When I was young I was convinced that THE AMITYVILLE HORROR was absolutely real. It was only a matter of time before I started waking up at 3:15 am and the walls bled – okay, maybe that didn’t actually happen. There was a ton I loved about this flick as a kid, and frankly I still do. Margot Kidder and James Brolin were great, and Helen Shaver is perfectly kooky. And of course, you can’t not mention the legendary Rod Steiger who nails it and gives this supernatural tale a whole lot of cred. Since this demonic horror story first terrified me, we’ve seen tons of inferior sequels and rip offs – although I kind of dig AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION. As far as the rest of the movies are concerned, there isn’t much worth seeking out aside from the first two.
So after years of dealing with a lousy remake, an Amityville Asylum and even a damn Amityville dollhouse, it would be nice to see this series get a fresh start. While we don’t need a remake, because we already suffered though that Ryan Reynolds one – not his fault of course – I’d love to see a GOOD film surrounding the “haunted” establishment. So frankly, AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING sort of feels like it could be pretty damn promising. It features the fantastic Jennifer Jason Leigh – you know, the one that just received raves for ANOMALISA and an Academy Award nomination for THE HATEFUL EIGHT. It also features the lovely Bella Thorne and Jennifer Morrison, so it definitely has a strong hottie vibe going for it.
Another element that seems promising is the director, Franck Khalfoun. This is the same guy who made one hell of a terrific update of MANIAC with Elijah Wood. Frankly, that seems like a more difficult task than making another decent Amityville movie. The trailer itself didn’t blow me away, but I will say that it was great to see this creepy house with the windows on the big screen again. And to amp my excitement up even more, my recent set visit revealed that the home and its dark past would be explored in THE CONJURING 2: THE ENFIELD HAUNTING – is this part of the reason they are waiting? Too much Amityville?? So with enough good will invested into this termifying real estate, what the f*ck is happening with the actual release of AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING?
The first sign of trouble is when the heard that the new film may be getting the PG-13 treatment on March 2 of this year. And then, as of only a few days ago, we learned that the already pushed back release has reared its ugly head. Instead of an early April release, we are now looking at the dump month of January 6, 2017. So in case you were hoping to revisit that home that the Lutz family fled next month, you are out of luck. This movie was originally scheduled to frighten audiences this past January, but was postponed back in 2014. So it will now take a full year to come out after its initial release date. What the hell is taking so long for us to pack our bags and move on in?
Clearly, Dimension appears to have very little faith in AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING. According to recent reports, the producers wanted to wait until January because, “people like to be scared at the start of the year.” And to that I say a resounding NO! (Besides, it had a January release date to begin with!) Usually the reason that horror flicks – especially PG-13 horror flicks – that are released in January are just plain awful. And no, the trailer didn’t blow me away, but I was intrigued enough by the talent involved to see it. In fact, I’d even admit to looking forward to it. So this push back to January of 2017 only raises the question of its quality. And let's face it, this wouldn't be the first time – not even close – that the Weinstein's seemingly buried their own movie. This happens a lot.
Maybe it’s the booze talkin’, but the Weinstein’s need to stop dumping on Amityville. It may not be original, but there is certainly enough going for it that horror fans will probably give it a fair shot. Yet this movie has just been costing money with wasted advertising, only to pull it a few weeks before release. There has been word of a ratings change, and not for the better. And to top it all off, it is finally going to be released in the dump month of January! Hell, the recent January PG-13 horror releases didn’t prove all that profitable so that sounds like a terrible idea. This is a movie that I personally want to see. In fact, I really WANT to like it. So why are they screwing with Amityville? Jody certainly wouldn’t be pleased.