HOUSE-hunters beware: If the stress and strain of finding a property and securing a mortgage doesn't kill you, the vengeful spirit of the previous owner just might.

Fantastical as it sounds, The Amityville Horror is based on a chilling true story.

In November 1974, Suffolk Country Police were called to a large Dutch Colonial house in the quaint community of Amityville.

Officers discovered a nightmarish scene of carnage and devastation.

Ronald Defeo Jr had slaughtered his entire family in their beds, claiming that ghostly voices within the house drove him to commit the grisly, unspeakable murders.

One year later, George Lutz (Ryan Reynolds) and his wife Kathy (Melissa George) view the house, which has remained empty ever since the tragedy.

They fall in love with the stunning interiors and breathtaking waterside views.

When the estate agent (Annabel Armour) eventually reveals the house's terrible history, the young couple remains resolute. "Houses don't kill people - people kill people," says George logically.

So the Lutz's move into the Ocean Avenue property with their three children Billy (Jesse James), Michael (Jimmy Bennett) and Chelsea (Chloe Grace Moretz).

Having barely settled in, the new homeowners experience bizarre and inexplicable events.

George hears haunting voices from the evil presence which still lurks within the building: "Catch 'Em, Kill 'Em".

Little Chelsea seeks solace in her imaginary friend called Jodie.

Kathy struggles to hold her family together as George's increasing erratic behaviour threatens the safety of her children.

While her husband retreats to the basement and his lucid visions, Kathy begs local priest Father Callaway (Phillip Baker Hall) for help. The holy man quickly surmises the scale of the problem.

Twenty-eight days after moving in, the Lutz family flees for its life... if the house will let them.

The Amityville Horror is a competent remake of the 1979 cult classic starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger.

This new version, from the producers of the recently updated Texas Chainsaw Massacre, remains remarkably faithful to the original film; virtually shot-for-shot in some scenes.

However, with the advances in special effects, it's perhaps inevitable that director Andrew Douglas and screenwriter Scott Kosar should choose to show the ghosts of the murdered Defeo family, still trapped in the living hell of the house.

A sequence involving the baby-sitter (Rachel Nichols) is genuinely spooky and Douglas provides a couple of nice surprises and shocks.

Reynolds and George are both solid (the former spending almost the entire film in a gratuitous state of bare-chested undress) while the kids look suitably terrified.

The Amityville Horror is an entertaining diversion but the true story behind the film is ultimately far more unsettling than anything conjured on the big screen here.

Rating: 6/10