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And the House Has a Ghost
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Monday, April 18, 2005
1:46:00 AM EDT
So, Saturday night rolls around and, spur of the moment thing, we're
holding a party. about a dozen people show up to cookout on the
grill (even though we never got it working and cooked inside, instead)
and drink. Someone noticed the Dance Dance Revolution pad stuffed
in the corner, so everyone wanted to play. I was amazed at how
bad everyone was. So I got to impress everyone with my average
skills, which was mindblowing to them, I guess. They were also
really impressed with the 1000 piece photomosaic puzzle I had put
together. I told them that if they knew any girls taht liked guys
with good puzzle skills, give me their numbers. Alas, I ended up
with no numbers. So, I had a better time than saturday, but
nothing fascinating. Today, I went to see a movie:
The Amityville Horror
* * 1/2
Hollywood has once again gone back into their vault and decided to remake an iconic horror film, hoping to revive a long dead franchise. Personally, since this "true story" has been exposed as a hoax, I think that story might be more interesting, but instead we get a retelling of The Amityville Horror courtesy director Andrew Douglas.
When George and Kathy Lutz (Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George) find their dream house in the quiet town of Amityville, they're shocked to find out that the large estate is well within their price range. George is a contractor, so he knows what a steal they are getting and asks the Realtor what the catch is. She pauses and apprehensively tells them that just one year prior, a young man went berserk and brutally murdered his whole family. "Yeah, but houses don't kill people," says an unfazed George, "people kill people." He's right, on a technicality: the house tends to make people kill other people.
So the happy Lutz family moves into the house and it quickly has an effect on them. George starts seeing disturbing images (including one that pops up during an intimate moment with his wife, which is quite the mood killer) and starts to get very irritable, especially around hisstepchildren. The youngest daughter befriends the ghost of a former occupant who uses her influence to force the daughter into some serious misbehaving. Once the boys learn of the house's history from their stoned babysitter ("I really suck at babysitting" she comments), the house goes all out in trying to rid itself of its occupants.
One of the main problems with the film is that there just isn't an antagonist to root against. The house is evil just because it's evil, and while there is a lame explanation tacked on, it still doesn't set up any villain that you hope will get defeated in the end. Despite this, the movie is still able to manage a few creepy scenes, especially one rooftop excursion that's sure to bring out the acrophobic in all of us.
One thing that the film has going for it is that it is rated R, so it's not watered down like so many of today's PG-13 horror movies. There are no awful performances, and Reynolds hits a stride after a while with his portrayal of the very stressed George. The production design is fine and it's not ever boring, but overall, one is left with underwhelming feeling. It's better than a lot of Hollywood's recent forays into horror, but if that's not damning the film with faint praise, I don't know what is.
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1:46:00 AM EDT
And the House Has a Ghost
The Amityville Horror
* * 1/2
Hollywood has once again gone back into their vault and decided to remake an iconic horror film, hoping to revive a long dead franchise. Personally, since this "true story" has been exposed as a hoax, I think that story might be more interesting, but instead we get a retelling of The Amityville Horror courtesy director Andrew Douglas.
When George and Kathy Lutz (Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George) find their dream house in the quiet town of Amityville, they're shocked to find out that the large estate is well within their price range. George is a contractor, so he knows what a steal they are getting and asks the Realtor what the catch is. She pauses and apprehensively tells them that just one year prior, a young man went berserk and brutally murdered his whole family. "Yeah, but houses don't kill people," says an unfazed George, "people kill people." He's right, on a technicality: the house tends to make people kill other people.
So the happy Lutz family moves into the house and it quickly has an effect on them. George starts seeing disturbing images (including one that pops up during an intimate moment with his wife, which is quite the mood killer) and starts to get very irritable, especially around hisstepchildren. The youngest daughter befriends the ghost of a former occupant who uses her influence to force the daughter into some serious misbehaving. Once the boys learn of the house's history from their stoned babysitter ("I really suck at babysitting" she comments), the house goes all out in trying to rid itself of its occupants.
One of the main problems with the film is that there just isn't an antagonist to root against. The house is evil just because it's evil, and while there is a lame explanation tacked on, it still doesn't set up any villain that you hope will get defeated in the end. Despite this, the movie is still able to manage a few creepy scenes, especially one rooftop excursion that's sure to bring out the acrophobic in all of us.
One thing that the film has going for it is that it is rated R, so it's not watered down like so many of today's PG-13 horror movies. There are no awful performances, and Reynolds hits a stride after a while with his portrayal of the very stressed George. The production design is fine and it's not ever boring, but overall, one is left with underwhelming feeling. It's better than a lot of Hollywood's recent forays into horror, but if that's not damning the film with faint praise, I don't know what is.
Written by nick2cool Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
4/18/05 2:00 AM