‘Amityville Ripper’ Is a Parody of the ‘Franchise’… and Itself [The Amityville IP]

Twice a month Joe Lipsett will dissect a new Amityville Horror film to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”

After a brief detour to cover off Geno McGahee’s Amityville: The Final Chapter aka Sickle, we’re back in 2023 with writer/director Bobby Canipe Jr’s Amityville Ripper. Based on the title and the premise, you’d be forgiven for misconstruing this as a tired attempt to force a slasher narrative in an Amityville film, which would be (partially) accurate if it weren’t for the film’s extremely meta approach.

For the first act or so, Canipe Jr’s film plays like a somewhat poorly executed indie film. The characterizations are weak, the premise is paper thin and it feels like subplots are going nowhere. Then, around the 25 minute mark, two characters break the fourth wall to confirm the name of the film they’re in with the film crew.

The result is a gentle lampooning of the Amityville “franchise” in ways that feel even more self-aware than previous titles (see: Amityville Christmas Vacation, The Last Amityville Film). Here the characters know about the bad reputation of the “series,” but they also complain about the quality of the film itself, including the bad script, and the fact that no one knows what happens because the script was delivered late, etc.

In some ways it’s a clever way of addressing the film’s obvious shortcomings, particularly its cheap aesthetic, single location, occasional “bad” acting and wafer-thin characters. On the other hand, the repeated nods to the film as a product eventually undermines the film itself, especially when Canipe Jr leans on the joke so much in the last two acts that it threatens to become stale.

The result is a halfway successful film that is equal parts amusing, and equal parts frustrating.

The basic narrative is this: Marianne (Kelsey Ann Baker) has New Years plans with best friend Annie (Angel Nichole Bradford). They plan to perform a séance with a knife recovered from an estate sale of the Amityville house that purportedly belonged to Jack the Ripper.

The problem is that Marianne’s (step) brother, Nicols (Hunter Redfern) wants to have a disruptive party because their parents are out of town. They, along with wheelchair-bound Chapman (Ryan Martel) and cheerleader Liz (Anna Clary), are then hunted by Jack (Josh Allman) who slashes his way through a party of unassuming extras.

The violence is infrequent and often offscreen, though Canipe Jr wisely opts for practical blood over CGI, which looks much better when we see Jack’s victims. And even though by the last act the screenplay is relying too much on self-referential dialogue, there’s still funny bits to be found. One particularly amusing interaction occurs when the survivors refuse to say inane dialogue the point that the director steps in to demand they stop going off script.

The problem is that because Amityville Ripper openly mocks every aspect of itself, the film acts as if nothing truly matters. Sometimes this works, such as when Liz observes that Nicols and Annie (now dead) never got together and Canipe Jr acknowledges from offscreen that he forgot, but it doesn’t matter.

It is less effective, however, when the film dedicates a significant amount of screen time to subplots or character beats that have little bearing on the film other than to pad the 80 minute runtime. One grating example is the multiple references to queerness, including Chapman and Nicols’ belief that Marianne and Annie are “lezzing” out before the séance, as well as the suggestion that Chapman is queer and has feelings for Nicols. The latter piece, in particular, is interesting, but the film hand waves it away with the suggestion that the characters are simply inconsistent and underwritten.

The film also opens with a substantial montage of news reports about an increase in alien and UFO sightings. This ties into the finale when the day is randomly saved by a passing spaceship, which makes for a mildly amusing final joke, but the focus on aliens (instead of say, Jack, who appears past the half-way point of the film) is confused. It’s an extra element that distracts from the film’s villain and central premise.

Overall, Amityville Ripper is an occasionally fun and clever meta-riff on both the “franchise” and, more specifically, its lackluster sequels. At several points the film becomes little more than a parody of itself, however, which detracts rather than adds to its jokey commentary.

Still, there’s a novelty in the brazenness of the humor and trying something new 50 plus films in.

The Amityville IP Awards go to…

• Defining Elements: When I guested on the Mubi podcast to discuss the “series,” I mentioned incest as a defining element of the best sequels. Here there’s a recurring joke about Nicols being inappropriate with his sister, to the point that Marianne asks for clarification from the director about whether they’re brother/sister or step-siblings.

  • There’s also a sequence in which a character loudly farts, which has happened more than once, including in Amityville Karen.
• Disability Rep (or lack thereof): There’s an unusual moment when Nicols is forced to push Chapman around and the film goes out of its way to explain that the latter character has a broken leg due to a football injury (despite not wearing a cast). It’s a bizarre choice…until Nicols himself acknowledges that it doesn’t make sense (“Brother, it’s an Amityville film. Shit’s different here.”) This is a prime example of Canipe Jr using self-aware dialogue to explain any inconsistency or odd choice in his own script.

• Meta Humor: The single best example of the film’s humor is the first time it is used. It’s extremely jarring when Marianne and Annie turn to the camera and ask the audience if the séance is what we want them to do.

  • My second favorite example is when a pizza man arrives at the party and observes that Jack’s outfit is a Dracula costume from Amazon. Allman, who has been speaking in a generic UK accent, breaks character to demand – in a Southern accent – if this is true. Canipe Jr confirms the statement from off-camera, admitting that production company SRS, who is responsible for the vast majority of the later Amityville films, doesn’t give them much money.
  • Third best is when Marianne gestures at the partygoers: “Dammit, all of these people are extras; they haven’t even read the script and don’t know they’re in danger.” This is followed by Liz having a literal lightbulb moment involving a cartoon image about how to proceed. It’s all very silly.
• Confusing humor: Less successful is when Liz notes that she’s sober because “the director wrote it into the script!” Does this suggest that Liz simply doesn’t understand that a director and writer are different roles? Or is she merely conflating the two since Canipe Jr occupies both on this production?

Next time: the “franchise” finally moves into 2024 with the return of vets Shawn C. Phillips and Julie Anne Prescott and the introduction of <gasp> Eric Roberts?! It’s Amityville Bigfoot time.