No Amity Here

Today I'd been sucked in by a stupid movie. I turned on the TV and saw it, chuckled, pressed the TiVo arrow to make it rewind and lo and behold, the start of the film! (It just happened to be the half hour in recorded TiVo memory.) What movie? Amityville II: The Possession. Hadn't seen this one before. You know what amazed me? It's a better movie than the remake which came out not so long ago. (Dragonfly and I sometimes go to bad horror movies on purpose and have Thai food.) And seriously, this sequel to the original film turned out superior. Oh don't worry, I'm not even going to try and tell you it's a good movie. It's not. It's filled with plotholes, there's not a genuine scare in it and it's utterly laughable. But that's my point. Still, it's a better film. [In all honesty, some terrific make-up and transmogrification F/X, though.]

All the aforementioned aside, what bothered me is that it had nothing to do with Amityville. Oh sure, the famous house with it's allegedly Jack-O-Lantern shaped eyes featured prominently. But here's the thing: It didn't have to. It could have been any haunted house story. No real connection (other than someone going crazy and killing the family) could be made to the original. No one even mentioned the history of the house. And someone going crazy and killing the family could happen to anyone. Wait...ok, you know what I mean. Next, it suddenly transferred to a poorly executed The Exorcist. (Should have known from the title, I suppose.) Two movies going on in the same film and neither one done any justice. And STILL, better than the latest incarnation of The Amityville Horror.

But what really set me off toward the keyboard is the use of religious iconography as a bane to the dark forces haunting houses and people. Of course, it's not just this particular movie. It's not the first time I thought of this issue. The problem I have applys to any film with such elements. But it struck me again watching this movie. And my problem? Why is it that Christian symobls and words are what offends and gets rid of the evil? There are plenty of other religious icons out there. What if the evil is of a different faith? I'm sorry, it's presumptuous and rude.

Okay, that's my two cents.