The Amityville Curse (2023) by Éric Tessier

Director: Éric Tessier

Year: 2023

Country: Canada

Alternate Titles: The Amityville Terror

Genre: Haunted House

Plot:

Moving into an infamous house, a group of friends look at it as a means of buying a cheap piece of property to then be able to flip it, but the more they stay there the more devious and violent their lives become as they start to believe something supernatural is in the house that is out to kill them.

Review:

Overall, this is a pretty solid genre effort. One of the better features here is the generally enjoyable setup that manages to get things going on a high note. Delving into the backstory of the house only briefly as the new occupants move in almost immediately, this avoids all the pointless retreads of the popular myth and allows the atmosphere of the house to work itself out quite nicely. A lot of the work in this early section here, focusing on the series of strange encounters that take place here as a means of setting up the various interconnecting storylines that follow including personal jealousy, professional hardships, and the various strained relationships it causes that develop over time so everything that arises serves the film well.

That brings about the series of interactions inside the house that highlight the supernatural living inside. Starting with flickering lights, tripping over objects that weren’t there, and things moving when they shouldn’t, the escalation into more overt supernatural activity involving the dreams of the spirits coming to torment the one victim, the series of deaths that take place to the figures who come to visit or the increasing number of the group who stay there. As most of these incidents focus on the usual series of whispering voices in the background exerting influence over them so that the incidents are filled with misguided motivations, there’s a fun chaotic energy at play here that leads into the frantic finale. This has the most action trying to bring things to a head as there are some fantastic confrontations, some fun reveals, and much more going on here that ends the film at a high point.

This one doesn’t have much to hold it back but there are some issues present. The main drawback to this is the rampant sense of stupidity here that keeps them in the house even though someone in the friend group is killed off barely twenty minutes into the film. That happens constantly enough after that point that it’s hard to fathom any kind of reality where the immediate thought isn’t to leave and just ignore the house based on the severity of the situation and the actions taken here. It never feels logical or reasonable why someone would stay there given the events that have taken place, especially since it pulls the death card out so early which is a fantastic shock but never seems to be played properly as that would seem to showcase the fact that there’s something there and not dealing with it is a big issue to overcome.

The other factor with this one is a major part of the finale which may have some great points about it but also has a big drawback to it. The whole series of revelations brought up here is fine enough as a means of continuing the action, but there’s also the fact that this brings about so many unnecessary factors to try to make this feel shocking or clever. Instead, this one tends to go on a bit too long by having so many of these ideas at play that there’s the chance it can also wear out its welcome. As well, there’s also the film’s somewhat flat and low-budget look that might make this a hard one to get through as this is all quite obvious from the start and is what brings it down.

Overview: ***.5/5

A far better-than-expected haunted house effort, this one manages to get quite a lot to like while having enough that brings it down it remains just below what it could've been. Those who enjoy this kind of indie effort, are curious about it, or appreciate the 'Amityville' style of feature while most others out there who don't like these kinds of features should heed caution.