The Amityville Horror 2005

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The Amityville Horror ★★½ 2005 (R)

Revamp of the Amityville tale swaps the understated chills of the original 1979 film with faster editing, more gore, and lots of goth imagery. George and Kathy Lutz (Reynolds and George) learn the meaning of “buyer beware” when they move their family into a lakeside colonial home, a real bargain thanks to the house's history of bone-chilling mass murders. After a series of strange incidents and ghostly visitations, Kathy begins catching on, just in time to watch her husband start channeling Jack Nicholson in “The Shining.” The scares are familiar, but Douglas does an admirable job of creating a pervasively creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere throughout. 89m/C DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD . US Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, Jesse James, Jimmy Bennett, Rachel Nichols, Philip Baker Hall, Rich Komenich, Scott Kosar, Brendan Donaldson, Annabel Armour, Chloe Grace Moretz, Isabel Conner, Jose Taitano, David Gee, Danny McCarthy, Nancy Lollar; D: Andrew Douglas; C: Peter Lyons Collister; M: Steve Jablonsky.

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