“Amityville: The Awakening” (2017) has a hook, at least when I say it out loud. The story is set in the “real world,” where the DeFeo murders and Lutz hauntings happened, and all the books and movies and documentaries exist. Amityville High student Terrence (Thomas Mann) pulls out a DVD of “The Amityville Horror” (1979), and later a paperback of Jay Anson’s “The Amityville Horror: A True Story” (1977).
He is providing research material for new student Belle (Bella Thorne), whose family has moved into the haunted house 40 years after the real-world events. Some viewers will scoff and say “How does Belle not know she’s moving into an infamous house? This is the age of the internet.” But remember that teens are self-centered, and while knowledge is at their fingertips, they are more likely to be scrolling through social media.
This setup by writer-director Franck Khalfoun is sturdy, and it’s nice that we don’t have to try to figure out the “Amityville” continuity (if there even is such a thing). Granted, Terrence throws us off by perpetuating the myth that “Amityville II: The Possession” is a prequel. (It was marketed as a prequel, but the narrative itself is a sequel.) But the bottom line: “Awakening” doesn’t have continuity baggage.
“Amityville: The Awakening” (2017)
Director: Franck Khalfoun
Writer: Franck Khalfoun
Stars: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bella Thorne, Mckenna Grace
On Tuesdays this summer, RFMC is looking back at selected films in the “Amityville” series.
An unimaginative re-imagining
Unfortunately, Khalfoun – a competent director, as seen in the hidden Christmas horror gem “P2” – gives us a re-imagining that’s not imaginative.
The characters are modernized: Belle and her friends (or “friends” – she’s not all that tight with Terrence or Taylor Spreightler’s Marissa) are savvy, above-it-all 2010s teens. But the story is shopworn. In a similar situation to the superior “The Haunting in Connecticut,” sickly son James (Cameron Monaghan) is subject to being possessed by a demon.
“Awakening” gives us minor twists of character motivation, and it for some reason has a stellar cast. Jennifer Jason Leigh is the mom who frets over James’ bedside, Mckenna Grace is the kid sister, and Jennifer Morrison and Kurtwood Smith are doctors. Thorne is easy on the eyes. Monaghan, so good as the proto-Joker on “Gotham,” is mildly compelling despite playing “vegetative state” for much of the runtime.
At 87 minutes, “Awakening” gets in, bores us, and gets out. The meta concept suggests a commentary on what the “Amityville” films have done to the residents. The answer is that no one cares about the hauntings (which granted, does fit with reality, but the film doesn’t get any humor out of this angle). Alpha-teens know Belle lives in the house, and they briefly use that to harass her (because kids are a**h***s), but that’s it.
“Awakening” has a modern gloss but it has more in common with old-school horror sequels that rehash the original. Actually, that’s unfair to those films, which often have an engaging trash-cinema vibe. “Amityville: The Awakening” is well-made but coma-inducing.