Director – Henrique Couto (Nothing Good Ever Happens, Scarewaves)
Starring – Allison Egan (Halloween Spookies, Her Name Was Torment 2), Julia Gomez (Calamity Jane’s Revenge), and Josh Miller (CarousHELL, Applecart)
Release Date – 2016
Rating – 2/5
Most people see a movie’s title or artwork and instantly bashes it. I tend to be more open minded to film. With that being said, I typically don’t like found footage flicks. There has been a few that has popped up over the years that I did. I did enjoy the classic The Blair Witch Project and Henrique Couto’s Alone in the Ghost House. Sadly, most of the other’s I’ve seen were not that great and left me extremely bored. Just because I tend to dislike found footage flicks doesn’t mean I go into them full of hate. I’m always open minded.
Recently, Couto released a new found footage film that taps into a classic paranormal phenomenon, Amityville. His new film, Amityville: No Escape once again takes fans down the found footage rabbit hole. I was able to pick up a copy at Cinema Wasteland from Couto and couldn’t wait to check it out.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a group of college students working on a documentary as they head to Amityville to hopefully capture some supernatural presence on camera. One of the crew members was able to get their hands on a VHS tape that belonged to someone who bought the famous Amityville house in 1997. The group spends a few nights in the woods and are terrorized by a young girl wearing a dress. When they try to leave they quickly discover that the woods are alive and it doesn’t want them to leave.**Spoiler Alert**
A lot of the pop horror fans love the Amityville Horror films. I have to admit that I enjoy the first one as well but this story has been run into the ground with all the sequels, remakes, and unofficial sequels. Henrique is a very versatile filmmaker that has surprised me with his horror and comedies. I can only think of one time that I was not a fan of Couto’s work and that was his filmBleeding Through. Amityville: No Escape is another flick of his that I just did not enjoy.
The acting in this one is hit or miss with me. I really enjoyed Josh Miller, Julia Gomez, and Allison Egan’s performance. They all work very well with each other and their dialogue just feels natural. The supporting cast alright but they do come across as forced.
The story for this one feels like two different films came together to create what we are given. The segment following the lonely woman in the house feels like a great found footage angle that was never full capitalized on. There is so much that could have been done with this. The second portion, the film crew camping, doesn’t really feel like it was meant to be an Amityville film. When most people think of Amityville they think of the unique looking house where the couple was murdered. They typically don’t think of people camping. It feels like these two things were filmed separately and put together to make a longer film. Pulled apart they would be better films but together you run into an inconsistent film.
Finally, there is a few deaths but they take place off camera and are nothing that bloody or gruesome. The effects we get are very minimal considering what we get. Overall, Amityville: No Escape was not for me. The story felt like it was pulling apart and borrowed some from The Blair Witch Project. Fans of found footage will enjoy it but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
