Well this was a nice surprise. The Amityville Murders (made in 2018) offers nothing new in the franchise as far as I can tell. What it does do, is provide a cool story and an entertaining watch for the viewer. In fact if memory serves me right it is a re-telling of the story of the original DeFeo family that inhabited the house before the the family around whom the original film was based on.
THE PLOT
The DeFeo story, Im fairly sure was orginally told in the second film, which acted as a prequel to the first legendary movie. I’m not sure how close exactly this is to the real story of the DeFeo’s. Why retell the story again? I guess this one just has a modern edge of superior camera work and special effects. I guess to appeal to a new generation of horror fans. The story itself is based in 1974 and the film (despite being made recently) really has an authentic 70’s feel about it. Despite being a far from necessary re-telling of the story, this is pretty cool. As far as my hazy recollections of the original version goes, this is a pretty cool re-telling of the story.
Plot wise the story centres around an immigrant family (Italian I’m assuming) who’ve bought the famed house and moved in. The father runs a tight and violent ship. He is a hard man, whom deep down has his family’s best interest at heart but also has a huge mean streak. He has a subservient wife and a loser eldest son who is addicted to heroin. The children inadvertently awaken a presence in the house. Of course the entity(s) in the house flare up long standing tensions between the family members and shit goes south from there. This is a hard one to go into any detail with as it will basically ruin the viewing experience for those yet to watch it.
THE VERDICT
Over all this is a pretty subdued movie. A great watch, and a good story. It is also very well executed as far as a film like this will allow. I’d definitely recommend this film. It’s not an instant sugar hit of a film, but a decent way to spend an hour and a half. There’s no excessive gore or special effects. But definitely worth the time to watch.
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