A family is terrorized by demonic forces after moving into a home that was the site of a grisly mass-murder.
If you’re a Michael Bay Fan then I suggest you don’t read on.
Okay so I know Bay didn’t direct this but it was brought to us by his company “Platinum Dunes” who’s only purpose it seems is to ravage Horror history and make profit off of other peoples ideas.
Despite my personal feelings towards the company I hoped to be proven wrong and unfortunately I wasn’t, once again I was witnessing a remake that was completely lacking compared to the original.
It lacked the atmosphere, the tensity and paced storytelling of the original film and to be honest it was no surprise as Bay’s films always seem to be missing what I call the ‘soul’ of the film and it’s these elements that add to it, this is a perfect example of what I’m on about.
I don’t think anybody involved in this mess of a film did any research on the subject, book or film, and just went off what they remembered, exaggerations and jam packed with Horror cliches.
If you haven’t already seen this movie then I highly suggest you don’t, do yourself a favour and watch the original instead, it’s far more worthy of your time.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
James Van Der Beek turned down the role of George Lutz.
Ryan Reynolds chose not to become close with his “movie” children. He wasn’t mean or rude to them, just very distant. So distant in fact that the children often confided to those on the set that “Ryan doesn’t like us!” Ryan said that he didn’t want to “fall in love” with the kids. Ryan did this so that when “George Lutz” started changing, he’d have no trouble easing into the verbal and physical abuse.
Just before shooting started, the body of a fisherman who had been murdered washed up on the bank of the river right near the main house.
In the original script, the poster on Billy’s bedroom wall during the babysitter scene was of a different band. However, when the crew realized how long of a tongue actress Rachel Nichols (who played the babysitter) had, they decided to change it to a poster of the rock band KISS, because of band member Gene Simmons’ very long tongue.
Megan Fox auditioned for the role of Lisa the babysitter.
Ryan Reynolds wore special contact lenses in many scenes to make his eyes seem black with just a white ring around them.
Except for the attic windows and the vaguely Dutch Colonial style, the reproduction of the house does not resemble the actual house in Amityville as it was at the time the events were said to have taken place. Also, because of huge tourist interest in the house, the original house has been altered and is now less recognizable.
Melissa George stated in an interview that she had supernatural things happen to her onset during filming. She truly was living the horror, and what you see on film was actual fear on her part.
For the closet scene with the babysitter, the production crew had originally ordered in a rubber door. After shooting the scene a few times, they decided it didn’t look right, and they ultimately decided on using a real wooden door, so actress Rachel Nichols had to bang her hands on the door for two days straight while filming the scene.
This was the last picture Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) released as an independent company. On 8 April 2005, the studio was acquired by several companies, including Sony, in the middle of the promotion for this movie. Several other films, including Into the Blue (2005) and The Pink Panther (2006), were already produced and set for release by MGM at the time of the buyout, and were later released by Sony Pictures.
While the reproduction of the Amityville House’s famous exterior was constructed in Silver Lake, Wisconsin, many of the interiors were built on a temporary sound stage in an empty building located in a corporate park in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. The production company took out building permits in the village of Silver Lake, Wisconsin (in Kenosha County) and spent about $60,000 to adapt the historic Rustman House summer estate on the south shore of Silver Lake at Kenosha County Highways F and SA for its cinematic debut. (The Rustman fortune was earned in the Jefferson Ice company of Chicago in the harvesting and storage of ice from the wintertime lakes of Kenosha County and elsewhere, and shipping it to hotels for summertime usage and cooling before the advent of refrigeration.) The Rustman Estate consists of the “big” house. a smaller guest cottage, several farm buildings, two workers’ cottages, a boathouse, a one-lane bowling alley, and wide pastures, garden plots and wooded areas. The porch on the house itself faces west and winds three-quarters of the way around the first floor. Inside there is a smallish kitchen but a dining room that seats 18-20 guests, a large living room, billiard room, butler’s pantry, billiard room, and separate two-room maid’s quarters. On the grand staircase was a stained-glass window (now removed) featuring an Eve-like maiden offering the viewer and apple. Upstairs, a vast master suite has been created from some of the original five upstairs bedrooms, each with its own marble sink. The third floor is the attic with a turret room high above Silver Lake where Mrs. Rustman would sit and watch the ice-cutters. The Rustman House awaits its next occupants as it has been unoccupied for several years and remains protected by a chain-link fence and hidden security devices.
This movie was not screened for the critics.
Despite the fact that this was filmed in Super 35, “Filmed in Panavision” is listed in the end credits.
Samuel Bayer turned down the offer to direct.
Vinnie Pergola auditioned for the role of Billy Lutz.
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