“The Amityville Horror” - Scarier than James Brolin

I don’t know if the story of what happened at the home in Amityville is true, but the book and the new movie (not the one from the 1970s with Brolin and Margot Kidder) are both really scary.

The story is this: There is a house in Amityville, New York where Ronald Defeo ended up hearing voices and murdering his parents and four siblings. One year later, George Lutz moves in with his wife, Kathy, and her three kids. Things start going crazy for George early. He can’t stay warm and he feels sick whenever he is in the house and tremendously better once outside. As the days pass, he becomes one mean S.O.B. to Kathy’s oldest kid, William, and soon enough he starts seeing things and hearing voices telling him to, “Catch ‘Em, Kill ‘Em.”

The cast of “The Amityville Horror” is very good. Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder) shows some dramatic chops as George but also uses his excellent comic timing to break the tension in the film. Melissa George (Alias) does a great job as Kathy, giving her appeal as both a damsel in distress and a heroine. The kids also give good performances with Chloe Moretz standing out as Chelsea Lutz. Chelsea has an imaginary friend named Jodie that we soon find out is the ghost of Jodie Defeo. Isabel Connor plays the ghost of Jodie and is very spooky. Much spookier than the flashing red eyes of the phantom pig from the orginal.

“The Amityville Horror” upgrades on the original in every respect. It is faster paced with genuine scares. The ghosts/demons are scary looking and director Andrew Douglas ratchets up the tension from the very beginning. As horror movies go, it isn’t a classic like “Halloween” but it is by far the best horror film of this year, so far.

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