The Amityville Murders

I have to admit, I was very skeptical entering what I believe is the 24th film surrounding the "true story" that took place on Amityville, Long Island in the 70's. This sequel takes us to yet another retelling of the DeFeo crimes which were done in Amityville II (1982).

We meet the DeFeo family who live in our infamous 112 Ocean Avenue Amityville house. During a birthday party, the teenagers take part in some sort of spirit awakening seance which appears to summon something evil. The man of the house Ronnie is an abusive father who beats his children and treats his wife terribly. Butch DeFeo is the oldest son of the family, which the evil Amityville spirit seems to target right away. We spend most of the film watching his decline as he becomes possessed. Eventually, it leads to the conclusion we all see coming.

A major issue with The Amityville Murders is that it isn't really all that scary, much like it's predecessors. We get the typical scares like eerie sounds in the house, doors and cupboards opening and closing on their own, creepy basement stuff, etc. There are some tense moments towards the end with Butch being completely taken over by the spirits, but again nothing we haven't seen done a hundred times before.

It was very nice to see Diane Franklin and Burt Young in this one. They were both in Amityville II: The Possession as father and daughter, and it brought a tear to my horror loving eye to see them reunited. Diane Franklin's role as the mother was a bit larger, and she played it beautifully. The rest were ok, including Chelsea Ricketts as the young teenage daughter Dawn and John Robinson as the possessed Butch DeFeo. His version of possessed teenage son Butch was much better than Jack Magner in Amityville II.

All in all, Amityville Murders is an average retelling of the Defeo murders which we saw told in 1982's Amityville II: The Possession. This film isn't actually all that bad and I enjoyed it more than the '82 sequel. My biggest issue with this film is that it is completely unnecessary. Did it add to anything I haven't already seen before in this series? Nope. It's worth a watch for horror completists, and is better than sequels like Amityville Curse and Amityville Asylum, but feels very average overall.

5/10

Oh yay, another Amityville film! Because that's what 2018 needed *Sigh*.

Starring a couple of industry veterans and former cast members of previous Amityville movies this dull lifeless effort has done nothing to reinvigorate a stale franchise or turn this dreadful year for movies around.

Instead of covering the Lutz family as many of the previous have it tells the original story of the Defeo family building up to the tragedy that befell them. The trouble is alike the Lutz's we don't really know what happened and therefore a huge chunk of the movie is pure fiction and supernatural garbage.

Ronnie Defeo went from room to room shooting his family as they lay in bed. The mystery being how none of them heard the gunshots, how they were all shot in bed (Blood stains proved they hadn't been moved) and why neighbours also were oblivious to what took place. Yes it's a mystery, no I don't believe it was demonic forces!

The Amityville murders does have some good performances and it was fantastic to see Burt Young on screen in 2018, but it's so darn boring!

For huge fans of the Amityville legend only I'd say.

The Good:

Dead Island trailer theme (Weirdly)

Some good cast members

Good performances in places

The Bad:

Criminally boring

Just shouldn't exist

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Mothers are more concerned with their kids art style than their drug use

Changing the details in a true story makes perfect sense

I was expecting little to nothing from this entry. Am not a huge fan of the series. Thought the original and the Ryan Reynolds reboot had their respective merits. Figured I could passively watch this while multi-tasking. To my surprise it was very good. By no means on any of my "all times" list but far better than I could have reasonably expected. Don't know how accurate it is--and the people that would know are not talking--but, assuming it is, it's a good account of the events that led up to the original film. If you are interested in a slow-burn thriller--ostensibly based on real events--check this one out.

This film essentially begins a couple of weeks before a young man named "Ronald 'Butch' DeFeo Jr." (played by John Robinson) kills his parents and all four siblings with a rifle he claims was given to him by an evil entity within the house in Amityville, New York. Just prior to the killings, the film incorporates a number of scenes in which Butch DeFeo's father "Ronnie DeFeo Sr." (Paul Ben-Victor) physically abuses his son on a number of occasions. And it's primarily for this reason that Butch becomes heavily involved in drugs--which further hastens his mental and emotional decline into complete insanity. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film is basically a remake of the prequel known as "Amityville II-The Possession" produced back in 1982. Unlike that movie, however, this film doesn't quite have the same creepy atmosphere due to the primary focus being on drug abuse over that of an evil presence within the house. Having said that, while this film is definitely better than a number of others in this series, I don't consider it to be on the same level as the 1982 film, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

It's 1974, three weeks before the infamous murders. Ronnie DeFeo (Paul Ben-Victor) and Louise DeFeo (Diane Franklin) have five children; college-age Butch (John Robinson), Dawn (Chelsea Ricketts), Allison, Marc, and Jody. Butch and Dawn are calling upon the spirits in the red room. Ronnie has nefarious dealings and brutally beats his family. Butch has nightmarish visions and continues to deteriorate. Butch is sick and alone at home on Halloween. The house is ransacked and Ronnie's money is stolen from his safe.

This is based on true events. As always, one has to take it with a good helping of salt. It comes with the supernatural anyways so the pretense is pretty thin. At least, it's trying to fit the true story in and around the spirit world. The most compelling part may be the return of Diane Franklin. This really should be the story of Dawn. She's the 'normal' character and the story could be seen through her eyes. The supernatural part should be in question for the majority of the movie. The drama isn't there. As a horror, it could be much better. There is potential but it's concentrating on the wrong character.