When horror fans think of iconic haunted house films, The Amityville Horror quickly comes to mind. Since that 1979 classic was released there have been over three dozen films to take on the Amityville name to varying degrees of quality. Now the latest trailer for the next Amityville film, Amityville Christmas Vacation, looks to get you in the literal ghoulish holiday spirit.
The trailer for the film sees the main character Wally winning a trip to the infamous Amityville murder house where he then ends up falling in love with one of the ghosts that roam the house’s deadly halls. If that sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is. Amityville Christmas Vacation is being pegged as a “wacky parody” of both the horror franchise and romantic Christmas films. This film is not to be taken seriously as the trailer, which in itself is a parody of Hallmark-like affairs, has the “two opposites” dealing with their new-found feelings for one another. We see the ghost woman trying to kill Wally before they inevitably fall in love next to a Christmas tree and mistletoe. There are also funny implications that Wally, to no one’s shock, didn’t win a contest at all and is just breaking into someone’s home.
The Amityville franchise has seen so many truly bizarre iterations over the years. In its forty-plus films, Amityville has been to space, dealt with the Karens of the world, had a demonic Thanksgiving dinner, and dabbled in time travel. Horror fans would think by now the series had exhausted all their options, but Amityville Christmas Vacation just seems like the franchise’s final festive destination.
Long gone are the days when James Brolin and Margot Kidder sent chills down horror fans’ spines. However, Christmas horror movies are very hot right now. Classics like Black Christmas, Silent Night, Deadly Night, and Krampus are genre staples while brilliant films like Anna and the Apocalypse have shown that Christmas horror-comedies can be done extremely well. While the low-budget nature of the trailer makes it clear this is not the next Christmas classic, Amityville Christmas Vacation could be a fun distraction that horror fans are looking for to avoid family time this holiday season. Plus this latest jolly, frightful installment is only 47 minutes long. Even so, hopefully, this film is as funny as the ridiculous premise sounds and not as cringeworthy as the trailer looks.
Amityville Christmas Vacation is on VOD now. While we wait to see what this crazy franchise will think of next, you can watch the trailer for this frosty demonic romance down below.