Amityville Horror at a glance

The first scene of the 2005 remake of 'The Amityville Horror' depicts the night of November 13, 1974, the night Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his entire family in their sleep with a .35 caliber rifle. The scene centers on the Ronny's movement through the house on that night and the intensity building up as he closed in on his younger sister, Jodie.


This particular scene does not stick to the general to specific shot progression. One of the very first shots in the scene is that of an extreme close-up of Ronny's face. This Extreme Close-Up of the reflection in Ronny's eyes provides viewers with extremely personal information about Ronny. Through this shot, viewers can see just how much of an effect the voices and images in his head had on him to make him do what he did.


There were several instances of close-ups in this scene, so I chose two of them. This shot of a close-up on Jodie DeFeo in her closet after Ronny finds her hiding there highlights Jodie's fear and her concern for her brother. This is the shot where she says, "What's wrong, Ronny?" In the next shot of a close-up on Ronny, we can see the tears running down his face. We also catch a glimpse of the emotional battle within himself as he gives in to the voices telling him to kill his sister, despite how much he loves her.


This medium shot of Jodie hiding in her closet with her teddy bear gives the audience a better view of Jodie's body language as she moves into somewhat of a fetal-position as she hugs her teddy bear tightly, showing how frightened she is as she listens to the gunshots echoing throughout the house. This shot also functions as a way of showing how powerless she feels since she takes up relatively little space in the shot. In addition, this shot includes Jodie's teddy bear, an important detail that reappears later in the film.


The last shot of the scene is a long shot of Jodie's room from the outside of the house after Ronny's last shot is fired. This particular shot is very important as it ties the whole scene together. The sign that reads "High Hopes" highlights the horror of what had just happened in the house, because there were high hopes for the future of the DeFeo family, and that was all taken away in one night. The shot also shows the weather outside the house: torrential rain, thunder and lightening - very fitting considering the dark deeds that had just occurred inside the house.


Though the scene does not follow the basic shot progression from long shot to close-up, it effectively represents the emotions and feelings of the important characters (Ronny and Jodie) and also pays close attention to details that will become important later in the film.