The Amityville Horror (2005)

★ 6.1 1h 30m 2,336 votes IMDb

George Lutz, his wife Kathy, and their three children have just moved into a beautiful, and improbably cheap, Dutch colonial mansion nestled in the sleepy coastal town of Amityville, Long Island. However, their dream home is concealing a horrific past and soon each member of the Lutz family is plagued with increasingly strange and violent visions and impulses.

The Amityville Horror

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Cast

Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds as George Lutz Age 49 · Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, entrepreneur and film producer. Known for starring in comedicand superhero films, he was the world's second-highest-paid...
Melissa George
Melissa George as Kathy Lutz Age 49 · Perth, Western Australia, Australia Melissa Suzanne George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her ro...
Jesse James
Jesse James as Billy Lutz Age 36 · Palm Springs, California, USA Jesse James (born September 14, 1989) is an American actor. As a child actor, he had roles in a number of blockbuster movies - his best known roles are as Jason McIntyre in The Flyboys, Young Mark in...
Jimmy Bennett
Jimmy Bennett as Michael Lutz Age 30 · Seal Beach, California, USA James Michael "Jimmy" Bennett (born February 9, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as a child actor in Daddy Day Care, Hostage, Poseidon, and more recently in Orphan and as young Ja...
Chloë Grace Moretz
Chloë Grace Moretz as Chelsea Lutz Age 29 · Atlanta, Georgia, USA Chloë Grace Moretz is an American actress. She began acting as a child, with early roles in the supernatural horror film The Amityville Horror (2005), the drama series Desperate Housewives (2006–07),...
Rachel Nichols
Rachel Nichols as Lisa Age 46 · Augusta, Maine, USA Rachel Emily Nichols (born January 8, 1980 height 5' 10" (1,78 m) ) is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s. She...

Audience Reviews

Wuchak 7/10 May 16, 2021
_**Effective haunted house movie with Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George**_

A young couple with three children buys an old, large house on Long Island in 1975. The house has a diabolic history, but they purchase it anyway because it's such a great deal. Will they make it out alive?

I didn’t have high hopes for "The Amityville Horror" (2005) because I'm not a fan of haunted house movies and thus had not yet seen the original version. But I decided to give it a try due to Melissa George. The movie maintains a serious tone throughout and did not disappoint; it successfully piqued my interest in the whole Amityville Horror legend, which you can read about on the internet.

Some may accuse the film of ripping off aspects of "The Shining" (1980), but keep in mind that the original movie was released a year before "The Shining" while the books they were based on were both published in 1977. The difference is that “The Amityville Horror” was inspired by supposedly true events whereas Stephen King’s novel was purely fictional.

Of course this remake inspired me to see the classic version from 1979 with James Brolin and Margot Kidder. What I like about that one is that it takes its time to develop the characters in what is essentially a realistic drama topped off with creepy paranormal happenings. It addresses dark, ugly stuff but it actually has a warm heart (recall what George does in the final scene). This brisk 2005 remake is like the Reader’s Digest version, unsurprisingly upping the ante with the (clichéd) horror elements; it thankfully offers interesting details on the backstory of the house. I think they’re both worth checking out. If you prefer longer with more depth you’ll favor the original version whereas if you want something faster and more modern you’ll appreciate this one.

Melissa George is a gorgeous woman and I enjoy watching her. Also on hand on the feminine front is Rachel Nichols, who played Tamara in the 2011 redo of "Conan the Barbarian." Rachel plays a hippie chick babysitter and she's perfect for the role. The babysitter is haughty and scoffs at the diabolic history of the house but let's just say she leaves as a true believer. This was a great sequence that perked my interest at a time it needed it (as I was starting to get bored by that point). In any event, I had to reassess my appraisal of Ms. Nichols after seeing her in this film as she won my appreciation. Meanwhile Chloë Grace Moretz plays the little girl; she was only 7 when the film was shot.

Ryan Reynolds as the husband is fine, but he seems TOO in-shape for the role. However, I'm sure the ladies appreciate it.

The film runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot at Silver Lake and Salem, Wisconsin, with other parts filmed in the Chicago area of Illinois.

GRADE: B

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