**What is the BEST Haunted House movie?! ... COMMENT below and let me know!** Thanks Vessi for helping my feet stay warm and dry this season! Click here www.vessi.com/horrorhollinger and use my code HORRORHOLLINGER to get $25 off of your shoes & up to 30% off select Vessi Vault items!
That creepy distorted voice shrieking, "GET OOOOOOUUUUT!" absolutely terrified me when I first heard it. It's a great example of a non traditional "jumpscare". We're so unnerved by the soft whisper that when it turns into a demonic scream we're completely caught off guard.
@@tophers3756 Exactly. I was a little kid when I first saw it (so no real knowledge of audio recording or how it worked) so hearing that loud voice sounding like some unholy distortion freaked me out. It was simple but effective.
That's the scene that always pops in my mind when this movie comes up. It's the one that stuck with me. Even more so than the ending bit where they break down the wall into hell or something.
My priest grew up two streets down from the Amityville house, and she said the biggest proof that the house is haunted is that it's a big house in New York listed for $200,000 less than it should be.
Pretty much. I know several fellow Millennials that made a "probably haunted" pile when they went house shopping. Honestly, if you buy a house for low enough, you should have the damn thing exorcised before you move in.
I have a version of this next-door to my parents. The house is a manor, atop a hill, with a garden that rolls down to the gates by the road. The back stretches into the woods, and encompasses a fair bit of them (I know the place, it's easy to get lost in there, several kids have during playdates, all were found). The occupants: A very old man married a second time with a woman several decades younger (nearly four). They had two kids. The man is a grumpy old doctor that hasn't died yet out of sheer stubbornness. The wife was always odd in her behaviour around other people, we eventually learned that she was a schizophrenic that occasionally was overwhelmed by paranoia. The kids were always hard to deal with. Misfits, troublemakers, never really adapted to school, no kids ever returned for a second playdate. The mother took her own life one afternoon while she was alone in the house, with a single gunshot. The daughter found her, and the father charged her with distracting and lying to her brother while the police removed the body. The kids have since spiralled out of control. The boy shot two dogs, and then took the gun to school (yes, the gun his mother used). Their father is an elderly man that is hardly ever seen, but that shows up waving the gun his wife killed herself with whenever someone dares step into the property to check on him. The house has been for sale for a few years now, as the place is too big for the family, well bellow the average price of housing there, yet no one wants it. People don't want houses others have died in.
@@pipitameruje This is incredible. It’s the kind of anecdote that would be part of an old but probably really good horror/mystery book as an example of old houses for sale (exactly as it’s being used rn). It kinda baffles that, if it were not for the internet, I would never have gotten to know it. Thank you for sharing it and I hope that the family has hopefully taken a turn for the better!
Oh, the house is listed low because it's haunted, for sure. It's just not haunted by the dead. People cycle through because crazies keep trespassing on the property and generally create an unlivable situation.
@@thescarecrowcat it may seem like it but to a RU-vidrs fans base they seem to take accents as a lovable perk which is endearing. Makes the RU-vidrs stand out, and people seem to enjoy the accent
- The biggest trope is the house being built... - No... - On top of a... - Don't do this, Ryan. - Native American burial ground. - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I watched the original when I was about seven (my mom never paid any attention to the movies I picked out at Blockbuster), and the VHS was damaged and nothing but static after the 'get out' scene, which honestly scared me a lot more than I think watching the rest of the movie would have.
There's a documentary called "My Amityville Horror" that's interviews and discussions with the oldest Lutz child (Michael or Ronnie, I can't remember) where he not only paints George as an incredibly abusive asshole who made up a lot of the story for the money, but was also deep into occult shit and was the source of the supernatural events that had multiple witnesses. Definitely worth a watch- it puts the character of movie George into serious perspective in both films. The occult stuff is iffy at best, but I would absolutely believe George Lutz was abusive. There are statements from the kids, from his employees, and people who knew him about his anger issues and violent outbursts.
I came here to say this! Well done. Did you think the only loving and genuinely affectionate interaction he had on that doc was with Lorraine Warren? I think his whole demeanor changed around her, and she was very loving towards him, like she really knew what happened with George and loved him.
@@angelmiller3331 Absolutely. He hated George, and had a lot of hate for his mother for staying in such an abusive situation too. I think Lorraine was the first person in a while to show those kids care and compassion and he held onto that.
I live not far from the house, first time I ever drove past it was by accident, I got turned around and drove down a random residential street and it was right there. It's at a stop sign so it's actually hard to miss. It's a nice house right on the South Shore but it goes up for sale every few years way undervalue because none of the owners want to deal with all the weirdos who still show up there.
Can’t say I blame those who’ve had to own the house after the book and films have come out. Probably if a “No Trespassing” sign was put up, plenty of weirdos would ignore it
@@LucyLioness100 that’s a good point, the public may actually be the problem at this point 😬 I don’t believe in the supernatural and think it is a gorgeous home, but all the uninvited guests would get old fast.
Surprised Ryan hasn’t covered this one yet. I believe the Lutz’s story is complete bunk, this movie is still pretty creepy mainly thanks to the direction, set pieces, Lalo Schiffrin’s score & James Brolin’s manic performance. Thanks for this, Ryan!
For me it was those windows and yes that music theme, still is so creepy but gets the audiences attention. This sure was a classic-fiction or not I loved it.😀😍
The financial nightmare aspect isn't unique to 'Amityville' and 'The Shining'; the 70s was THE decade for haunted house fiction to explore that concept, starting with 'Burnt Offerings' by Robert Marrasco which itself was adapted into a movie starring Oliver Reed and, I believe, Karen Black. It's also a big reason why so many are sceptical about the Lutz's story; it was straight from the New York Times bestsellers list.
Actually, Ryan Reynolds’s performance kinda mirrors the behavior of an ex step father I had who was just as emotionally and physically abusive. Creeps me the f out to be honest.
Yeah, I had an abusive stepfather and his performance was brilliantly done. The way he LOOKS at them... my ex stepfather would get that same look in his eye before he hurt me.
I saw that version of Amityville when I was like 8 and I never could take that impression of Ryan Reynolds, it was such a good performance that I really thought he was a real bad guy in person 🤣🥴 very disturbing film & story
@@briandavid7849 It's actually a great way to learn about a genre that creeps/grosses me out too much to watch, but has some good storytelling. Horror films often break the Hero's Arc structure that you get in most fiction, so they have some lessons and ideas that are useful to me when I write fiction myself.
@@briandavid7849 it depends on what you think the point is. For most people, the point of horror is catharsis; the feeling of fear in a way that doesn’t hurt you. I don’t get catharsis, I just get nightmares. But I also write comedy, and comedy and horror are very closely related- similar tropes, similar set-ups, similar disparagement by academia in lacking any substance even though it’s not true. I enjoy the history of horror cinema, of how horror is used to play with cultural fears and mores, and how it’s evolved. So a horror movie gives nothing except sleeplessness, while a horror analysis gives me what I’m actually looking for.
@@theloverlyladylo9158 I never thought of it like that. But still these type of videos are no replacement for the actual films. If it gives you nightmares than good that means its effective horror. I do agree horror and comedy are closely related given how much horror comedy we've had over the years.
In my opinion, the whole franchise is a good example of "subpar product that influenced a whole genre to make it a little better" sort of thing. Cause I didn't really enjoy any of the Amityville movies, but I can see the sheer ripple effect they had (your Amityville to Poltergeist connection is a perf example).
Personally, I can understand your dislike for Ryan Reynolds' "slapstick Deadpool meta-comedic movie" personality, as I sometimes feel its a bit draining. But my empathy for him comes from the fact that he had to craft that personality to break ground in Hollywood due to his almost 20 year dry stint in getting good movie roles. It sort of like how some actors move into or stay within the action-movie genre because they struggle to find movie roles that generates enough pay or allow for them to develop their acting talents to take on more nuanced roles
He does mention he can't stand the personality specifically at least. He doesn't really attempt to say anything about the real person behind the personality, because he's intelligent enough to know that he, like everyone else except those who are very personally in contact with him and himself, doesn't actually know what he's like in real life. The only thing we know he definitively believes about Ryan is that his personality when he knows the cameras are rolling is different from his personality when he's not. It's also implied he doesn't really care for anyone who fakes their personality. My thing is, everyone kind of does, in a manner of speaking. r rather, we all do have different sides of ourselves that show based on what we're dealing with and how familiar we are with that. In that regard, I'd argue that every role an actor sets up for, and every part of themselves they exaggerate for the sake of appearances does become a part of them. In other words, you can't truly devote yourself to a roll without, from some angles, making that role a part of you. Not a permanent part, but, for a while, the role you were playing was who you were. You turned it on and off, but you can't have so much time in a certain headspace without having some residual effects. Yes, you turn it off and on on a dime, but we all have that ability. We all do it quite naturally so long as we're in situations we adjust ourselves to. Situations that automatically put us in a certain headspace, or make us want to put up a certain front. Even if it is completely faked, the fact that you're willing to put up a front does say something about you. And the experience that comes with putting that front does change you in some respects. Additionally, your reasoning, how that develops, and what front you decide to put up all make a big part of who you are.
@@jacoblineberry1788 Definitely true! Social masking is definitely a big thing a lot of us do! Though I wouldn't say that it's something that speaks much about how a person's character is, rather it's just something very human that we have and that we sometimes socially mask ourselves, even if we don't always realize we do. This is just my speculation so it might need to be taken with a grain of salt, but some of it might just be due to how we've evolved as a social species and for survival (such as how a lot of people treat their friends might be different than how they treat their parents, and even among different friend circles some of them might be addressed depending on how their interactions are like).
Surprised that Ryan didn't mention how the remake *also* starred the future Jess from Christopher Smith's Triangle (2009), Melissa George, & a pint-sized Chloe Grace Moretz. 😉
You really highlighted something that's always bothered me about these kinds of stories. Horror movies about 'real' stories need to walk a thin line, and I think that sadly a lot of the newer ones (especially those centering on the Warrens) just... don't. They step fully into "Yep gramgram was a satanic witch sadist! This is a true fact which is true" and that just feels very, very, very greasy to me.
I have never gotten into the Conjuring stuff; those movies just aren’t my thing in general, but having read enough about what kind of people the real Warrens were (frauds for sure IMO) it makes it less interesting. No offense to those who like the movies, but just no thanks
100% agree. if you can look past the presence of the Warrens, the Conjuring movies are pretty fun. Good schlocky horror fun. Great introductory material to the genre. Not too deep, but not incredibly shallow either. There's enough meat to chew on, so to speak. But the involvement of the Warrens really sours what could have otherwise been a very solid series, and it makes my skin crawl especially because the actors who play them are quite talented and are wasted on such deleterious frauds.
Thats because the Warren's were religious fanatics and all their investigations were done through their catholic beliefs, so they saw Satan and demons in everything. And back then, paranormal investigators weren't easy to find. They are one of the biggest reasons the Amityville story is so tainted.
The conjuring 2 is totally fictitious by the warrens presence alone. Maurice grosse and Guy Lyon playfair were the investigators in the case and they brought in hundreds of experts from outside paranormal investigation going so far as to bring a magician, ventriloquist and speech therapist in. The warrens rocked up a few days after all the phenomena had stopped and the investigators had left. Ed pretty much turned up and said it was a demon but the good news was that they could make money from it. It didn't go down well and they were promptly and rudely told to leave. The warrens then took it upon themselves to claim that they were heavily involved for the buckeroos.
I really liked Ryan Reynalds in TAH. That was the first time I saw him play a more serious role and I thought he did great & it was a pretty good movie overall
Same. Really glad i saw that earlier than i did deadpool. Actually I think the reboot of Amityville Horror is the first Ryan Reynolds movie i ever saw besides Smokin Aces which im glad of since both of those are ones where he plays a more serious character and it let me know he was a good actor and then i started watching his other films and i still like eveything he is in but I enjoy and prefer his more serious roles
This was a great video! I've always, personally, interpreted The Amityville Horror, as a commentary on cycles of violence within the home. More specifically, domestic abuse. George's escalating violence mimics the progression of domestic abuse into full-on domestic violence. The strong feeling that something is not quite right about the home is a common observation that comes up in bystanders observations when it eventually comes out that DV has been present. Even the way her Aunt flees the home and the church's inability to intervene could be interpreted as our society not truly understanding how to offer help. Not an excuse for the Indian burial ground nonsense but, I suppose you could even read that as an allegory for the way that violence spreads through generations. Past abuse so often creates new abusers who then go on to abuse others. Still a shitty and explotive plot device though. Of course, as a survivor of DV, it could be that my reading of the film is heavily influenced by the experience that I went thru.
If the indian burial ground backstory was removed, I'd like to interpret that the negative energy as a result of the murders is what caused the creation of the demonic activity. Not so much that it's the ghosts of the victims of the murders or that the demons were always there, but that a single horrific event and the fear as a result of it are powerful enough to create these entities.
@@troin3925 Yes, it's honestly kinda rude to be claiming that tortured souls of Indigenous peoples are to blame for the "evil". Such a lazy way to tie in the supernatural. Maybe it's white guilt coming through. Either way, the "burial ground" trope is a load of shit and just makes Indigenous people sound like they're from the past, or have no actual agency.
Growing up in the 1970s, there was this constant background noise of paranormal events as 'true stories'. The Amityville House, The Bermuda Triangle, Bigfoot, UFOs... as a kid with a fascination for this kind of stuff, I was constantly hearing that stuff was 'Based on a true story'. The whole thing came together in the TV series 'In Search Of...' hosted by Leonard Nimoy. The original stuff may not hold up as terrifying today, but like I said, that constant background hum where this was all presented in the same way as Disney Wildlife Documentaries, Jacques Cousteau shorts or National Geographic Specials gave the whole thing an eerie tone which married this constant sense of something out of the corner of your eye to this kind of mundane, day-to-day ordinariness.
@@neuralmute Yes, i think over the years i read it 3 or 4 times. I watched the documentary from 2012 called My Amityville Horror and i have to recommend it, Daniel Lutz is very honest about what he recalled and it was so interesting.
@@shafali1972 That would be interesting to see, to revisit the case from a distance of decades, and with the knowledge that the Warrens were absolute frauds who messed up whatever the true story might have really been. A part of me really misses the innocence of those times, when we believed that anything could be possible, when my childhood imaginary friend was the Loch Ness Monster, (which I steadfastly believed in!), any abandoned house was probably haunted, and there could be a UFO hiding behind every cloud at night.
They used to play "In Search of..." on the History Channel in the very late 90s-early 2000s and that show was so great! I don't believe in that stuff, but the show was interesting and Leonard Nimoy was a great host.
My Aunt actually lived next door to this house and met the Lutzs. She says they lived in the house for like a month and left. They weren't panicked or scared when they left, they just moved. My Aunt also said she never saw anything even remotely spooky ever happening.
Sounds like she verifies what subsequent owners have said: no spooky happenings. Everyone believes differently in these matters, but my opinion is the Lutzes made it all up
It’s a sensitive subject, for sure, to develop a story around a real life tragedy like what happened to the Defeo family. I REALLY enjoyed this video, but I’d like to raise my hand and note that while some of the Lutz family members (the son, I think) still claim truth to the haunting, for the most part it’s been discredited. So, I’ve always seen the original as attempting to carefully sensationalize a story believed to be true, while the remake tackles the same story from a lack of belief that the Lutz’ story happened. To be sure, the DeFeo murder aspect is handled poorly, but if the remake is admitting to telling a fictional story that capitalized on this, wrongly, in the first place, the remake may have more merit than at first glance.
I love Ryan Reynolds! People don't give him enough credit for being a more versatile actor. Although I do love the Deadpool films, I can understand the consensus that he most of the time plays the same comedic character. I wish that he expanded his filmography with these kind of stronger roles. On a different topic, why do they always have to kill the family pet or pets? The original one at least didn't do that.
Broadly, in terms of narrative there are two reasons to kill the pet. 1. the Pet can disrupt the plot. in a film where a dog can tell something is wrong, for example, killing the dog can allow the antagonist to make better plays later in the film. this isnt always necessary (see the british film Creep, not the Mark Duplass one), but it can really set up more dangerous situations later, especially in haunting films. 2. Kick the Dog. the other broad use is straight up to demoralize the audience and hurt their feelings. a good example of this is The Babadook, which is trying to communicate with us the helplessness of its child character and the threat his mother presents as directly and explicitly as possible, but they cant have her literally kill him. She kills the dog instead and it really sucks, but it also kind of makes sense. In the Babadook, the mother is dealing with the complex grief of being a single mother whose partner died in a crash before the child was born. she blames him for her partner's death to an extent, and the emotions being dealt with are tremendously difficult ones. not every parent who has to deal with a situation like that does it very well, and unfortunately in The Babadook, it afflicts the dog. we can say that these are films and that the writer/director could always just not let the dog get hurt, but dogs having plot armor would also break parsimony in a lot of films so I end up finding it a case by case basis. =/
Goodness, I feel you on the killing the family pet thing. It gets so frustrating sometimes having to constantly be vigilant about movies or other media I consume because it's such a common story element. I can't personally handle it, no matter the reasoning narrative or storywise orz It's part of why I don't really seek out horror movies anymore and content myself just with hearing people talk about them instead.
The Haunting is a stunning piece of work imo. Nowadays some may call it overly slow, but the atmosphere it creates is superb. In fact back in the day It's one of the few films that actually unnerved me. Ad to the fact It's all about what you hear, rather then what you see, makes the whole thing even more impressive
Casting Someone like Ryan Reynolds in a role like this can make the character loads more scary...if they can pull it off. And I think Reynolds more than pulls it off. When you see the typecast funny-man on screen, even if you can suspend your preconceptions, there's always a subconscious expectation there. When you get a performance like this, that dissonance elevates the horror in a special way.
@@MorosSilverwing omfg I love that one its so fucking campy. My cousins and I used ti tease each other about the lamp and said we were going to get one and set it up in their room in the middle of the night so they wake up terrified.
I've only watched the original once because it genuinely scared me so much. Admittedly I was probably too young to watch it, but the "Get Out" shout and the glowing eyes in the window are two things that have genuinely stuck with me since then
This movie scared me sooo much as a kid!! When the ghost says "GET OUT" I must've thought he was talking to me because I ran as fast as I could away from the tv and cried 😂😂
I'm so glad you brought up the score for the original! My dad has never really been afraid of horror movies before but when discussing the horror movie moments that scare us the most, he always talks about the score for TAH and how as soon as he heard it, he shut the movie off because it freaked him out so much!
I don't think any other horror movie has had such an impact on pop culture like this one has had. I mean, there are stories out nearly every year about the house being up for sale. Would you buy it?
Yeah! I mean it's a terrible tragedy what the guy did to his family and at first it might be strange but I can't say I believe in any of the supernatural stuff, I want to, but it's so much more likely that the guy was sick in the head and...yeah. but yes, I'd buy it if I could and yeah id even live there
That’s because owners are constantly complaining about weirdos. Some have had to call the police because people went into their backyard to perform séances in the middle of the night. And there’s constantly people who drive by to take pictures of the house and stand around outside of it to look in the windows
Speaking of hoyses that have eyes, both Amityville and the Overlook, as well as several other hoyses with eyes owe everything to the Hoyse of Usher, the father of all vampiric hoyses. I've always interpreted the Hoyse of Usher as a vampire feeding on the Usher family, and was pleasantly surprise when one of my undergraduation professors published an article to that effect. Don't be offended, please, Rayan, I'm not making fun of you, but now it's too late, I'm addicted to hoyever and all its derivations.
Since you asked for comments... Stephen King's thoughts on this movie come from Danse Macabre - an incredible book on horror fiction over the decades, if you've not read it. He also pointed out how, in his experience, this movie tended more towards a middle aged audience, which he thinks explains it's success. The other thing is that both sons - Christopher and Daniel - have come forward on this topic. Both of them claim that George Lutz was into the supernatural and possibly even black magic. Even the children's cousin says George Lutz was scary.
This is one of a handful of horror movies I’ve actually watched before you made a video on it. While I wasn’t terrified watching I was unnerved in ways I can’t really articulate other than Brolins acting triggering my flight response because of abuse trauma.
Not gonna lie, the demonic "GET OUT" scared the shit out of me when I watched this for the first time, like, 20 years ago. Hell, it still manages to give me chills. I don't remember much else about the movie, but that moment's stuck with me.
I appreciate your take on this one. Discussions around this film normally turn into discussions about the hoax so it's nice too see a proper analysis of the story of the film. I'll admit I enjoy the remake but mostly because of the performances by Reynolds and the kids. The original is one that I watched late at night on cable at an age I wasn't supposed to and it made quite the impression, although the last act does indeed resolved quite easily which helped since I didn't end up as scared as with other films.
Speaking about the remake… It was (a long with Smokin’ Aces) one of the first Reynolds movies I watched so I always thought he was a dramatic actor, & the youngest Lutz daughter is played by Chloe Grace Moretz, in her First horror remake
Ryan Reynolds is actually a much better actor then people give him credit for. I really was not too keen on the remake of The Amittyville Horror, but i did think he did a really good job at playing George Lutz. Check out the black comedy/horror movie The Voices that he made a while back if you haven't seen it already. It's a strange movie, quite disturbing to watch at times, but there's also a lot of dark humour in the movie that had me laughing out loud, plus Ryan Reynold's performance is really good.
@@Malum09 -Glad you enjoyed it. And yeah I agree he was so good in that movie. He did such a good job at making you feel really disturbed by his characters actions, yet still managed to make you feel a lot of empathy for the character. The only other person I've seen pull that off with that kind of character was Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates.
This movie freaked me out so badly when I was little, mostly because my dad looked a lot like James Brolin back in the day. If I'd ever woken up to find him chopping wood at 3 in the morning, I would've crapped my pants.
My wife and I went to a theater this Halloween that had a live version of Rifftrax spoofing Amityville Horror 4. By that point the evil of the house is consolidated into a lamp and moved to California. They played a Satan-possessed lamp as 100% serious. We had a blast.
The original Amityville movie is still to this day one of my favorite horror movie of all time. The house just has a presence to it I've rarely seen. Just one look at it and you can tell that's an evil freaking house. I also liked it wasn't too exploitative of the actual murders. Just enough to foreshadow the danger the characters are going to be and put a sense of dread and waiting for the rest of the movie.
I personally enjoy Ryan Reynolds' current public persona, but it's just like ice cream or toppings on pizza, I might like it, but other people can't stand it. I feel the same way about other celebrity personalities grinding my nerves too.
Hating on Ryan Reynold’s personality is a…bold…choice. Having seen just regular interactions with him, I’m not sure it is a fake personality. Dude seems legitimately nice, witty, and snarky.
For me, personally... I just think he's annoying regardless of whether or not it's genuine. Lol Every time a Mint Mobile commercial comes on my brain is screaming "SHUT UP, BRAND". I'm torn because while I've been a Deadpool fan since 2008 and think Reynolds does he role justice... There are things about him as actor/celebrity that I cannot stand thus I've not see either of the DP movies and keep my attachment to the character based strictly on comics and games.
Uhhh.... Long time lurker, first time commenter. Thanks for your hard work making these videos... this one was great, as always! Thanks for doin' what you do and bein' you!
Rather than talk about the movies, I'm gonna mention the Simpsons parody in the first Treehouse of Horror 'cause, man, did that both spook and delight me when I was a kid!
I say this over and over but honestly your content is so great and I thoroughly enjoy it all. You’ve helped me increase and understand my own personal feelings on so so many films. I know you worry sometimes on sharing your thoughts on films (especially big name ones) but I’m very glad you do!
Yaaayy new content! I don't remember seeing the Reynolds remake, but the original was a cool retelling of the family violence that actually happened. I'm glad the 79 film was more tasteful to the family
I'm usually never scared by horror movies and they are my beloved genre of choice. But the voice that tells the Priest to "get out" creeps me out every god damn time. Does someone feel the same?
The one scene in the movie that always made me laugh was when the Aunt(the Nun) comes to visit and then has to leave, when she pulls her car over to puke, the sound of her getting sick is so over the top it always just made me laugh. 🤣
The best content on RU-vid is Horror adjacent. I'm a mum now, much easier to sneak a new Ryan Hollinger than the latest remake of a horror I watched 20 years ago.
I will disagree with you on one thing here and it’s that I feel like the big anxiety climax at the end is when George goes back in the house for the dog while Margot Kidder screams bloody murder in the background. I always thought that moment was super effective. But one of my favorite haunted house movies that I feel like never gets enough love is The Haunting (1963).
See, and I'd say that the biggest anxiety climax is when the family is descending the stairwell just after the red room explodes, and an unseen force is chasing them from the same room as the flies. That moment has always been left for me to wonder about - forget the blood, or the pig - what the hell was chasing them that Kathy felt the need to point off screen as they were trying to break down the front door?
@@nicholasandrade363 I get that. I will say it’s been a super long time since I’ve seen the movie so I don’t remember everything and the part that stuck with me was him going back in the house. But that whole ending is filled with tense moments like you described so just depends of what lands with some people.
never saw the original but growing up, the remake was around often. reynold’s performance in it is so creepy. how he goes from alright to downright mad and psychotic. unsettling. still one of my faves.
I remember laughing uncontrollably at the 2005 version, with the more over the top scenes. Also Jodi being a creepy kid ghost is pig shit not horse shit.
I live the next town over from Amityville. One of my best friends lives a block away from the real house. Nobody around here really believes the Lutz family's story. Most of the Americans crazy about it live nowhere near Long Island. The gun DeFeo used to kill his family is currently in the Suffolk County police museum, which raises some disturbing questions about local law enforcement in my opinion. Long Islanders are still waiting for a Sweet Hollow movie
The true crime parts are usually WAY more interesting 😉 whether Dawn (the sister in question) actually assisted Ronald Jr will forever be debated but is an interesting theory
Fantastic review over the movie Ryan! This movie still remains to me as one of my top creepy movies even as an adult, it’s use of some gritty scenery like the fly scene with the priest still makes my skin crawl. I definitely recommend this one for all who enjoy some horror without the need of mindless gore.
The pig in the window always creeped the heck out of me, especially since the dad was heading back into the house. just the idea that it was in there with him... really unsettling
I wasn't the biggest fan of The Amityville Horror, having just watched it for the first time this past October, because I felt it was overlong and the pacing was off, not to mention the embellishment and fabrication of the actual story, but in retrospect, some of the effects were cool. The Exorcist's portrayal and characterization of priests is leagues better than Amityville.
Ryan you should make an episode of Marianne the french horror tv show. Its not perfect but its been a while I was scared this much. Personally few scenes really pushed my buttons.
I read the book in high school, and it was one of the few novels that genuinely kept me up at night. The demon pig and Jodi were so unnerving that even just their mention amps up the tension to absurd degrees.
One of the things that stands out to me about this movie is that SPOILERS the dad runs back in the house, reluctantly, to save the dog when he and the family were already driving halfway down the driveway.
My mom used to drive by the amity house on her way to school. She said it was pretty creepy and her and all her classmates would always get quiet when they passed it.
I can agree with you 100% on the movie, but not on the Ryan Reynolds Deadpool thing. That has nothing to do with the actor or Hollywood itself. You just dont seem to like Deadpool as a character then. Because Ryan Reynolds is literally the perfect almost living incarnation of the Deadpool character. Deadpool to me is one if not the most interesting Marvel character out there because of his selfawareness. He knows that he can not die and he plays with it whereas in every other Marvel plot they try to play with the idea of tension and thrill, but in reality there is a 0.1% chance that the hero dies and everybody knows it. Its just boring.
He was talking about how, in many films, Ryan Reynolds uses that same personality to play his characters. Not necessarily just about the Deadpool movies.
When I started getting into horror movies as a kid, not many “older” movies scared me or got to me the same way Amityville did and you hit it right on the head as to why. It’s the HOUSE I’ve been in many what I believe to be haunted houses and there’s always this feeling I got when inside them that this movie encapsulated so well. Just pure tension
I'm so glad you addressed the whole "Ryan Reynolds" shtick/persona he does. I feel like everyone falls for it hook, line, and sinker which drives me crazy because it's just so obviously manufactured and the most bland style of comedy. He is basically a walking, talking R-rated personification of MCU humor.
For the Al G Rythm. For the overlord ! Awesome video. I always forget how subtle a lot of older horror was cause all you see now is clips of their intense moments. Kinda takes away from how those movies scared you and gave you time to be scared by implications and your brain thinking how shit could go.
I can remember the Special Features on the 2005 movie's DVD being surprisingly really morbid, with the actual investigation photos of the killings being included alongside coroner's reports of how the DeFeo family died. On top of that there was also an additional featurette that discussed the actual murder and how Ronald DeFeo managed to kill his family. One last strange detail, though this factoid is nowhere near as morbid is how apparently Ryan Reynolds didn't interact with the child actors whatsoever outside of filming, so he could act aggressive towards them with no remorse, but that more than likely made them think he hated them.
I've been to that house. I live near Amityville New York. I do not know if the Lutz family were lying or con artists or whatever the case but we have to remember that a brutal mass murder did happen there. You got to imagine that there was something left behind after such an event. While standing in front of the house my girlfriend took six pictures of me and all of them came out blurry. I don't know if that says that it is haunted or not but I find that very strange. The camera phone that was used I used to take photos while driving in my car and they always turned out good so...🥺
Personally I think my favorite part of the Amityville Horror story is how Butch DeFeo went through about six different versions of "I didn't murder my entire family," including "someone broke in and did it," "a different family member who wasn't me killed them all and I killed them to defend myself," and "the mafia did it," switched his story every time the police questioned any part of it, and finally settled on "it was demons bro just trust me" and the scam artists who preyed on the emotionally vulnerable latched onto that to profit off a mass murder. Anyway, the Warrens and George Lutz can rot.
An interesting twist to the Indian burial ground trope is a story about an old US Cavalry camp on a reservation in AZ. The story goes that Natives came upon an abandoned army camp. They scoped it out from a safe distance and noticed something that was disturbing to them. Everything looked as if it were left all at once. Mess kits were on the ground near burned out camp fires and their rifles were still standing grouped together in a triangular fashion. It looked as if the entire camp was abandon in an instant. The men told their shaman about it and he told the people to stay away from it. No one was step foot in the camp, ever. The camp stood untouched ever since. From what I last heard of it, its said everything in the camp, the weapons, equipment and tents were left to age, deteriorate and rot where it stood.
My mom, who claims to hate anything horror-related, read the Jay Anson book when it came out. Right when she was at the part in the book where the lion statue bites George's leg, my dad grabbed her foot and scared the shit out of her. He didn't even know what she was reading. I've read the book, too, so, whenever either of us see a fly in the house, one of us *has* to whisper-yell "GET OUT". That, and we can hear the marching band practice at the high school that's just down the street from us, and she and I mutter about our house being haunted.
There's a couple living in the house now and they blasted the media for exploiting a terrible tragedy, saying that it's their dream home that just has a sad and dark history behind it.
Bro that thing in the window scared the SHIT out of me!!!! I also don't usually love 70s horror but this one was actually pretty good and kept my interest.
Always love your essays (i feel is the best way to describe them) as i am not a fan of watching horror but enjoy learning bout it. But you often smash your ads too. I feel bad that I think "it's always wet" is the best part.
My favourite part of the amityville horror is that father Delaney gets told that the house is safe and then the summer comes around and he opens the beaches of amity island because they're both safe.
