Amityville: The Awakening (2017)
- Cody Iden
- Oct 28, 2021
- 3 min read
Release Date - October 28, 2017
Synopsis:
A mother and her children, including a brain-dead son, move into the infamous Amityville house where the evil powers soon afflict the son and things go horribly wrong.
Directed by - Franck Khalfoun
Written by - Franck Khalfoun
Produced by - Jason Blum, Daniel Farrands and Casey La Scala
Cinematography - Steven Poster
Music by - Robin Coudert
Distribution Company - RADiUS-TWC and Dimension Films
Cast:
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Joan Walker
Bella Thorne - Belle Walker
Cameron Monaghan - James Walker
Thomas Mann - Terrence
Jennifer Morrison - Aunt Candice
and Kurtwood Smith - Dr. Ken Milton
Taylor Spreitler - Marissa
McKenna Grace - Juliet Walker
Run Time - 1 hr. 27 min. Rated - PG-13
Budget - Unknown Gross - $8.4 million
Review:
Released 38 years after the original film, Amityville: The Awakening touches upon many of the elements from previous installments. A new family moves into the infamous house and we get a lot of the well-known elements of these films, windows and doors that open and close on their own, a dog behaves strangely, a lot of creepy imagery and of course a member of the family that is overcome by the evil of the house. The unique thing about this film is the inclusion of a brain-dead character played by Cameron Monaghan who eventually becomes possessed by the evil within the home. The film is also meta in that it shows the original The Amityville Horror (1979) as existing within this movie and the book and a couple other films are referenced as well. While the story has a few new interesting ideas going for it it ends up at a climax that is very similar to several of the previous Amityville films. The cast is pretty good with Bella Thorne being the real highlight of the film, she is very likable as Belle and is protective of the younger daughter and Jennifer Jason Leigh does a great job being unlikable. The rest of the cast doesn't have a whole lot to do unfortunately with Jennifer Morrison playing a character whose involvement isn't explained until the film's narrated epilogue when it is finally revealed she was an aunt. The cinematography is again well-done and the score is again competent if not especially memorable. The special effects here are very well done, especially the sequences of the brain-dead character who is very emaciated for much of the film until he goes through a transformation after becoming possessed. While the film is a fun watch it isn't really very memorable and as a result you will likely have forgotten most of it within a few days.
My Score: 76
Plot - 7 Cinematography - 8
Attraction - 7 Editing & Special Effects - 8
Theme - 8 Sound & Music - 7
Acting - 8 Directing - 8
Dialogue - 8 Enjoyability – 7
Trivia:
Filmed in 2014 and originally intended for release in 2015, the film experienced several delays including various reshoots and was not released until October 28, 2017.
This film was originally planned to be a found-footage style film titled Amityville: The Lost Tapes but this idea was scrapped and the film became Amityville: The Awakening.
13 minutes of the film were removed to get a PG-13 rating.
Since the film took 5 years to complete Cameron Monaghan's body tone is noticeably different in many of the scenes.
Bella Thorne and Cameron Monaghan are playing fraternal twins in this film but in reality Monaghan is 4 years older than Thorne.
The Amityville Horror (1979), Amityville II: The Possession and The Amityville Horror (2005) are all referenced in this movie as they are shown as DVDs in this movie. The characters even watch the 1979 original. The original book by Jay Anson is also shown in this movie.
Availability:
Watched October 27, 2021
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