In 2005, a remake of the horror Amityville horror movie of 1979 was released. Even the original version attracted the public by the fact that the film was based on real events. Despite criticism from experts, The Amityville Horror has become one of the most successful projects of the year. Over the past 25 years, several sequels have been shot, but work on a full-fledged restart has not begun. Only in 2004, the production company Platinum Dunes showed interest in the project. The director was Andrew Douglas, for whom Amityville Horror was the first major project.
Movie features
The remake is very different from the classic movie Amityville Horror. The actors who played the Lats children are much younger than in the original version, and the names of their characters do not match. In the original 1979, the evil that settled in the house acted on all its inhabitants. But the dark forces only affected George Lutz and, to a much lesser extent, Chelsea Lutz in the new film Amityville Horror. Actors (2005), who played members of the Defoe family, received the minimum amount of screen time in the film.
Despite the great potential in terms of visual effects, the film turned out, as spectators and critics note, not as creepy as the original version.
Cast
The actors of the 2005 Amityville Horror movie were selected as producers of the film after a short screen test. The role of George Lutz went to Ryan Reynolds, his wife Katie - Melissa George, known at that time as the embodiment of the supporting characters. The eight-year-old Chloe Moretz was chosen for the role of Latsov’s daughter Chelsea, for whom the debut in a big movie, like for the director Andrew Douglas, is associated with the film “The Amityville Horror”. Actors Jesse James and Jimmy Bennett played Billy and Michael Lutz. Isabelle Connor played Jody Defeo - a little girl shot by her own brother, who can not find peace in any way.
Ronald Defeo's character is given only a few minutes of screen time. The role was played by Brendan Donaldson, whose most famous films in his career are “Ice Harvest” and “The Amityville Horror”. Actors were chosen for the most part, beginners, only Ryan Reynolds was at that time an accomplished star.
The further career of the creators of the picture
Actress Chloe Grace Moretz can consider The Amityville Horror a real breakthrough in her career, as this was her first notable role. At the moment, Chloe is one of the most sought after young actresses in Hollywood. Among the latest projects with her participation is the fantastic action movie “5th Wave”, the horror film “Telekinesis” based on the novel by Stephen King, the thriller “The Great Equalizer”.
For director Andrew Douglas, The Amityville Horror has remained the most notable film in the film career. In 2013, he directed the thriller “Do you want me to kill him?”, Which was not successful at the box office.
After the screening of the movie Amityville Horror, the actors Jimmy Bennett and Jesse James gained a certain, though not deafening, fame. Jimmy Bennett is familiar to horror fans by his role as Daniel in the film "Child of Darkness" and several supporting characters. Jesse James is mainly involved in small roles, the most noticeable of which is young Mark in the Dag Lyman thriller "Teleport".
Good box office brought the film "The Amityville Horror" actors Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George. They managed not only to get used to the images of their characters, but also to make a beautiful screen pair.
The Amityville Horror project (2005), actors, celebrities and beginners involved in the filming, will be remembered as an important part of their career. For Ryan Reynolds, this was the first role in the horror, which showed the public his talent on the other hand. Also, this picture helped reveal three young actors who played the children of the four Latsovs.
Critical reviews, box office
On the whole, Amityville Horror (2005 film), actors, directing, and script were not much appreciated by critics. On the Rotten Tomatoes website, the film was called a mediocre remake of a mediocre original, and Metacritic gave the film 33 points out of 100.
In the New York Times magazine, it was noted that the remake turned out to be somewhat more successful than the original, due to visual effects. It was also noted in the Times that the director managed to create an oppressive and frightening atmosphere of a gloomy house where evil lurked in the walls.
The director of the film “The Amityville Horror”, the actors involved in it, did not receive any awards. Rachel Nichols, who played a small role as Lisa’s nanny, was nominated for the MTV Channel Award in the category “Best Thriller or Horror Actress,” but never received it.
With a very modest budget ($ 19 million), the picture alone in the United States raised $ 65 million, and around the world - $ 108 million. Despite the box office decent for the horror, a sequel to the picture is not planned yet.