Ryan Reynolds Played Against Type in One of His Only Attempts at Horror

When Ryan Reynolds was hired to play Deadpool, it was perfect casting. Not 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine so much, as with Deadpool unable to speak, the Ryan Reynolds we all know and love was censored. But then came the 2016 Deadpool, which was a major hit because Ryan Reynolds was allowed to be Ryan Reynolds. Most of his characters walk a similar beat (which is not a bad thing), with his comedic timing and mannerisms turning whatever he does into gold. However, in 2005, the comic actor tried something new when he was cast as the lead in 2005’s The Amityville Horror. If you’ve seen the original, you know there’s nothing funny about the story of a family moving into a supposedly haunted home where a mass murder once occurred. Arguably, that’s what makes Reynolds so terrifying, as him playing a man slowly losing his mind to possession is the last thing we’d ever expect to see from him. Ryan Reynolds is the best part of a flawed movie, and because of that, perhaps it’s time for him to return to the genre.

The Amityville Horror (2005)

Newlyweds are terrorized by demonic forces after moving into a large house that was the site of a grisly mass murder a year before.

Release Date

April 15, 2005

Director

Andrew Douglas

Runtime

89 Minutes

Writers

Scott Kosar

Budget

$19 Million

Studio(s)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Dimension Films , Platinum Dunes , Radar Pictures

Ryan Reynolds’ Career Before ‘The Amityville Horror’ Didn’t See Him Trying Scary Movies

Ryan Reynolds started his career in the mid ’90s as a TV actor. While he did have several roles in more horror-adjacent TV shows like The X-Files, In Cold Blood, and Outer Limits, it was 1998, when he landed the lead in the ABC sitcom Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place, that his time in the spotlight began to grow. However, Reynolds’ status really took off with 2002’s Van Wilder, the cult comedy that gave us the version of Reynolds we saw a glimpse of on the ABC sitcom, and now see over and over: that of the sarcastic, but lovable smartass.

Although he did land a role in the forgettable Blade: Trinity, comedy was his usual forte before and after The Amityville Horror, with roles in Definitely, Maybe, The Proposal, The Change Up, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, and Red Notice. No matter the genre, from rom-com to action, Reynolds’ approach never changed much. He was always going to be the one to make us laugh by making fun of everyone and everything around him. The scariest entity he ever faced was the uber-rageful Naomi (Alanna Ubach) in 2005’s Waiting… She was terrifying, but not even Naomi could compare to the movie that came out the same year.

Michael Bay Suggested Ryan Reynolds for ‘The Amityville Horror’

The Amityville Horror started as a popular book by Jay Anson. It’s based on the true events of the DeFeo mass murders that happened in a home in Amityville, New York in 1974. After that, what’s real and what isn’t becomes cloudy, as the next residents of the DeFeo home, the Lutzes, claimed that the house was haunted. They eventually fled the home, and Ed and Lorraine Warren came in to investigate, but many have said that the Lutzes made up what happened in the home just to make money. No matter the controversy, the book was a success and led to the equally popular movie adaptation of the same name starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder. The Amityville Horror was a huge success, becoming the second-biggest box office draw of 1979, just behind another Margot Kidder movie, Superman.

There were a string of disappointing sequels that came and went, but none could come close to the magic of the original. Then, as audiences got bored of the Scream era slasher wave, came the remake boon. After 2003’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot created a frightening new vision of Leatherface and family, every iconic horror film you could think of got the remake treatment. In 2005, it was The Amityville Horror‘s turn. One of the production companies behind the reboot was Platinum Dunes, founded in part by Michael Bay. Platinum Dunes was not only responsible for the reimagining of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. In a 2005 interview with Dread Central, director Andrew Douglas spoke about how he landed on his version of George Lutz – not the serious James Brolin, but the goofy and comedic Ryan Reynolds. Douglas revealed that it was actually Michael Bay who suggested Reynolds for the role. Now, while Michael Bay has made some loved movies, he’s also been criticized for many of his choices, but here he had a good reason for an unconventional move. Reynolds is the last man you would think to play a madman trying to murder his family with an axe, which was the point. Douglas said:

“I thought he was bringing too much beauty and too much comedy to the piece. But actually, when we cast him, it just changed. His performance was chilling… He used his physicality and his handsomeness to create something far more chilling than somebody who already looks mean. And I think that’s why Michael had the instinct to cast him.”

‘The Amityville Horror’ Proves That Ryan Reynolds Should Go back to the Genre

The Amityville Horror remake was largely dismissed as a paint-by-numbers lazy remake. It was further criticized for its use of jump scares over suspense, and its attempt to be so different from the original that it lost what appealed to the franchise’s audience in the first place. What saves it, however, is Ryan Reynolds, and no, it’s not just for those scenes of him shirtless walking around in the rain (though that probably didn’t hurt). Let’s see James Brolin do that!

Reynold plays the stepdad to wife Kathy Lutz’s (Melissa George) children, including an eight-year-old Chloë Grace Moretz as the adorable Chelsea. Reynold’s portrays George as a loving family man without an ounce of meanness to him. He comes off as what the real Ryan Reynolds might be like as a dad, funny and charming, but toned down, as if he’s not performing for a camera. An early scene has him sitting in bed having a serious talk with one of his kids, comforting and joking with them but also treating him like an equal and not a child. We can tell that George is listening, that he genuinely cares, and these kids aren’t a burden to him. Another scene has an older son not wanting to be driven to school, but being understanding, George tells his son he can drop him off down the block. We know this is how a traditional Ryan Reynolds character would act as a dad. Reynolds is undeniably great casting because he’s the everyman – someone silly and down-to-earth. We automatically root for him, so for someone like him to become the villain matters immediately and impacts the audience.

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There is nothing funny when George begins to be possessed by the house. He is chillingly serious and sinister, and not just in the big moments when he’s chasing down his family with an axe. Reynolds is actually scarier in the quieter moments, which is not something you would expect for someone who is known to not stop talking. The most suspenseful moment has him outside with his stepson Billy (Jesse James) cutting wood during the day. He makes Billy hold the wood as he swings the axe down close to his head, his face switching back and forth from cold and lifeless to bunched up and full of rage. Simply telling Billy not to cry in his deadened tone is enough to give you goosebumps, but when his whole body shakes as he grabs Billy by the face and says, “We’re friends, right?”, you want to look away from what he might do next. This isn’t the Ryan Reynolds we know, and it’s too much.

In his Dread Central interview, director Andrew Douglas compared Ryan Reynolds’ performance to Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in The Shining. Both men play a husband and father slowly losing their minds to a possessed house, and while I won’t claim that Reynolds is better than Nicholson, his role is different in one key way. If there’s one negative about having Nicholson as Jack Torrance, it’s that he’s an intense actor who has already played eccentric characters. There’s a reason he later became the Joker in Tim Burton‘s Batman. His trajectory in The Shining already feels expected, especially with dialogue revealing that he is an alcoholic who broke his son’s arm in a fit of rage. It’s a short walk to madness for Jack, but it’s a giant leap for George Lutz because Ryan Reynolds just doesn’t play characters like this, and George – at his core – is shown to be so good. The Amityville Horror set Ryan Reynolds up for more intense movies and if you haven’t seen Buried, be prepared to have your heart ripped out. He would later return to the genre in 2014 with The Voices but has largely stuck to his traditional sardonic comedy. Still, maybe one day he’ll come back to horror, a genre he’s so naturally good at.

2005’s The Amityville Horror is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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