Giving opinions for several years and showing like a fine vintage
Giving opinions for several years and showing like a fine vintage
Member since:11.07.2000
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All successful Horror films have always essentially followed the same template. You have a main character in peril and a nasty creature chasing them, bodies pile up along the way. But it's now getting quite hard to keep that method going with refreshing new ideas. So instead Hollywood is taking it's old movies and blowing the dust off them.
We've already seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre given a re-make, Dawn of the Dead was given a polish and next year sees films such as The Hills Have Eyes and When A Stranger Calls getting a revamp.
The Amityville Horror is another to get a bit of spit and polish to bring it to a newer generation. I have to confess I've never seen the original so I can't really compare the two. Needless to say this version has had some changes. The film is based on a true story where a young man murdered the rest of his family after believing them to be demons. A young family move into the house where the murders occurred and look forward to living a happy life in nice surroundings. But the house has an evil presence running through it. Slowly the families' life starts to unravel and the husband's insanity threatens to repeat the murderous occurrences of the previous occupants.
The Amityville Horror is pretty basic in it's story, you can't really say more than I've already said. Essentially it's a haunted house story with a few bumps and spooks along the way. I have to say I didn't find anything new in the film, it's all been seen before. But having said that it didn't really annoy me. It's just one of those films that is not bad, never terrible but just never reaches the heights of being a great film. The acting is fine although the parents are a little fresh faced to have three kids already. The scares aren't really shocking and nothing really makes the skin crawl. It's short and sweet, probably worth a rental.
-This Old House-
This is a recent film so as you'd expect the DVD presentation is quite peachy. The film has a nice look, it's not flashy and in your face. The DVD picture is crisp and clear with very little to moan about - if anything.
Sound wise the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is pretty punchy. The film uses scare sounds to make its audience jump. It doesn't really work in terms of the film but overall the soundtrack is very good through the entire film.
-More Scares-
Extras wise there is a nice package for the film. An audio commentary with Actor Ryan Reynolds and the producers accompany the film. The track's a bit sparse and really just comments on the action. There's nothing juicy or informative so probably best to leave it alone.
A collection of deleted scenes with commentary is also on show. There's some nice stuff here but all of it was cut to speed up the pace of the film.
'Source Of Evil' is a 25-minute making of which just passes the stage of being promotional fluff. There's a lot of talking head interviews but also some nice behind the scenes footage.
'Supernatural Homicide' is a decent little look at the real life story behind the basis for the film. There are interviews from people with varied opinions; it certainly makes a nice supplement.
Another feature gives you the chance to view behind the scenes footage at moments in the film. Personally I find these features a bit annoying as they ask you to go through the entire film again just for a few morsels.
Finally there's a nice little photo gallery.
-Finally-
The Amityville Horror was probably a movie that didn't need a re-make. But the film was made for under £20 million and made a generous profit. If you get a chance to see it then take a look. It's not incredibly scary but it passes the time on a rainy day.
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Production Year: 2002 - Horror - Director: Danny Boyle - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Cillian Murphy, Megan Burns, Noah Huntley, Christopher Eccleston, Marvin Campbell, Brendan Gleeson
Production Year: 1984 - Horror - Director: Joe Dante - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, Frances Lee McCain, Judge Reinhold, Corey Feldman
From Michael Bay, the producer of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, comes the true story of ... more
Amityville. In November 1974, a family of six was brutally murdered. Now, a year later, an unsuspecting young couple, George (Ryan Reynolds, Blade: Trinity, Van Wild...
angel01laura 15.08.2008 (18.09.2008)
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Review of The Amityville Horror (DVD)
![The Amityville Horror [2005]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/103182438.jpg "The Amityville Horror [2005]")
![The Amityville Horror [2005]-DVD](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/99711836.jpg "The Amityville Horror [2005]-DVD")
Jan 4th, 2006
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