Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
33
(31 sources)
33
(31 sources)
-
90
Los Angeles Times
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. Read Full Review » -
75
Christian Science Monitor
This remake stays close to the eponymous 1979 horror movie it's based on, except for being precisely 10,000 times scarier. Read Full Review » -
70
Washington Post
I got exactly what I expected: Scared and tickled, within an inch of my life. Read Full Review » -
60
-
50
Dallas Observer
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. Read Full Review » -
50
San Francisco Chronicle
The truly shocking thing about the new version is that it's not bloody awful. Read Full Review » -
50
Film Threat
There are some genuine scares to be had here, and not just of the "Boo!" variety. Read Full Review » -
50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
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. Read Full Review » -
50
Village Voice
A Xerox so tattered and faded that it's impossible to determine who's to blame for the overproduced mediocrity before our eyes. Read Full Review » -
50
The New York Times
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. Read Full Review » -
50
-
50
Variety
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. Read Full Review » -
50
Philadelphia Inquirer
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. Read Full Review » -
50
Premiere
The new film is also sleeker, sexier, and, thankfully, shorter than the original. Read Full Review » -
50
ReelViews
The Amityville Horror fails as a movie, but, if you are searching for are a few good scares, you'll find them here. Read Full Review » -
50
Miami Herald
The good news is the updated version is scarier than the original, thanks to snazzier special effects, a shorter running time, moody lighting, a few solid jolts and one icky moment involving a bratty babysitter and a closet. The bad news is the film rehashes every horror movie cliché you can imagine. Read Full Review » -
50
-
42
Entertainment Weekly
Extraordinarily faithful to the spirit of that creaky, derivative, fly-infested, don't-go-in-the-attic boofest. Read Full Review » -
38
-
38
-
30
TV Guide
First-time feature director Andrew Douglas, whose advertising background is evident in every frame, brings lashings of style but no sense of real horror to the recycled script. Read Full Review » -
30
Austin Chronicle
Images seem to be grafted into the film that have little to do with the actual story. Read Full Review » -
30
Chicago Reader
Melissa George's performance has more Lady Macbeth in it than Kidder's. Read Full Review » -
25
-
25
USA Today
In this Amityville, the performances are bad, the special effects ho-hum, and it's not even particularly scary. Read Full Review » -
25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
As far as these things go, the film's violence is not outrageously excessive. Read Full Review » -
25
-
0
Salon.com
As a symbol of what some filmmakers and some studios think the public will buy, it's a horrific piece of work. How dare anyone put this piece of c--- in front of me. How dare anyone put it in front of YOU. Read Full Review » -
0
New York Post
Shoddily made, boring and, most shockingly, without a single decent scare. Read Full Review » -
0
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
A sustained if wildly uncoordinated assault on our senses, complementing those feverish jump cuts with a cliché of equally stunning proportions Read Full Review » -
0
Slate
I'd like to tell you about the remake of The Amityville Horror (MGM), but I ankled after less than five minutes. It was something about the little girl holding the stuffed animal getting blown away with a shotgun at point-blank range. Read Full Review »
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