The Amityville Horror was much better than Boogeyman but still not the best this year. I enjoyed both The Ring Two and Cursed, among others, a little bit more. Don't get me wrong, Amityville had some genuinely creepy parts, along with some unintentionally funny ones.
George & Kathy Lutz (Ryan Reynolds & Melissa George) unexpectedly find their dream home at the deal-of-a-lifetime price. In fact, it seems to good to be true. George asks the realtor the catch. She exclaims that there were some murders in the house but that did not deter the Lutz's. Their reasoning being that it would be impossible for a house to cause people to kill.
Shortly after moving in, George experiences some strange developments in his health and attitude. Also, their daughter, Chelsea ( Chloë Grace Moretz), makes a new friend who her parents assume in imaginary. These are perhaps some of the creepiest parts of the movie, when the imaginary friend, Jodie (Isabel Conner), becomes visible to the audience and sometimes the cast. The scene with the insanely hot but pretty unlikeable babysitter, Lisa (Rachel Nichols), was pretty good.
The director, Andrew Douglas, did a good job by showing little differences in George's attitude and demeanor once he was out of the house. Ryan Reynolds also did a good job of portraying this to the audience. He has come a long way. Melissa George could also leave her mark in Hollywood if the right roles come along for her. I was pretty impressed by her performance almost as much as Ryan's.
While not the best of it's genre, The Amityville Horror has it's place amongst horror movies. It is worth seeing, as you can do much worse if you do not do your homework. 8/10
