Amityville - Darkforce

An L.A. photographer gets an antique mirror from a homeless man which triggers memories of his mysterious past and also allows a demons to rampage the lofts where he lives and terrorize the residents.

Amityville: A New Generation has a few memorable moments, but a lot of the horror scenes read more goofy than scary, especially any time the demon manifests. It does function as a fascinating 90's time capsule, though, and the cast is much more staked than other entries in the franchise with several horror regulars showing up for supporting roles.

After a very good sixth sequel released a year before this, the series takes a slight step back in the 7th film - Amityville: A New Generation. We continue the theme of possessed items from the original house being evil and having the power to kill people. This one is an evil mirror which has the power to show a person how they'll die - and then makes it happen!

The film begins with a young photographer named Keyes who is given a seemingly innocent antique mirror by a homeless man. We quickly learn that the mirror is cursed and was an item in the infamous house on Long Island. Once Keyes puts the mirror up in his loft, many of his roommates and friends start dying off in pretty creative ways by staring into the mirror. There is also a bit of a backstory with Keyes as we learn that he once lived in the Amityville house as a child and that his family murdered by his possessed father, connecting this sequel to the first two very nicely.

I really liked that they took us back to the original story and tried to integrate Keyes into that plot of the possessed man killing his family. The movie itself though isn't all that scary. The mirror's power to kill people was creative, but not all that terrifying. That is the core problem with the series at this point with the theme of possessed items. No one is scared of lamps or mirrors or dollhouses.

In the acting department, Amityville 7 gives us horror heavy hitters David Naughton and Terry O'Quinn. Both of which are known for 'An American Werewolf in London' and 'The Stepfather' respectively. In addition, Ross Partridge does well as the lead male character. Everyone else is pretty much background to the overall story.

Amityville: A New Generation, like its predecessor, manages to at least be an entertaining watch. It isn't a terrifying film, and the second half falls apart, but if you are a fan of the series it does tie in to the original story of the DeFeo's and their deaths at the infamous Amityville house. It isn't nearly as fun as Amityville 1992, and drags on way too much, but manages to be a competent entry. I'd check it out at least once.

5/10

This is an okay movie, but it doesn't generate much excitement or suspense because there's not much done with the mirror and the characters are not especially interesting. This picture is less about the mirror than it is about this kid's history concerning his deceased, murderous father. The only truly interesting characters are the detective, played by The Stepfather's Terry O'Quinn, and Llanie. And just like in the previous film, "It's About Time", there's no Amityville house either (except in flashbacks). If this really is a new generation, then I would have preferred the old one.

**1/2 out of ****

Ok, I admit, I have not seen the original yet; but in all this movie isn't all that bad. The idea of objects (like a clock in Amityville 6 (1992 it's about time) or a mirror in this tale (Amityville 7) carrying the original horrors are a bit hokey, but then again it makes sense. I liked this movie better than its time traveling predecessor and this one gives an interesting history if an Amityville family through the deranged father/psyco-killer handing the mirror and its inner demons to his son (who unknowingly accepts the gift and the re-opening of buried images/memories). Maybe it was because I was in New York and Amityville is in Long Island, but this film is at least average (hence a 5 or 6).

This movie was not nearly as entertaining as the first couple of Amityvilles. I think it actually had a budget that broke the triple digits. The flashback scene to the nut house was genuinely scary. That's about it. The "dancing demons" were pretty hokey. The idea of highlighting an art show with a poor shmuck coming in and shooting his friends with a Supersoaker was less than Grade-A. That is why most people hate artists.