Terror en Amityville

After a gruesome mass murder takes place in a big house in a nice neighbourhood, the house is sold for a very affordable price to the Lutzes, an average stepfamily of five. Soon after moving in, strange things start occurring: doors, windows and furniture move by themselves, strange sounds are heard and the family members start behaving oddly. Especially George (James Brolin), the stepfather, becomes sullen and brooding over a couple of weeks, upsetting his wife Kathy (Margot Kidder) and her kids. A local priest (Rod Steiger) also notices something gravely wrong about the house, but doesn't seem to be able to help the Lutzes despite his efforts. As the eerie incidents keep getting more and more distressing, how will the Lutzes cope with the situation?

Based on Jay Anson's book about the experiences of the real-life Lutzes, the movie maintains a somewhat down-to-earth approach to the supposedly true story. It begins so slowly that I was already becoming quite disappointed with it, even though I'm generally supportive of creeping atmosphere in cinema. However, after a while it becomes obvious that it's actually better seen as a character study as opposed to horror: George's menacing change of nature can be seen as a reaction to the stressful life situation he's going through: raising a family, running a business, moving into a new house and getting the bills paid. The bearded James Brolin captures George's emotions very effectively, essentially carrying the whole film with his performance. Rod Steiger's character Father Delaney goes through an even more drastic phase of anxiety and Steiger plays the role with all the necessary intensity, especially during his desperate call for help in a degrading church. Margot Kidder's character receives less attention, but she does her job decently too.

The film quickly leads thoughts to other religious horrors of the era, such as The Omen and The Exorcist, but also bears a resemblance to The Shining, even though the latter only came out after it. A theme of a family man slowly losing his mind and, more obviously, an axe-swinging finale are more fascinatingly handled in Kubrick's film, but The Amityville Horror reaches a decent amount of suspense at its best too. The music by Lalo Schifrin is perfectly in tune with the atmosphere and when it finally starts in the last minutes of the movie, the action looks OK as well. The very ending comes across as rather abrupt though, even though the last shot of the family's car from afar suits the mood well.

In summary, I think The Amityville Horror is a watchable movie, but more so as a character study than a flat out horror. What the film loses in action and gore, it wins back in the actors' performances and music. When watched with this in mind, it may prove out to be an enjoyable experience, even if it's not ultimately quite as great as the horror classics mentioned in the previous paragraph.

I was but a timid lad of 14 when taken to a drive-in theater to see this incredibly effective horror film.There is no better monster to create a film around than the Devil himself.When Rod Steiger's character,Father Delaney is in the process of blessing the house,and was greeted by a resounding shout of "Get Out!",I almost took it literally,it was that effective.The Devil is indeed one unwelcome houseguest that is very hard to kick out,as you will see when you watch this film.James Brolin and Margo Kidder head a young family who are the new inhabitants of a home where brutal murders had taken place years before.Soon,strange happenings begin to haunt the family,as the house has trouble letting go of what had happened there.This movie is definitely in my top 10 horror films that I have seen,and if you enjoy being scared out of your wits,this film will do it for you.Give it a look!

This is the classic version about the infamous Amityville house with lots of screams and weird deeds in which a family falls into supernatural terror . The story starts with a grisly mass murder ; years later , a family moves to Long Island where is purchased a Victorian home , their house of dreams but they find only devilish horror and full of nightmares . Longtime ago, there occurred a grisly mass killing based on an allegedly real life occurrence in Amityville that turns out to be a haven for demonic forces . And now a possessed father (James Brolin) is plunged by demonic forces into supernatural attitude driving him to mistreat and beat the kiddies . The wife (Margot Kidder) begins experiencing frightening and vivid dreams of killings . Meantime ,the father is attempting to find out the bottom of events by ways of the cellar . While , an exorcist priest (a hysteric Rod Steiger who steals the show as scene-chewing ) tries praying to vanquish the malignant spirit , staggering from room to room with the doors mysteriously slam . And soon the poltergeists make their nasty appearance originating a lot of unusual rattles and creaks before deciding to utilize its powers to possess the father and attack the family .

The film contains restless terror and great loads of gore and blood and usual poltergeists phenomenon caused by the curse and the usual ghastly shenanigans result to be the cracking pipelines , wall ooze icky stuff, flies swarm manifest as attackers, and doors suddenly slam , among others . It is produced with acceptable budget by Samuel Z Arkoff (AIP)and well recreated with high grade special effects that are frightening and horrifying to spectator . It's actually halfway decent terror movie that achieved big success at the box office and it will appeal to ghostly and eerie events fonds. The picture packs a colorful cinematography by Fred Koenekamp and eerie musical score by Lalo Schifrin that will be used in the innumerable sequels . The original ¨Exorcist¨ film (by Friedkin) spawned a wave of demonic possession movies that continues unabated today as ¨Changeling¨ (by Peter Medak), ¨Amytiville ¨(by Stuart Rosemberg) are two further examples of this sub-genre . Following a great number of clumsy, stupid sequels directed by Damiano Damiani , Richard Fleischer ,Sandor Stern ( screenwriter of Amityville), Anthony Hitchcock.. And the bad followings just go on and on attempting to cash in on the success of the first movie . However , recently is made a good new adaptation by Andrew Douglas with Ryan Reynolds (James Brolin role ) , Melissa George ( Margot Kidder character) and Philip Baker Hall (Rod Steiger), though this is a new take on from previous film, it's one of the highest earning horror movie of the last years and like the¨ Amityville ¨ original became a box office biggie . Rating : Aceeptable and passable .

Excited about the remake I decided to go out and just but the original Amityville Horror. Being a huge horror buff, I just had to and besides I had only seen some of it's absurd sequels. hearing mixed reviews from friends and critics from terrifying to hilarious I turned it on with my boyfriend at the time and prepared myself for something scary. I must say that I was quite impressed. And although slightly disappointed in some of the films scenes ultimately I must say this is one old fashioned scary flick! I can hugely recognize the appeal it had in it's it's hey day. With the exception of Texas chainsaw Massacre, Evil Dead, the Omen and some others I rarely see what people did in their horror classics nowadays. Like The Exorcist, pretty damn boring and funny in my opinion. But getting back to this film. It builds a creeping mood filled with fright inducing suspense. The effects are simple but effective and the performances are somewhat over the top but necessarily wacky. The film's overall lasting appeal has little to do with the film's apparent campiness. it has more to do with the real terror inducing legend that inspired it. Like the Chainsaw remake the new ones looks to amp up the horror and intensity which would be greatly welcomed. Although a great horror classic Amityville's finale is somewhat anti climactic and after a long and impressively scary build-up it fails to deliver the end goods. But whoa some of the scenes from the imaginary friend Jody flying out the window, to the visitor at the door, to the voice in the house and just everything in the basement this film is all about delivering some authentic chills. 8/10

George and Kathy Lutz are looking for a place to anchor down and raise a family. The Lutz's and their children (Kathy's from a previous marriage) settle on an impossibly cheap, large and beautiful shore house. But 28 days later the macabre and scary happenings force them to leave…leaving all their earthly possession behind. During the course of those 28 days, the family goes through all kinds of hell a room full of flies, demonic voices and a pig with glowing red eyes. What kind of past does that house have that would make everything horribly wrong. Based on a true story.

Real or hoax, you decide but "The Amityville Horror" has all the trappings of an excellent haunted house story. Too bad that the filmmakers falter a bit with a lack of character development that also ends up stifling the actors in the film, that would have helped out immensely. A creepy music score (the one rejected for "The Exorcist") and several good set-pieces help out but the end of the second act kind of gets stale. A good supernatural thriller.