The film is a terrific scare show, fast and furious, made with a lot of style and energy, packing plenty of jolts yet never lingering morbidly over horrific images. It is anchored in strong characterizations, and its plot develops with chilling psychological suspense. It's such a skillfully made entertainment that its plunge into the supernatural is persuasive even for the skeptical.

This remake stays close to the eponymous 1979 horror movie it's based on, except for being precisely 10,000 times scarier.

I got exactly what I expected: Scared and tickled, within an inch of my life.

Much meaner remake, starring Ryan Reynolds (quite good).

Yes, there are more cheap shocks this time around, and they're fun to watch, but you'll have forgotten most of them by the time you make it out to your car.

The truly shocking thing about the new version is that it's not bloody awful.

There are some genuine scares to be had here, and not just of the "Boo!" variety.

The remake simply replaces the laughably dated horror tropes of the 1979 version with a commercial-slick J-horror aesthetic that's sure to look just as silly to audiences in another 15 years.

A Xerox so tattered and faded that it's impossible to determine who's to blame for the overproduced mediocrity before our eyes.

Low-key creepy rather than outright scary, the new Amityville marks a modest improvement over the original, partly because, from acting to bloody effects, it is better executed.

Shorter and punchier but nearly as hokey as the original.

Begins slavishly faithful to its low-key 1970s predecessor then sledgehammers auds with a numbing succession of shock edits and over-the-top horror effects.

With his beard and '70s clothes, Reynolds looks like Val Kilmer playing Jim Morrison. Before things go precipitously south, he gives an endearing performance that proves he's ready for far more substantial roles than Van Wilder.

The new film is also sleeker, sexier, and, thankfully, shorter than the original.