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The Amityville Horror (2005 film)

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The Amityville Horror
Promotional Poster for The Amityville Horror
Directed byAndrew Douglas
Written byScott Kosar, Sandor Stern (screenplay)
Based on the novel by Jay Anson
Produced byMichael Bay, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller
StarringRyan Reynolds
Melissa George
and
Philip Baker Hall
CinematographyPeter Lyons Collister
Edited byRoger Barton, Christian Wagner
Music bySteve Jablonsky
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (USA)
20th Century Fox (France, UK, Germany, Australia)
Dimension Films (Italy, Spain, Argentina, Mexico)
Release dates
April 15, 2005
Running time
90 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18,000,000 (estimated)

The Amityville Horror is a 2005 horror film directed by Andrew Douglas for United Artists and Dimension Films. It is a remake of the original 1979 film version of the same name, which was based on Jay Anson's 1977 novel of the same name. The film is ostensibly inspired by a real life murder case from November 1974 in Long Island, New York, in which Ronald DeFeo, Jr. shot dead six members of his family.

Plot

George and Kathy Lutz (played by Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George), along with their three children, move into what they believe will be their dream home on Long Island, New York. The house had previously belonged to the DeFeo family, where Ronald DeFeo, Jr. had murdered his parents and siblings with a rifle a year earlier. DeFeo spent most of his time in the basement where later he claimed that he heard voices urging him to commit the crime. When the Lutzes move in, George frequently complains of the cold and starts spending large amounts of time in the basement.

Kathy's daughter begins acting strangely after developing a mysterious invisible friend with the same name as the murdered girl.

She attempts to jump off the roof and becomes inseparable from a toy that Kathy later learns was buried with the DeFeo girl. The priest comes to bless the house, and the holy water sizzles when it hits the walls, despite the fact that the movie is set in late autumn, and he is attacked by a hoard of flies.

Refrigerator magnets rearrange themselves to spell "Katchem and Kill 'Em". On a dare, the baby sitter enters the closet where the DeFeo girl was shot, and the DeFeo girl appears to her. The closet door locks itself, the walls begin to bleed and the ghostly appearance makes the baby sitter put her finger in the bullet hole in her head. The baby sitter is taken to the emergency room, severely traumatized.

After several other paranormal events, Kathy decides to research the history of her home in the library's public records. After searching for many hours, she finds records of an arrest of a mysterious cult preacher "Father Katchem" who tortured and killed Native Americans in the basement of his sanctuary. Upon encountering a picture of the sanctuary, she realizes that this is her house.

One is led to believe that the evil spirit of "Father Katchem" possessed George Lutz as a scene appears flashing between Kathy at the library and George chopping away at the basement wall. He climbs into the space behind the wall and sees numerous bodies murdered in grotesque ways and he sees "Father Katchem". Kathy rushes home, where George appears to definitely be possessed. After a game of cat and mouse, where they are nearly killed, Kathy and her children knock George out and escape with him on their boat. When they are away from the house, he is fine again.

As the film ends, Jody is seen standing in the house and screams as the house literally switches back to normal and Jody is pulled under the house.

Box office

The film grossed a total of $64.5 million in the United States, making it a box office success in view of the production budget of $18.5 million and the neutral critical responses to the film. The film grossed $109.5 million worldwide. The site Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 23 percent and an average rating of 4.2/10, stating that The Amityville Horror is a "so-so remake of a so-so original".[1]

Additional information

  • "Jodie DeFeo", who appears as a prominent character in the film, is a fictional character and was not one of the victims of the shootings by Ronald DeFeo, Jr. in November 1974. In the 1979 film version, "Jodie" is a demonic pig-like creature.
  • This was the last film marketed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer before its 2005 merger.
  • The house used as the Lutz home in the film was in Silver Lake, Wisconsin while other location work was shot in Antioch, Illinois.
  • Isabel Conner originally auditioned for the part of Chelsea Lutz, according to the DVD commentary. Conner ended up playing Jodie DeFeo and the role of Chelsea was given to Chloe Moretz.

Legal

  • The real life George Lutz denounced the 2005 version of the film as "drivel" and was suing the makers of the film at the time of his death in May 2006.[2]
  • William Weber, the defense lawyer for Ronald DeFeo at his trial in 1975, has since claimed that the story that inspired the original book was a hoax concocted between himself and the Lutz family (see The Amityville Horror for more details).

Main cast

See also

References

  1. ^ The Amityville Horror (2005) (2005)
  2. ^ Entertainment - Entertainment News, Music, Movies, TV Listings and more

External links

Template:Box Office Leaders USA

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