Amityville Christmas Vacation is barely a movie. It’s only forty-seven minutes long. It’s shot in mostly one location using only a handful of actors on the lowest of budgets. There’s almost enough of an idea here to fill a fake three-minute Grindhouse style trailer, and even then, that’s being somewhat generous.
Some fake Amityville movies play it straight. Some intentionally go for laughs. Most of the time, the ones that play it straight end up getting more laughs than the ones that intentionally go for them. This one has charm to spare, and even an occasional (intentional) laugh or two. I guess what I’m getting at is that it’s far from the worst fake Amityville movie out there.
Wally Griswold (writer/director Steve Rudzinski, the man who gave us CarousHELL) is a cop who wins an all-expense paid vacation to a B & B in Amityville. The only other tenant is a ghost who must haunt and kill him. Naturally, they wind up falling in love, because, after all, it’s Christmas.
I’m kind of a fan of Rudzinski’s films. If we are setting the bar at CarousHELL, then Amityville Christmas Vacation falls short of that marker, but it’s about on par with CarousHELL 2, which isn’t too shabby. Sure, it has its fair share of gags that fall flat. However, it remains relatively entertaining throughout, especially during the scenes that parody Hallmark Christmas movies.
Rudzinski is basically a one-man show in this. He gamely carries the movie while tossing off one-liners to no one in particular. He kind of has a Bruce Campbell quality about him. You know, the ability to be the only one on screen, and while utilizing little more than his plucky spirit, is able to successfully sell the cheesy dialogue and effects and make them work. While I can’t say this is overall his best effort, I will be the first one in line should he choose to direct and star in Amityville Vegas Vacation.
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