The Amityville Horror (2005)

You know I just couldn't post any regular picture up here.  Ryan Reynolds was in SICK shape for this movie.  Or another movie and he just happened to look hot here.  Who cares?  He's pretty much fallen off the map as of late, but Scream Queen wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating cookies.

I watched the original The Amityville Horror and observed that while the original is based on that 70s-esque slow build and creepy atmosphere, the remake relies on the characteristic jittery cuts and jump scares popular in the 2000s.

We've got the standard Amityville Horror story here, about a blended family moving into a large and haunted home in Amityville, Long Island.  We all know they only lasted 28 days in the house, but let's stick around for the story.  This time, George and Kathy Lutz are played by Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George.  They have three kids, Billy, Michael and Chelsea (played by Chloe Grace Moretz!)  George Lutz is awoken at 3:15 each morning with a desire to check the boathouse.  The Lutzes start experiencing strange occurrences in the house, including strange noises, windows opening, etc.  Unlike the original Amityville Horror which clearly didn't have a special effects budget, this iteration features weird and creepy ghosts, including the little dead girl, Jodie. 

Also unlike the original, the updated Amityville Horror focuses around "Ketch 'Em and Kill 'Em," the idea that the house was built on land where Native Americans were tortured and killed, by a cult preacher named Father Ketchum.  They discover that these spirits, and the evil of Ketchum, possess the house. 

I'm not one to immediately hate on remakes just for the fact that they are remakes.  Along the lines of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, this is a pretty good update of a classic.  The Ketchum backstory is a little lame, and I'm sure we're all sick of the over-makeuped creepy little girl cliche.  But overall, a solid flick.

Buried (2010)

I am a claustrophic individual and this movie pretty much gave me a panic attack.  I was a little wary going into a movie that is pretty much 90 minutes of one person.  I mean Ryan Reynolds is smokin' hot but I didn't know if I wanted to hear him whine and yell in a box for that long.

However, I was pleasantly surprised to find this movie was a fast-paced little thriller.  Basically, Buried is the story of an American truck driver (Paul Conroy) who is contracted to work in Iraq.  He knows the dangers of the job, but is desperate for money to support his family.  One day, his convoy gets attacked, and he ends up buried alive by insurgents/terrorists/criminals/whatever.  It's not much of a spoiler that he ends up being trapped in the box with a phone, so I don't feel bad including the above picture.

The people call on the phone to demand $5 million by 9pm, or Paul is going to be left to rot in his coffin.  This movie is really irritating at first because everyone he calls for help on this phone are pretty much the most annoying and unhelpful human beings on the Earth.  You would think that a movie full of someone calling different people from underground would be boring, but the script kept it exciting.

Ryan Reynolds isn't going to win an Oscar or anything for this flick, but I think he handled this role really well.  The angles and cinemotography was great and really makes you feel trapped even just watching it.  The end was pretty jarring and the whole thing gave me the willies.  I thought this was a good movie.  I recommend it.

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