The Amityville Horror Reviews

Initial Thought: I feel like a franchise. So I decided on the Amityville series since they have a new one coming up soon. I hear most of them are awful besides this and the remake. The new one looks like it should be good too. Anyways let's see what this is all about.

Characters/Acting: I adore Margot Kidder. She was such a prominent actress in the 70s. I swear Josh Brolin looks just like his father James Brolin. It's crazy how they look like they could be twins. There was a bit of overacting which is kind of expected from these films. I did find James Brolin to be great though. He was honestly the best thing about this film aside from the dog of course.

Story: A haunting in Amityville causes strange occurrences within a new family's new home. Houses were murders took place never make for anything other than horror films. This feels somewhat like a mixture of The Omen, The Exorcist, and Poltergeist. The jump scares here made me laugh. There were moments when the person shouldn't even have been scared. The music is pretty good here as is usual for the classics. It kind of seems that some parts of the plot were just left behind. The ending was kind of bland and left a few questions unanswered.

Directing/Writing: This is my first run in with Stuart Rosenberg who seems to be known as a slightly above average director. Jay Anson wrote the book this is based from. The book was also used for the remake. Sandor Stern wrote the screenplay here and has credit under the remake as well. It looks like he was also involved in part four of the series. This story is based upon Kathy and George Lutz whom the remake uses the material of as well.

Final Thought: It was an okay movie. I think for it's time it might have been scary. As of now it didn't really do much for me. I mean the atmosphere was creepy sure, but it just didn't have the scare factor I would have hoped for. I was much more entertained by the remake. I can see why it's a classic though. It's nice for a one time watch for the nostalgia.

"What do you want from us? Goddamnit, this is MY house!"

Normally I enjoy classic horror movies because of their inventiveness and their predisposition to be quite terrifying at times. The Amityville Horror strives to be original and scary, but at every opportunity it fails quite astonishingly. The film contains none of the elements that make a good horror movie. Instead of being gripping and scary it's contrived and spurious.

A newly wedded couple named George (Brolin) and Kathy (Kidder) Lutz move into a spacious Long Island house that they believe to be their dream home. Many years ago a mass murder was committed within the walls of the house and as a result the house is haunted with satanic spirits. A local priest (Steiger) feels the presence of pure evil in the house but is powerless to drive it away. The satanic spirits eventually compel him to blindness as he tries to convince George and Kathy to leave the house before it is too late.

The Amityville Horror is a good concept that was loosely based on a true story (and a novel by Jay Anson). Prior to watching it I had anticipated something a lot more terrifying and exciting. However, I was instead left watching this lifeless excremental horror movie that couldn't be scary even when it tried to be. Not to mention the fact that the whole thing is highly farfetched, hence further annihilating every opportunity it had to shock the audience.

James Brolin at least brought some style to his role. Unfortunately he couldn't bring much intensity to his character, but it was obvious that he at least tried to bring some life into the picture. Margot Kidder was occasionally quite whiny and annoying. You could at least feel her character's motivations. She presented us with a very credible interpretation of a house wife. Rod Steiger plays a moderately minor role here. Notwithstanding small screen time he is still one of the only actors to actually inculcate a sense of tension during the scenes of horror that still failed nonetheless. He was perceptibly determined. He just couldn't accomplish much with such a dull screenplay.

The direction is unfortunately an aspect that is sorely deficient here. The director couldn't make the film at all scary, which could probably also be attributed to the screenwriter as well. The music built up some suspense, but was ultimately let down by the feeble visual images and dreadful ideas.

The Amityville Horror had a very good concept. Unfortunately that's one of the only compliments I can grant the film: it ultimately wrote a cheque it couldn't cash. I expected something much less than this austere, dull horror film with a flimsy script that was executed dreadfully. Honestly, the film is dated and ineffective not to mention stupid and contrived. The Amityville Horror scores as a horror film you can honestly afford to miss. Remade in 2005.