Do we really need another Amityville Horror movie?  When news first broke that a new one was in the works, I’d say probably not, but now that our very first glimpse of Amityville: The Awakening is here, it actually looks like it has some potential.  This rendition is led by Bella Thorne.  Her character moves into the notorious Suffolk County, Long Island house with her mother and sister because her brother was in a terrible accident, is now in a coma and there’s a hospital in the area that has the best neurological department in the state.

We’ve definitely got some genre clichés here, namely a moody teenager who doesn’t want to start over at a new school, some creepy dolls and a handful of jump scares, but even then, the first Amityville: The Awakening trailer is far better than I expected.  Hit the jump to check it out for yourself.  The film also stars Cameron Monaghan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Thomas Mann and Mckenna Grace, and is due in theaters on January 2, 2015.

Again, there are some very familiar genre tropes here, but this whole bedridden brother angle could be what sets it apart.  You can only see the Amityville nightmare play out so many times before you know exactly what’s coming.  Monaghan’s coma, however, adds a new layer to that narrative.  Is he communicating with the force in the house?  How is it affecting him compared to the rest of his family?  Can he control it?  Will he work with Thorne’s character to survive?

It’s totally reasonable to be skeptical about a horror franchise that has gone on and on, but this promo does suggest that Amityville: The Awakening could have more to it than most.

Via Yahoo! Movies.

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