(2005)
directed by Andrew Douglas
written by Scott Kosar
reviewed by Adam Armstrong
1.8.09
The
remake of the film version of the novelization of a
true story.
George (Ryan Reynolds) and Kathy (Melissa George) Lutz find a house
with a price that is just too good to be true. The reason the house is so cheap
is that there was a series of murders 13 months earlier. The Lutz family move
in anyway and George quickly starts to fall into the hands of the spirits in the
house. Bad dreams and hallucinations lead George to become progressively more
abusive toward his family until he finally decides to listen to the voices and
kill them all.
The truth behind this
story has been called into question numerous times over the years but it’s
pretty safe to say that this version strays the farthest from any semblance of
truth. This movie is basically a Ryan Reynolds vehicle from beginning to end.
He makes up most of the face time on the movie and provides plenty of eye candy
for the ladies with his, at the time, newly buff body. While Reynolds is a good
actor he can’t carry this movie by himself coupled with a few cool special
effects. The rest of the cast is just there to react and scream when something
jumps out at them. Just because there are children in the movie it doesn’t make
us immediately care about their outcome. George’s descent into madness was a
little too quick as well. He went from a loving caring step-father into an
abusive maniac within a few minutes in real time and a few days in movie time.
That’s not really scary. That is unfortunately a little close to things that
happen in real life.
Diehard horror fans
will be mildly amused, everyone else should pass.
2 out of 5