Remake

Well this was going to concern the fact that the excellent "The Amityville Horror" has been remade, on general release here today. I havn't seen it yet, but come on... how often are remakes of good films worthwhile? Anyway, what is really concerning me is that the Stratford (East London, not upon-Avon) Picture House are doing PARENT AND BABY SCREENINGS. For The Amityville Horror. Am I the only person to find this to be just a little bit inappropriate?

EDIT: According to BBC Radio 5 Live film critic Mark Kermode, the whole demonic possession bit was invented by the defense lawyers for the guy who got prosecuted for killing his family. This was news to me, but makes the (original) film seem like even more fun. Kermode's analysis says that the original is so great because of the subtext dealing with moving house (money flying everywhere at one point as the house eats the family's assets). Thus, anyone too young (or too rich? does this explain why so many film critics slated it?) to understand what mortgages are about won't appreciate it. I reckon all this is going a bit far... but I'm guessing he's basically right - the original had a lot of strong points for what it is, while the remake looks atrocious (as usual - these are the people who remade the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, apparently). They even cut it to ensure an R-rating (and here, a 15 rating). Wimps. By the way, a special edition DVD of the 1979 version came out here this week.