Well if you're expecting originality from the eighth Amityville film in the series then you have too much faith in B-movies. This is of the standard haunted house drivel that has filled the late-night television screens of the '90s, although as a plus this ISN'T a television movie for once so we do get some more adult material not to be found in that watered-down format. There are a few things to recommend this film to genre fans, but don't expect too much as it simply rehashes all the tired old clichés that were done in previous haunted house movies. I'm reaching here.
Supernatural phenomena includes a pet mouse that turns into a giant mutant rat creature (only seen from under a bed, though, perhaps thankfully), chocolate sauce oozing down a staircase, a very nasty giant fly that returns from the dead and flies down someone's ear (not for the squeamish), a man getting nails driven through his feet (none gory but still shocking), a girl getting her head burnt by a possessed fireplace (!), a voodoo doll that comes to life and wreaks chaos, and the chief villain as a steadily decaying grinning zombie who brings to mind the one in HOUSE, for some reason. Although he's a weak and silly villain, his makeup job is fantastic.
For some reason the events are now centred around a possessed dollhouse, so how's that for the weakest link?! It doesn't make much difference in the course of things. There are various bits of stupidity (music deafens one character but he doesn't realise all he has to do is take his headphones off) as you would expect from a mainstream movie like this. Hey, at least it's filmed well with none of this annoying pseudo-stylish camera-work that has been marring films as of late.
The cast is a mixed bunch. We're stuck with a deadhead boring male lead (Robin Thomas) and an obnoxious teenage son who turns out to be not so bad after all. The intelligent daughter is an obvious descendant of Heather O'Rourke's character from POLTERGEIST while another timid child is just irritating. One of the highlights of the film for me was Starr Andreeff's performance as the step-mother, Claire; I found this actress to be absolutely GORGEOUS and the film doesn't disappoint on that front, as it were. Andreeff has also appeared in other horrors, mainly vampire films such as CLUB VAMPIRE which I'll be sure to check out.
Things get predictably over the top at the end, with a spiritual friend turning up to help out and a zombie going on a rampage in the house which is now full of red lights for some reason. Characters jump through fireplaces with scant regard for audience comprehension. Add to this cheesy dialogue such as "this is a place of evil" and you have the formula for a fun, but dumb, movie. Oh yeah and I forgot to mention the slimy full-size demons who turn up at the end to provide some menace before getting dispatched as the whole building explodes (again) in one of the most drawn-out destruction scenes ever filmed. We've all seen this sort of thing before but it's a time-wasting rehash.
Supernatural phenomena includes a pet mouse that turns into a giant mutant rat creature (only seen from under a bed, though, perhaps thankfully), chocolate sauce oozing down a staircase, a very nasty giant fly that returns from the dead and flies down someone's ear (not for the squeamish), a man getting nails driven through his feet (none gory but still shocking), a girl getting her head burnt by a possessed fireplace (!), a voodoo doll that comes to life and wreaks chaos, and the chief villain as a steadily decaying grinning zombie who brings to mind the one in HOUSE, for some reason. Although he's a weak and silly villain, his makeup job is fantastic.
For some reason the events are now centred around a possessed dollhouse, so how's that for the weakest link?! It doesn't make much difference in the course of things. There are various bits of stupidity (music deafens one character but he doesn't realise all he has to do is take his headphones off) as you would expect from a mainstream movie like this. Hey, at least it's filmed well with none of this annoying pseudo-stylish camera-work that has been marring films as of late.
The cast is a mixed bunch. We're stuck with a deadhead boring male lead (Robin Thomas) and an obnoxious teenage son who turns out to be not so bad after all. The intelligent daughter is an obvious descendant of Heather O'Rourke's character from POLTERGEIST while another timid child is just irritating. One of the highlights of the film for me was Starr Andreeff's performance as the step-mother, Claire; I found this actress to be absolutely GORGEOUS and the film doesn't disappoint on that front, as it were. Andreeff has also appeared in other horrors, mainly vampire films such as CLUB VAMPIRE which I'll be sure to check out.
Things get predictably over the top at the end, with a spiritual friend turning up to help out and a zombie going on a rampage in the house which is now full of red lights for some reason. Characters jump through fireplaces with scant regard for audience comprehension. Add to this cheesy dialogue such as "this is a place of evil" and you have the formula for a fun, but dumb, movie. Oh yeah and I forgot to mention the slimy full-size demons who turn up at the end to provide some menace before getting dispatched as the whole building explodes (again) in one of the most drawn-out destruction scenes ever filmed. We've all seen this sort of thing before but it's a time-wasting rehash.