
George and Kathy Lutz have moved out of their small home and to a larger one. It's a
beautiful, two-story white house that'll be able to fit their family's needs. But, just as
they are settling in, strange things start happening in the house. They call over a baby-sitter,
and she has a horrible experience when she gets trapped in a closet. The couple, of
course, thinks their children pulled some sort of prank. They keep denying this, but
they don't get too far. Soon, even stranger things begin happening.
Something is horribly
wrong with George. He's hearing incredibly odd voices in his head, telling him to murder his family. He becomes progressivly more voilent, while Kathy watches. She thinks this has something to do with the house, so she does some studying on it. Could this be the spirit of a madman possessing her husband?
I had had a bad taste in my mouth when seeing this flick, because only 3 days before, I witnessed
something more horrible than anyone can imagine...an Ashton Kutcher movie. To relieve
this bad taste, I went to see this when my dad did in the theater. This is one of very few
remakes that are better than the original. Shall I explain as to why? Well, for one, there
aren't as many plotholes. When in the first one, Kathy just suddenly starts smelling the air
for god-knows-what reason, we get explanations as to what George and Kathy are noticing
during these types of scenes, which rarely come up in the remake. And, Jodie is explained
more thoroughly...even though she wasn't really part of the DeFeo family at all. Also, the
acting was actually decent and convincing. Ryan Reynolds gives a strong performance, and
proves he can be serious as well as funny. See VAN WILDER for his funny side. Melissa George
doesn't give as good as a performance, but it's solid enough to be convincing. Also, this movie
had quite a bit of comedy in it, which, of course, was very unexpected. I especially cherish
the 'babysitter scene'. So, overall, this remake beats the original into the ground...delivering
what the original could not. I give it 9 out of 10.