Reviews: Amityville: The Awakening (2017) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Demons
Subgenres: Haunted House, Haunted House - Cursed, Killer Parents, Madness, Religion, Blumhouse
Horror fans will enjoy our review of Amityville: The Awakening (2017), where we cover its story, scares, and how it ranks among modern horror classics.
Amityville: The Awakening (2017) is a horror thriller movie directed by Franck Khalfoun. Amityville: The Awakening stars two new and upcoming movie stars, Bella Thorne and Cameron Monaghan.
Amityville: The Awakening was released on Google Play for free on October 12, 2017, and in select movie theaters on October 28, 2017. The On Demand, Digital HD, Blu-ray, and DVD release came from Lionsgate on November 14, 2017. The Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD special features include "The Making of Amityville: The Awakening" Featurette. The Blu-ray and DVD suggested retail price is $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.
Amityville: The Awakening is about a single mom named Joan, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, who brings her three children to the haunted Amityville house. Cameron Monaghan plays her son James and her elder daughter Belle is played by Bella Thorne. Joan is a single parent who brings her family to Amityville’s haunted house because she hopes she can draw on the evil in the place to heal her comatose son James.
Amityville: The Awakening is a horror thriller that is unsuitable for all viewers because it is sometimes a little too slow. The demon possession horror scenes can easily be missed because viewers may get too bored throughout the film. I am a fan of the highs and lows of The Amityville franchise, so I stuck with the film throughout. I was rewarded with a terrifying performance from Cameron Monaghan, who nailed the scary scenes in this film. I would have liked to see more scary scenes from him.
This movie’s ending seemed a little too simple (no spoilers) and a little of a letdown, but it also fits into the haunted house setting.
Amityville: The Awakening Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD includes one "Making of" featurette, which is a letdown in general for a movie fan like me because I would have liked a little more. I crave the extras and would have enjoyed it more, seeing as this film had many release date pushbacks.
In short, watch this horror film if you are an Amityville fan or like the slow burn. The scary scenes performed by Monaghan and the special effects are fantastic but cannot help the slowness for some viewers.
Similar films like Amityville: The Awakening can be found in demon movies sub-genre(s), check them out for more movies like Amityville: The Awakening.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Amityville: The Awakening Rating Scores
- Our Score: 5/10
- Overall Score: 4.33/10
- IMDB: 4.8/10
- MetaCritic: 4.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 2.9/10
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