The Amityville Horror

Directed by Andrew Douglas, The Amityville Horror follows George (Ryan Reynolds) and Kathy Lutz (Melissa George) as they and their three children move into a house where an entire family was massacred just a year earlier – with the narrative detailing the spooky happenings that inevitably ensue. Filmmaker Douglas, armed with Scott Kosar’s screenplay, delivers a watchable yet entirely disposable endeavor that’s rarely as creepy or suspenseful as Douglas has surely intended, and there’s little doubt, ultimately, that the movie’s passable feel is due mostly to a smattering of tense sequences, including a standout scene wherein the family babysitter (Rachel Nichols’ Lisa) is terrorized by the house, and the uniformly compelling performances – with, in terms of the latter, Reynolds’ impressively intense work as the progressively insane protagonist an obvious (and ongoing) highlight within the proceedings. It’s just as apparent, however, that the viewer’s tenuous enthusiasm for the material is tested rather substantially by a meandering second half riddled with sluggish, repetitive stretches, which, when coupled with a less-than-enthralling run-and-scream climax, ultimately does cement The Amityville Horror‘s place as a just-decent-enough remake that evaporates from one’s mind minutes after it’s concluded.

**1/2 out of ****