The Amityville Horror (1979)

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

In 1974, A True Tragedy happened at 112 Ocean Avenue. Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his mother, father, two brothers, and two sisters. He was tried and convicted and serving life in prison.A year later George and Kathy Lutz seem to have found the perfect home for 80,000 dollars. They decide to take it because the price is a steal especially for all that's included. Along with George is Kathy's three kids, Matt( Meeno Peluce), Greg( K.C. Martel), and Amy( Natasha Ryan). As soon as they start to move in strange things begin to happen. The appearance of flies in the dead of winter, strange smells, and sharp temperature drops. An example, when George complains about it feeling 32 degrees when the register shows it's 70 in the house. Due to the murders the previous year the Lutz's talk to their Priest about blessing the house. They have a personal relationship with him, and what the evil gone from their new home. When Father Delaney( Rod Steigler) arrives, he starts upstairs. He seems like he still feels an evil presence in the house. While he is getting prepared, he notices the appearance of flies on the window. When he begins, those flies multiply to about 20. Father Delaney gets up, it suddenly gets silent and a demonic voice yells " GET OUT". The Father starts to get violently ill, and leaves. As the days go by the Lutz's face more horrors. The appearance of black sludge in the toilets, strange accidents, a door blowing off it's hinges from the inside, locked doors with no locks on it, and the appearance of a pig in the upstairs window. One of the most bizarre things that happened was the missing money. Kathy's brother, Jimmy, is getting married. He counts 1500 dollars 3 times because the caterer wants cash. When he goes to check his pocket it's not there. The Lutz's look everywhere, it's gone. It is never explained what happened to it, but later that night George finds one of the money wrap that holds 500 dollars.During The Lutz's time at the house George becomes more withdrawn, hateful, and starts neglecting his business. Kathy decides to do some investigating on her own about the house, and the murders the year before. She finds the house has a very dark past that goes back for 100's of years. When she returns home, she hides the kids from George. George has become more possessed, he starts toward the house yelling Kathy and the kids names. When he finds Kathy and the kids, he grabs her by the neck. All of a sudden he snaps out of it and realizes what he is doing. It is time for them to get out, before the house has complete control of them. The Lutz's escape and survive only 28 days @ 112 Ocean Avenue, never to return.I saw this movie when I was really young about 7 yrs. old. It was very scary then and it still holds that scare factor now. I love the whole vibe of the movie and the book is great. I have the DVD and it is just on that you can watch over and over. The one thing I didn't know back then was the De Feo murders, actually the first part of the movie is true. I don't know how much truth is to The Lutz's story, but it still gives me the CHILLS. This film also includes performances by Murray Hamiliton( JAWS) and Don Stroud ( Father Bolen). I would recommend this film to anyone, it lives up to the hype, and will make your skin crawl.

The Amityville Horror certainly isn't the best haunted house film out there, but it's not so bad. In fact I'll say it's "pretty good," so long as "pretty good" stands for slightly less than "good." The establishing shots of the house are excellent. Who can forget those creepy attic windows that look like jack-o-lantern eyes! I love the background music. Now-a-days, creepy music is often replaced by the sounds of electronic jolts and thuds. Who can resist those singing children and their haunting "la la's"? I sure can't! The book is better, but the film stands on its own. The book is able to cover more ground, but that is to be expected since the book has 300 + pages compared to the film's 2 hours of footage. What the film is able to capture with its limited amount of time is done reasonably well. The mood is eerie, the characters are mostly well developed, especially Rod Stieger as Father DeLaney. Katherine Lutz's character could have used a bit more development.For a more comprehensive review of the Amityville Saga, please check my IMDb profile and for the link to my blog - TheBooksofDaniel

I'm a sucker for a good old-fashioned haunted house movie and THE AMITYVILLE HORROR is one of those all right – with the added frisson of being (supposedly) based on a true story! It's a film made at the tail-end of the 1970s replete with that fine '70s atmosphere. And atmosphere is what this film is all about; it creates a truly sinister look and feel as it depicts what happens to the innocent Lutz family after they move into a house that was the site of a previous massacre. From the title cards telling us the days of the week (building up a fine sense of foreboding) to the constant weird things going on, this film is predictable and entertainingly so. Swarms of bluebottles appearing out of nowhere, a sinister hidden room in the basement, a priest haunted by a sinister spirit, a weird pig-creature in the window, blood pouring down the walls, a crucifix turning upside down, a guy getting possessed by a killer spirit and more besides…what's not to love here? Okay, so the film has some rough edges. For the most part, though, it's surprisingly undated, especially as the special effects are kept simple and down to earth. The cast is also decent: I don't like Margot Kidder, but she gives a suitably scared turn here, although Christian Bale look-alike James Brolin has the stand-out turn as the guy becoming increasingly deranged. Rod Steiger is good value, as always, as the priest enduring a run of extremely bad luck.I first saw this film a good decade ago and found it creepy and powerful and seeing it now in the modern age I find it just as creepy, with the demonic voice shouting 'get out!' still the scary highlight. Up there with THE ENTITY and POLTERGEIST as the best this genre has to offer. This is also one of the rare instances in which the remake (released in 2005) manages to be as good, if not better, as the original.

A whole family has been massacred by one of its own, and years later, the spooky looking house where these gruesome crimes took place is back on the market. Will tragedy repeat itself as the new owner seems to become possessed with the spirit of the dead killer? Possibly, since both of them had Charles Manson like beards. James Brolin, that great emotional actor, gives another stirring performance as the husband and father whose house may or may not be possessed. His wife is the smoky voiced Margot Kidder, straight from "Superman", giving a sensual performance in the romantic scenes with Brolin and a frantic portrayal of a woman who comes to her wits end thanks to the real estate mistake she made with hubby Brolin.The real star of the film is the spooky score by Lalo Schifrin, up there with "The Exorcist" as something I wouldn't want to hear while alone in the middle of the night. The house appears to have huge eyes, and some of the effects are truly horrific. As happens with most haunted house movies, there's a frantic priest (Rod Steiger in an extremely hammy part) and Kidder's nun aunt ("Another World's" Irene Dailey), both becoming psychological victims of the house's horrific evil.Having seen this in its original run and having been truly horrified at the time, I guess over the years, I've become immune to the type of effects this utilizes. Of course, there have been better horror movies with the house as monster ("The Haunting", "Poltergeist") which makes this one seem pretty insignificant in comparison.