Very mild spoilers included...
Instead of waiting until the end to post a conclusion, I'll start right off by saying that the director made a mess of this film. There are too many random and modern types of monsters (for no reason) and jump-scares that are more suitable in movies like the remake of 13 Ghosts.
I'm a fan of Ryan Reynolds and while his acting is fine here, I find myself unable to believe the character transition as the evil is slowly consuming him; that may be my own issue based on the other roles he has taken and his mastery of sarcastic humor. In comparison, James Brolin is very believable in the original as he is overtaken by the evil.
There are multiple "special effect" type camera shots, such as slow motion and stuttering effects, scattered throughout that don't work well and pull your attention away from the experience.
Some additional backstory was added for what seemed solely to serve as an excuse to add a few more monster and "scary" characters, which detract from the flow of the story.
This film is set in the mid-70s, but very few of the hairstyles really seem to be appropriate. Some of the clothing doesn't seem quite correct either. One character wears multiple KISS shirts that are not only not era-correct, but also appear to be bootlegs not resembling any official KISS shirts I recall ever seeing.
With the extra monsters, backstory, jump-scares, era-innapropriate hairstyles and clothing, and cheap-looking camera effects, the movie does not flow well and I was constantly pulled out of the experience as I was continually noticing all those things.
I wanted to like this film, and while it's not the worst film I've seen, I won't likely watch it again despite owning it. There are far better movies out there starring Ryan Reynolds, and the original Amityville succeeds where this unfortunately falls short.
Instead of waiting until the end to post a conclusion, I'll start right off by saying that the director made a mess of this film. There are too many random and modern types of monsters (for no reason) and jump-scares that are more suitable in movies like the remake of 13 Ghosts.
I'm a fan of Ryan Reynolds and while his acting is fine here, I find myself unable to believe the character transition as the evil is slowly consuming him; that may be my own issue based on the other roles he has taken and his mastery of sarcastic humor. In comparison, James Brolin is very believable in the original as he is overtaken by the evil.
There are multiple "special effect" type camera shots, such as slow motion and stuttering effects, scattered throughout that don't work well and pull your attention away from the experience.
Some additional backstory was added for what seemed solely to serve as an excuse to add a few more monster and "scary" characters, which detract from the flow of the story.
This film is set in the mid-70s, but very few of the hairstyles really seem to be appropriate. Some of the clothing doesn't seem quite correct either. One character wears multiple KISS shirts that are not only not era-correct, but also appear to be bootlegs not resembling any official KISS shirts I recall ever seeing.
With the extra monsters, backstory, jump-scares, era-innapropriate hairstyles and clothing, and cheap-looking camera effects, the movie does not flow well and I was constantly pulled out of the experience as I was continually noticing all those things.
I wanted to like this film, and while it's not the worst film I've seen, I won't likely watch it again despite owning it. There are far better movies out there starring Ryan Reynolds, and the original Amityville succeeds where this unfortunately falls short.