An Amityville Poltergeist (2020) Poster

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2/10
An Amityville Boredom...
paul_haakonsen18 May 2021
Well, a couple of alarm bells went off when I saw the cover for this 2020 movie, yet I still opted to sit down and watch it. Why? Well, because it was a movie that I hadn't already seen, so why not?

And the alarm bells that went off here were first and foremost the mentioning of the name Amityville. Yeah, that instantly made me think 'oh no, not another dubious movie cashing in on the Amityville name and the old classic from 1979. And then there were the mentioning of a poltergeist, which seemed rather out of place when set in Amityville. And of course there were the strange Gollum-like creature sitting at the front of the movie's cover.

Let me just be the first to say that "An Amityville Poltergeist" is a boring movie. So incredibly slow paced, boring and downright pointless. It felt like writers Calvin Morie McCarthy and Jon Ashley Hall weren't even trying to churn out something wholesome and worthwhile.

The storyline is just unfathomably boring. I kid you not when I say that there weren't a single scary moment in the entire movie - well, unless you consider being bored to an early grave as being scary. And the writing was just laughable, which goes for the characters, the dialogue and the happenings throughout the monotonous and slow paced storyline.

The acting in "An Amityville Poltergeist" was pretty much as you would expect from a movie such as this one. But it should be said that I have seen worse performances in other movies, so at least they were on the right track here. Just a shame that they had literally nothing to work with in terms of script, dialogue and characters.

Visually then "An Amityville Poltergeist" was just a swing and miss. There was nothing even remotely near to being proper horror here. The entire movie was just permeated by a very distinct feeling of a homemade horror movie project. So don't expect to be sitting down to watch a movie with great special effects, make-up or props. It just simply isn't with miles reach of the movie.

I gave up on "An Amityville Poltergeist" with just 20 minutes left. But by then I was so bored out of my mind that I just couldn't take another minute of the torture and boredom that is "An Amityville Poltergeist".

Oh, and before I forget, there is no ties to the Amityville at all here, aside from cashing in on the name. As for there being a poltergeist haunting, nope. And that strange Gollum-like creature? Nope. I don't even know why it even made an appearance on the movie's cover actually.

My rating of director Calvin Morie McCarthy's 2020 movie lands on a two out of ten stars. There are worse movies out there, believe you me. But "An Amityville Poltergeist" is definitely a contender up far on the list of bad horror movies. I can't recommend that you waste your time, money or effort on a movie such as this. Some of us suffered through the ordeal to greater or smaller extend, so you don't have to.
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2/10
This is not a movie.
Patient44428 May 2021
Wow, I've seen a lot of indie horrors, small projects, but genuinely nothing like this. Everything was below amateur style, with terrible acting, it tried to present 2 stories in this so called plot, that was confusing and confused, and even more amazing is the fact that they managed to fill 90 minutes somehow.

Simply put, NO horror, no real story just time passing by and frustration growing more and more. It was a harsh experience, that I did manage to finish, but I have to say that I regret starting it. I gained nothing after viewing An Amityville Poltergeist, well, the question How did they manage to link this to the Amityville did stuck with me for a while. It's all that I have left.

For real this is worst than an Asylum production, and that is saying a lot. Be careful, whoever you are and whatever your intentions are. You won't get this time back.

Cheers!
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1/10
A boy housesitting the haunted house
qyzenreviews18 May 2021
"I had a nightmare I think someone was there in the house."

The same rehash plot being used in these types of horror films.

The title is floating as it has nothing to do with The Amityville or The Poltergeist.

The cinematography has colors such has blue and purple however, there's nothing in the movie to worth looking for.

Giving it one star since they attempted to accomplish something yet the outcome is feeble as dementia.

Likewise, the poster is misleading, I lament watching this and I definitely want to save some a few eyes being paralyzed.
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2/10
Amityville in name only!
collectorofsorts23 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Why do so many low budget movies these days begin with a scene of kids getting high? Does it ever lead to character development? Well, maybe with the Chris Tucker character 'Smokey' in the Friday movies. But not as a general rule. I watched a half hour of this junk before I said NO MORE and shut off. It's boring and unoriginal. It has nothing to do with the original Amityville. It's just a rip-off of the Amityville name. Basically, the cover shot of the old mansion and the gargoyle is more interesting that the movie.
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2/10
OH NOOOOO
BandSAboutMovies2 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Once, this movie was called No Sleep, then Don't Sleep, then it became an Amityville movie because that's what you do sometimes if you want your movie to get out there, I guess. Hey - director and co-writer Calvin Morie McCarthy is out there doing it, I guess.

So anyways, as you can guess, this has nothing to do with Amityville, yet when has that stopped us in the past?

Jim is a poor college student who gets a House of the Devil job housesitting for a strange woman named Eunice, even after he's been warned that the house itself is evil. Right away, he can't sleep what with all the nightmares and the supernatural stuff that happens when he's awake may be even worse.

Of course, most of this movie takes place in a room with people just talking to one another. It gets boring and yet never gets into murderdrone territory where it feels like the kind of mind numbing drugs that my brain demands, instead being merely like drinking an O'Doul's and wondering why you're not drunk.

I realize that they're going to keep making Amityville movies and I'm going to keep watching them. Here are a few of my free titles to improve the streaming schlock that hopefully has at least something small to do with 112 Ocean Avenue:

Amityville Alien 50 Shades of Amityville Once Upon a Time...In Amityville Amityville Giallo Amityville Christmas Amityville Ouija Party Amityville Police Academy Don't Go in the Basement of the Amityville Death House House of 1000 Amityville Horrors Amityville Avengers

I literally have thousands of these and I await any streaming production company that wants more.
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1/10
Ma!
nogodnomasters29 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The film opens with a bad teaser. Jim (Parris Bates) a boring sad sack who can't hold a conversation house sits while the couple takes Ma (Rebecca Kimble) out of there. There are flashbacks to when Ma was in the house. The ghost scenes have a blue tint to them. The poltergeist on the cover does not appear in the film, instead there is a bad imitation of the Juon woman.

Low budget and very boring.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
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1/10
Dreadful
bobbird-8494628 May 2021
Wow! Everything from the plot, the acting, sound, the dialogue and the cinematography was appalling. Who on Earth thought this film was a good idea??? A special mention for the make-up people who did the so called "scary" parts, I hope they get well soon.
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10/10
Worth a watch!
asiaarts1 April 2022
I honestly thought it was worth watching. Fun night with the friends! Spooky, fun. It's low budget but well put together! I understand that distribution retitled it from "Don't Sleep" so going in I knew not to treat it like an Amityville movie, because that would be unfair. It's its own movie an entity. 100% no regrets, worth watching!
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6/10
I nearly wrote this movie off and didn't watch...However...
stuart-james22 September 2022
Compared to the other B grade Amityville movies I have seen, this one was able to provide a few genuinely creepy moments, reminiscent to The Ring and Grudge.

The acting wasn't great, but I have seen much worse.

How it has the same low rating as Amityville im the Hood..No idea!

I't's better than that. This is actually able to keep you entertained and provide a few chills.

And the CGI whilst obviously B grade didn't stray too far off nailing the eeriness of the original grudge movies. In all honesty, I might Give the recent Grudge release another chance. But I actually thought this was a better film.
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10/10
A different spin on the long tired "Amityville" knock offs
tora38 April 2022
AN Amityville Poltergeist is something of an enigma. It's clear is was never intended to be an Amityville film, and it just had the title slapped on to sell to horror fans.

It's not great, and obviously extremely low budget, yet...it does have a different feel to it than some of the other cynically made "sequels" in the franchise. The movie is at least trying to be scary. It's trying to hold your attention. It's trying to be better than it is.

For all intents and purposes, I'd say it punches above its weight class.
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