quick review - Amityville Horror

I just saw this movie tonight.. and after poor excuses for scary movies in White Noise, Boogeyman, and The Grudge - I felt tonight I was resolved.

This movie was disturbing, haha, in a good horror-movie way.

Quick scorecard:
Spooky/Ambiance - 8/10 - no holds barred, this movie hit hard and hit fast in terms of setting the mood. The backstory was hit. The Plot wasn't complicated or complex...

Plot - 5/10 - most horror flicks fit this mode. how many ghost stories can you tell? good original stories: Sixth Sense, The Others, The Ring. This one is typical, not deep, though it makes (horror-movie) sense and doesn't waste much time trying to add story. There is always the flirtation between supernatural and mental health disorder in these movies. The flirtation is effective. Each SCARE is built into the story...

Scariness - 9/10 - just scary. The heart was pounding through most of the movie despite the dorky, fufu high school kids sitting around us making stupid comments (some funny).

Shock value - 10/10 - This movie hit hard and hit fast. Actual faces/bodies/presence of ghosts earlier. Great make-up. Great timing. (never unpredictable in a sense if you're watching in terms of studying/analyzing it - but if you were watching it for the sake of getting good jolts, this delivered!)

Psychological Scares - 6/10 - Not psychological at all. All the shocks and scares were spoon fed. THe psychological build up was present but overpowered by the scare tactics.

Lasting "fear" - 10/10 - This had the hard and frequent hits. It had effective hits. It was disturbing in it's technical visual appeal and also the chosen ideas by the filmmakers. It also had a little bit of a deeper level story. It also had some gore.

OVERALL AVG SCORE: 8/10 - for a run of the mill jumpp-out-of-your-seats ghost story this was definitely worth what you go to the movie for.

DO IT!