Thursday, October 12, 2017

Amityville: The Awakening (2017)

Director: Franck Khalfoun. Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bella Thorne, Kurtwood Smith. 85 min. Rated PG-13. Horror.

You know it's the fourth attempt (after remake, "inspired by", and documentary) at jump-starting a failed horror franchise, so there's no way there's anything new here. But then you see Jennifer Jason Leigh's name, so she must've seen something worthwhile in it. Dead wrong. There's an inkling of hope for blurring horror/fiction and reality à la Blair Witch Project, when characters plan to watch the 1979 movie in the haunted house. But the rapidity of horror clichés and one-per-5-minute jump-scare rate leaves no air to breathe. So awful, distributors made it available free on Google Play, before its theater release.

PS: This was produced by Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Harvey Weinstein was behind the production and/or distribution of True Romance, Pulp Fiction, The Crossing Guard, the Scream franchise, Princess Mononoke, Good Will Hunting, Jackie Brown, Halloween H20, The Faculty, Shakespeare in Love, The Cider House Rules, Scary Movie, Malèna, Chocolat, the Spy Kids franchise, The Others, The Lord of the RingsGangs of New York, Chicago, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2, Master and Commander, Cold Mountain, Fahrenheit 9/11, The Aviator, Sin City, Grindhouse, The Mist, Rambo, The Reader, Inglourious Basterds, Piranha 3D, The King's Speech, The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained, Fruitvale Station, The Butler, August: Osage County, Big Eyes, Marco Polo (TV), Carol, The Hateful Eight, Lion, The Founder, ... among 300 others.

In view of recently exploding allegations of sexual abuse that go back for decades, I'm trying to imagine what a huge, black blot this would splatter on contemporary American art. Imagine how you'll feel the next time you see Harvey Weinstein's name on a movie's opening credits. Because you will see it.

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