters Jodie herself, and begs to be let out. She goes into shock and the paramedics arrive to take her away; on the way to the hospital, Lisa tells Kathy that she had seen Jodie.
George's behavior towards Kathy and her children becomes abusive and the paranormal activity continues. Kathy asks priest Father Callaway (Philip Baker Hall) to bless the house, as a protective measure to prevent any future paranormal incidents, but Father Callaway flees the house when he encounters such occurrences himself. Kathy discovers that the house once belonged to a cult preacher named Reverend Jeremiah Ketcham, whose evil actions towards Native Americans during his "mission" in 17th century Amityville are said to be the cause of the haunting at 112 Ocean Avenue. Meanwhile, George, as he is walking through the basement of the house, encounters the apparitions of the various Indians who were tortured and killed there by Ketcham centuries ago. Entering a dimly-lit room, George encounters Ketcham himself (though he is not aware of who he is), and the ghostly figure of the evil missionary turns around, picks up a knife, and slits his throat in an act of recreating his suicide, covering George with blood, and causing him to become nearly completely possessed.
Kathy becomes convinced that George's abusive behavior is owed to a spiritual possession. Following urgent advice from Father Callaway, Kathy tries to evacuate her children from the house and escort them to safety, but the possessed George attempts to kill her and the children; Kathy knocks him out to prevent him from doing so and transports him away from the residence. Subsequently, George is released from the spirit's control and the family permanently leaves the house. A title card states that the family left within 28 days of arriving and never returned. Jodie is shown standing in the now empty house and screaming in terror while the house rearranges itself. Subsequently, she is pulled beneath the floor by a pair of disembodied hands.

Tags: insanity, horror, murder

Review:
But all in all, a decent effort, just like i said.HOWEVER.If you're going into this expecting any resemblance WHATSOEVER to the book, the original film, or any of the stories told over the years, you're going to be severely disappointed.
Don't get me wrong, this is still effective, but if you're going to release a movie and promote it as "Based on the True Story" then you might wanna make sure that the movie at least RESEMBLES the original story.In fact, George Lutz is currently in litigation with MGM films over the content of the movie, claiming that it shows his family in a potentially damaging light.
A remake of the film by the same name from 1979, which was based on Jay Anson's book about a supposedly "true" haunting, Amityville Horror begins in familiar territory by showing us Ronald DeFeo, Jr.
A year later, newlyweds George (Ryan Reynolds) and Kathy Lutz (Melissa George), with three kids from her previous marriage in tow, buy the vacant house at a steal, although they hesitate a bit once they learn why it's so cheap.
The film recounts their very brief but tumultuous stay at the home the Lutz's believed would be their dream home, but which turned into a nightmare.After seeing the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), which had the same production team, principal scriptwriter and visual effects team, and which I loved--I gave it a 10--I was completely psyched for the Amityville Horror remake.
Even though Reynolds does a great job in his transformation as George Lutz (and the acting is superb all around), there was a sense of buildup in the original that this remake is missing.
In terms of cinematic legacy, the original "The Amityville Horror" managed to foreshadow both "The Shining" and "Poltergeist" while swiping a few nods from "The Exorcist." But time has not been kind to the hit 1979 horror film, once considered spooky but now considered at best a camp classic.The remake opens in the late 1970s, with George Lutz (Ryan Reynolds) and his new wife Kathy (Melissa George) getting what appears to be the deal of a lifetime.
It's not long before strange things start to happen with the new family as well.Chelsea (Chloë Grace Moretz) starts seeing the ghost of the previous little girl who occupied the house, Billy (Jesse James) and Michael (Jimmy Bennett) see supernatural activity while also being blamed for the trouble it causes, and George begins to go mad, taking increasingly drastic steps to maintain order and discipline the children.
It's not long before Kathy begins to suspect that all is not right in their quaint little home."The Amityville Horror" is such a mediocre film, you can't help but wonder what was once considered so shocking about the original story.
It's just a shame there's never been a horror movie filmed in the house to do its spooky appearance justice.The other thing to note is that the remake still claims to be based on a true story, which is partially true.
The real life Lutz's account was eventually proved to be a hoax to cover up the fact that the family couldn't pay their mortgage, but not before the family made millions on everything from talk show appearances to the movie rights.The movie never really lets you into the horror that is occurring, and director Andrew Douglas does a very workman-like job directing the story, never really doing anything to interest us in the characters or situation.
As Kathy, George manages to be the emotional anchor holding the film together and does a good job, however her character puts up with far too much stress before she finally acts.
My advice: Don't see the 1979 version first, don't think about it too hard, pretend it's not based on the "true story", and just enjoy this great horror film.
5. When I left the movie did I feel like I had been part of it (ie Suspension of Disbelief)When I look at the Amityville Horror it scored highly in all of these categories, especially the last which in my opinion is the most important of the 5.
Since I saw it, I've been watching lots of horror movies, and so far, haven't found one that scared me as badly as "Signs." I saw the movies that people said were the scariest ever, like The Excorsist, Saw, and Scream, but I really found none of them scary.
The editors did work on films like Face/Off, True Romance and MI:II, which certainly helped a novice director (Andrew Douglas), whose only other film was a Southern-Christian documentary entitled 'Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus'.The film is not perfect - there are a few moments of tedium - namely when the characters - particularly Ryan Reynold's ever-darkening George - get repetitive, especially with the dialogue.
And the end drags a little as the family desperately try to escape the horror - no, I won't spoil it, but think to yourself when watching the film: why not just break the bloody window?
A family(Ryan Reynolds,Melissa George and sons)moves to Long Island where is purchased a Victorian home ,their house of dreams but they find only devilish horror.Longtime ago,there occurred a grisly mass killing based on an allegedly real life occurrence in Amityville.
And now a possessed father is plunged by demonic forces into supernatural attitude driving him to mistreat and beat the kiddies.He is attempting to find out the bottom of events by ways of the cellar.Meanwhile a exorcist(Philip Baker Hall)tries praying to vanquish the malignant spirit.The film contains restless terror and great loads of gore and blood and usual poltergeists phenomenon caused by the curse as pipes and wall ooze stuff,flies swarm,doors suddenly slam ;it is recreated with high grade special effects which are frightening and horrifying the spectator.It's actually halfway decent terror movie that will like to ghostly and eerie occur fonds.
.Although this is a new version from previous film, it's one of the highest earning horror movie of the last years.The motion picture is well directed by Andrew Douglas.
By comparison, we've come along way since the days that the horror movie genre had to depend on sound tech for the scary effects of a film.
I have always been a little leery of movie remakes, especially when it comes to classic horror films, but since I did enjoy Michael Bay's remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (even with the story changes) I figured I'd give it a try.
This movie starts off good, and gets better.Well, I don't have much to say about this film, aside that from all points of view, it was just a fun little horror flick.
Ryan Reynolds is there show off his non-70's hair and impressive abs; his character is unlikable from the very start and almost IMMEDIATELY upon moving into the house begins to act like he's possessed.
All the while the family slowly begins to unravel and fall apart as the spirits of the previous tenants haunt and possess the current occupants.Throughout the movie there are a few scary scenes and creepy moments, but for the most part the remake of the 1979 classic is just silly.
Copious elements of Kubric's version of "The Shining" were added to complement an otherwise aimless and brain-dead retelling of the original Amityville story.Throughout the film, I wondered if this was not, primarily, a retelling of one of my favorite horror flicks, but instead a diatribe on the horrors of a bad marriage.
Soon, the family feels an eerie presence in the house and George Lutz (Ryan Reynolds) -- the new dad -- begins to change.The movie overall is a respectable one.
The mood is very nice, the New York Times rightfully called it "a modest improvement over the original", and I freely admit there were moments I was on edge thinking something nasty was going to come popping out, a feeling I very rarely have anymore after seeing so many "scary movies".
There's the ever so familiar haunted house, Dad losing his mind, heads shaking à la Jacob's Ladder, weird shadows moving fast and making insect sounds and the more than overused spooky little girl (really, having such a kid in another horror movie is idiotic and didn't even make much sense in this particular movie).
I went to see the movie to have a tense thriller shoved down my neck but this just stuck to instant shocks and loud music to scare you.I am not convinced about the characters and to be honest I am already struggling to remember who they were.All in all it was an OK film and if you are seeing it for the first time then you will enjoy it.
The longer they are in the house, the worse it gets, and everything comes to a climax on the 28th day.This was a movie remake that was pretty good.
I enjoyed it but I don't think it had enough originality to be remembered as a great horror film of the 21st century..
And excellent acting from Ryan Reynolds especially the way he changes from the beginning of the movie to the end.Certainly among the best horror films.
Even if you don't believe the story of George and Kathy Lutz, this is still a scary flick.And the fact remains, Ronald DeFaio did murder his 6 family members while they slept, because voices in the house told him to "catch em, Kill 'em," in this freaky house in 1974..Did the house become haunted after this tragedy?
However, I thought this was a solid horror film with a few good jump scares and a few inspired original sequences.
this is truly the scariest film I've ever watched, now that I'm home I can't remember exactly what it was that I was so scared of, but in the cinema it was a completely different story I was rooted to the back of my seat and sunk as low into it as possible as shock after shock hit the screen without warning.I can honestly say I have never been in a cinema where the audience have looked so shaken and been so quiet when getting up to leave after the film had ended.I think the scary element of the film is that horrors appear on screen with little or no warning from the actors, environment or the music and disappear as spontaneously as they arrived, I can guarantee that you WILL find this film satisfactory for money and you WILL be shaken by it..
Being a family friend, he comes to bless the house when he experiences the horror himself, being told to "GET OUT!!!" This occurs in the book as well and the 1979 original film in the factual order.
Change the tag line to "For God's Sake, Ryan Reynolds, Put A Goddamn Shirt On!" If you're a fan of the original, of horror movies, or just good movies in general, avoid "The Amityville Horror" remake at all costs..
The Amityville Horror, a film directed by Andrew Douglas, was released in 2005 starring Ryan Reynolds.
The Amityville Horror Based on a true storyDirector:Adrew Douglas Year:2005 Horror Characters: Ryan Reynolds....George Lutz Melissa George...Kathy Lutz Jesse James...Billy Lutz Chloe Moretz...Chealsea Lutz Rachel Nichols...Lisa Philip Barker Hall...Minister Callawaythe original movie ¨The Amityville Horror¨on 1979, Is considered as a classic horror film, I never liked so much,so that is way I will take the risk to say that ¨The Amityville Horror¨ on 2005 is better that the original one but not for this reason is a good movie.
The story is about a horrible murder that happened to the Defeo family, is they own child Ronald who killed their parents and siblings with a gun, with the reason that a voice told him to do it , few years after another family move in the same house that the tragedy happened, and between 28 days the start to felling a paranormal activity, threatening with repeat the history.The story that is the movie based on, is fascinating, and if the real factors of that maybe we will never know, is still a mystery, the Director do not care about the real factors he just wanted to make it interesting, making the story a paranormal movie, full of ghost, and family split.Adrew Douglas, decided to keep the steps of a typical horror movie frenetic edition, loud music rumbles, suspense, obviousness in all the movie, and everything that we already saw in many movies.This version of the movie is based in the family split than the paranormal activity, because at beginning we can see a lovely family, but when the move into that house that lovely family become in bitter family, maybe this movie is not so good, but I could be worst, I do not recommend this movie to children younger than 14 years old, because there are a lot of appearances, and many scary moments that will affect them, I give to this movie a 7 in a range of 1 to 10.I fell that I need to recommend you to see it because you will like, and the story is quite good..
Every scene is filled with something brilliant, you're getting a lot of shocks and the whole movie in itself takes you to a journey through a story, that is actually based on a true one.Usually, I don't quite like remakes of old movies, and The Amityville Horror is a remake of TAH from 1979 with James Brolin and Margot Kidder.
A classic haunted house yarn with solid performances from the cast - young and old, Amityville Horror (2005) is not a subtle, psychological horror but a balls-out, in-yer-face monster picture with the vengeful ghosts and demons appearing on screen from the moment the Lutz family arrive at their new home.Although it claims to be based on a true story no real attempt is made to keep the mayhem within the bounds of reality and George's rapid descent into insanity isn't so much an homage to Nicholson in The Shining as a parody.
Ryan Reynolds is superb as the troubled head of his step-family and while best known for his light-hearted roles shows here he can turn charm to menace at the flick of a switch.Amityville is the least well-respected of the clutch of iconic horrors from the 1970s and has spawned some truly awful sequels, but this remake does the story proud, reinventing it for a multiplex audience used to glamorous leads and stories told through OTT gore and special effects.There's nothing really original here and the 2005 film ticks all the boxes for haunted house clichés e.g. spooky faces at windows, erratic plumbing, moving furniture, clocks stopping etc but does it with a brazen panache and lack of pretencion that makes the film enjoyable for what it is..
I loved the fact that although this was a remake of classic film the actors especially Ryan Reynolds who adds a bit of comedy to whatever he does, didn't take anything to far which is a good thing considering this was a true story and over acting this could of led to trouble.
As they try to settle in weird things start happening to the father.This movie was not all bad I mean Ryan Reynolds did a surprisingly good job in this one definitely playing outside his comfort zone.
Ryan Reynolds, as George Lutz is first rate as you see his character progressively change and Melissa George is reliable as usual.It's an effective remake but you can't help but think they could have just made an original haunted house horror film with such clearly talented people..
Kathy: "Is this discipline or torture?" George: "I thought it was meatloaf." Based on one of the most fraudulent "true stories" in history, "The Amityville Horror" attempts to re-create and re-package a poorly aged film from 1979 of the same name, this time casting Ryan Reynolds ("Waiting," "Van Wilder") and Melissa George ("30 Days Of Nights") in the role of the Lutz family, who  despite receiving an education from their real estate agent  move their family into the very same home that Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his family in one year prior.
The house is hardly a dream come true, however, as George (Reynolds) goes from Mr. Nice Guy to stereotypical bad step-father in under a day while ghosts play with the children and terrorize a baby-sitter who was too old for the job anyway.Directed by Andrew Douglas and produced by Platinum Dunes ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (2003)), this re-telling is surprisingly close to that of the original, and doesn't stray much except in the fact that it's paced a little better.
which is the fate the previous family living in the house suffered.The only real truly convincing piece of horror with this film is that is is based on a true story.
Later they realized that the house is cursed and one of the family members is possessed by an evil spirit in their new home.Directed by Andrew Douglas made an faster paced and shorter somewhat punchier remake of the popular 1979 horror movie.
The original Amityville Horror was not very interesting movie with "Based of true events" note.
Remake of the 70's cult thriller is a solidly-done supernatural thriller and actually becomes a more effectively entertaining horror movie than the original film.Young couple moves their family into a Long Island house, where the family that lived there before was brutally murdered.
After you finish the movie you're safe in your home, everything's okay, and the scariness is over.All in all though the remake of the Amityville Horror is enjoyable.
A day at the time George (Ryan) getting meaner and darker, as of the previous owner that kill his entire family after moving into the house 28 days later.I have never seen the original or anything but I can say this, this movie is actually really fun to watch.
If you want to see a scary, haunted house movie, this one is very good.
And, if you've seen the original Amityville Horror (or read the book), you might find this movie strangely unfamiliar.