Terry's Reviews
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The
Amityville Horror MGM Home Video - 2005 Directed
by Andrew Douglas Starring |
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| In the
prologue, we see Ronald DeFeo Jr. character murder his family on a dark stormy night. This
is the horrifying event that soaks into a large house that looms next to a lake that will
be purchased by George & Kathy Lutz (Ryan Reynolds & Melissa George). The Lutz’s
couldn’t normally afford such a place on waterfront property but because of the
murders in the home, it’s going for much less it’s worth and the young couple
decides to take it. From this point forward the family lives through a supernatural ordeal
with the restless spirits that inhabit the home. Director Andrew Douglas brings style to the movie with active & atmospheric cinematography, furious editing and a good grip on the performers. Ryan Reynolds makes a solid impression as the father who dwindles into madness. Reynolds, who is normally a humorous actor, submerges into this serious performance as George Lutz and comes across as a caring, confused, frightened father/husband. There is no reason why Reynolds shouldn’t pursue more roles along this line. Melissa George makes less of an impression, while Jesse James, Jimmy Bennett and Chloe Moretz are very good as the Lutz children. Rachel Nichols is a bit over the top as the babysitter but her sexuality will satisfy the dog pound out there. Philip Baker Hall was a nice casting touch as Father Callaway. Steve Jablonsky (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE) creates another score full of frightening atmospheric ambience. His contribution is key in this film being scary. Ryan Reynolds, producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller provide Audio Commentary. Reynolds speaks with the self-defacing humor, so prevalent in his performances. Reynolds says that he played the film for drama, because he couldn’t play horror. He left that responsibility to Director Andrew Douglas. There are eight Deleted Scenes that come with optional commentary by Reynolds, Form and Fuller. It was nice seeing how scenes played out and directions that these scenes would have taken the film. The Source of Evil – This is 26-minute making-of featurette that details the production of the film. It’s done with clips from the film, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew. I particularly liked hearing what Director Andrew Douglas and Writer Scott Kosar had to say since they were not involved in the commentary. Supernatural Homicide is a 17-minute featurette examines the real 1974 DeFeo killings in Amityville. Using props and bits of footage made for the film along with interviews with the real former Chief of Police for Amityville, the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for Suffolk County and one of the original supernatural investigators Lorraine Warren talks about the case. Lorraine Warren is so over the top in her belief that the house was haunted that she really gave me a chuckle. On the Set Peeks is a cool feature that allows you to see behind the scenes of the filming of a scene. There are nine instances where the film stops and you take a behind-the-scenes peek. A real good idea is to watch the movie with audio commentary and enable this option at the same time. This way it doesn’t interrupt the flow of watching the movie and you get double the behind the scenes info at the same time. The Photo Gallery is divided into three parts. There is no doubt this remake of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR is a better movie than the original. The acting is more realistic and the direction much more stylish. |
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