Regardless of the state of cinema, remakes are a staple of the film industry. The word remake is quite polarizing, but there will always be a creator who believes they have a different idea or angle to subvert the project, and this approach works far more often than audiences realize. 1951's The Thing From Another World was a classic in its own right but was surpassed by John Carpenter's remake The Thing. But while remakes happen quite often in the film industry, they're far more rampant in horror than in any other genre.
Due to their relatively simple productions and cheaper budgets, horror films will get remade to capitalize on a well-known intellectual property. House On Sorority Row, Friday the 13th and even iconic classics like Psycho get remade, and the results are mixed. It's even more prevalent in true horror stories since the story itself can frighten the masses through the idea that it happened. These remakes will happen, and nothing can be done to stop them. But there is one film and franchise that the remake craze should stay as far away from as possible: The Amityville Horror.
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The Amityville Horror Is Greatly Overrated
On paper, The Amityville Horror has the total package for a horror movie -- a family moves into a house that was the scene of a major crime, demonic entities and ghosts inhabit the property, and the family escapes the house. In fact, the case itself got handled by famous ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, a fact that launched the film into legendary status. The horrors and the mythos surrounding it made The Amityville Horror great, but this was the beginning of its downfall.
Made in 1979 and starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder, The Amityville Horror entered theaters and became a must-see. That should have everything it needs, but the film itself got hampered by inconsistencies and a jumbled story. The real-life story is regarded as having many issues, which play out in both the book and movie. Not to debate ghosts, but as the film presents things, the events don't align with the real-life horror involved in the initial murders.
That fact is obvious as The Amityville Horror leans into jump scares and prior knowledge to carry the movie. One has to be familiar with the DeFeo murders and Ronnie DeFeo's claims of demonic possession, but aside from that, the movie isn't scary. There's also not too much to say as the film follows the typical haunted house set-up on the way to the family moving out of the home. And that story should be simple enough to capture, but the film's disinterest in the tale ultimately proved its undoing. However, this wasn't the only attempt.
The Amityville Horror Was Already Remade - and It Flopped
The Amityville Horror was remade in 2005, starring Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George. The set-up was almost identical, which was expected since it's based on true events. But it also brought in a cult leader named Reverend Jeremiah Ketcham, who took the devil's place. Though not a shot-for-shot remake, the film did nothing special and ultimately flopped critically. And the same can be said for all the other entries in the series.
There were other issues for the 2005 film, including miscast actors and a weak twist and premise, but nothing structurally made this movie stand out, which is a major issue for all Amityville films. Take away the true story aspect, and it's every other haunted house story. Leave in the true story hook, and it's thoroughly outclassed by the likes of The Conjuring. But the story alone doesn't make the series overrated.
Whether it's because the story is ubiquitous with true horror films or every trope in the movie has been done before, nothing about the Amityville series is groundbreaking. It's about as formulaic as a film can get, which leaves no room for growth. Every film jumps into family movies into a haunted house, and the father does a heel turn. That's it. Numerous films later, the scariest thing about the various entries is their Rotten Tomatoes score.
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Why the Amityville Series Must Be Abandoned
Aside from a weak story, plotting, and scares, Amityville films have just been outclassed by far superior films. While comparing other films is a slippery slope, there also must be alternatives. The idea of possession in horror has arguably never been topped since The Exorcist. Remakes like It or a true story like The Town That Dreaded Sundown took their initial premise and elevated it through performances and plotting. The haunted house idea has been changed following James Wan's Insidious and Conjuring franchises.
Amityville had its time, but the movie-going public has seen a resurgence in great horror and even great remakes. These stories have modernized their plots to new themes and ideologies that would've been impossible for their times. Though Amityville is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in horror cinema, its time was based on its name, not content. In an era where theme and story are worth more than visuals, The Amityville Horror just doesn't work.