Amitville: The Awakening is one of many films that suffered at the hands of the Weinsteins, first from re-shoots and re-edits, then from the scandal. It was supposed to come out in 2012, then finally appeared in 2017 as a limited theatrical release. I caught it with it on Netflix this past weekend. The film's storied history, which is almost as storied as that house in Amityville, is a black mark against an otherwise harmless film; one that is better than of most The Amityville Horror's sequels and remakes. Here we get a good, female-focused horror movie that relies on atmosphere and The Amityville Horror legend for it's suspense and scares. Yup, this movie takes place in a world where Jay Anson's book and the series of films exists. This adds an interesting and fun layer to the movie, especially a sequence where some of the characters watch Stuart Rosenberg's movie in the Amityville house at 3:15 a.m. Novel approach aside, there isn't much going on here...

There's only one director alive who can drive a movie with dialogue, and his name is Quentin Tarantino. Love him or not, love his movies or not, you gotta admit the man has a gift for great gab. How much you like his work depends on how much you like talky movies with bursts of graphic violence. I've only disliked one -- Jackie Brown. And it wasn't even bad. Just not memorable. Sure Pulp Fiction made the writer/director a star, but I think his movies got increasingly better with time. Self indulgent? Sure. But I believe his skills have matured like a good Scotch.