Amityville II : Le Possédé

I must admit I was expecting the first one to be a good horror flick but in the end I was really disappointed by it. However, this film (although not a sequel but a prequel) was really. In fact, the best of all the Amityville movies ever made.

It didn't have any prologue or anything. The story immediately have the Montelli's family moved in to the house. Almost immediately the haunting began where as the mother (Rutanya Alda) turned on the tap and black liquid oozed out. Soon after, during the family dinner, as Dolores were saying grace the mirror cracked and fell. This was the scene that ignited the father's chain of abuse on his kids.

All in all, this was the best Amityville film so far. However, it's a pity they didn't make use of the actually DeFeo's name.

Man did this movie ever scare the crap out of me as a kid! staying up late watching this on cable along with the original. Returning to it these many years later I still find it fun and probably the best Amityville film. While the second half obviously can't hang with the first, as the movie pretty much turns into a full blown Exorcist ripoff. The spirits this time around are more vicious and there's a lot of uncomfortable moments and some great filmmaking with a lot of cool camera angles and the presence of baby Diane Franklin, and Burt Young (who is hardcore channeling his Rocky character here) make it a great view.

It doesn't matter to me whether or not The Amityville Horror is truth or fiction. The truth is that the original film isn't all that exciting. But the sequel? The sequel is pretty much everything you want in a movie — if you love movies filled with horrifyingly sick moments of glee.

Damiano Damianim, whose 1960's and 1970's western and crime output were marked by a streak of social criticism, directed this film from a screenplay by Tommy Lee Wallace (who not only played Michael Myers in the original Halloween, but would go on to direct Halloween III: Season of the Witch and the original version of It).

The film is actually a prequel, telling the story of the Montellis, who are based upon the DeFeo family. Anthony (Burt Young from Rocky) is the father of this brood. He's rude, ill-tempered and ready to abuse everyone at a moment's notice. If you're looking for any family values — in fact, any values at all — you're watching the wrong film.

He's married to Dolores (Rutanya Alda, Carol Ann from Mommie Dearest), his long-suffering and very Catholic wife. They have four kids — Sonny, Patricia (Diane Franklin, Monique from Better Off Dead, as well as TerrorVision and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure), Mark and Jan. Even from the very beginning of the film, the family is on edge. Every single interaction between them is marked by weirdness, before we even get into the occult portion of this film.

Things get worse — much worse — after a tunnel is found in the basement. This leads to doors knocking all night long and demonic messages showing up in the youngest kids' room. Turning to the Church, Dolores tries to have Father Frank Adamsky bless the house. That lasts for all of ten seconds before Anthony flips out and throws the priest out.

When he gets to his car, the door is open and his Bible is torn apart. Clearly — all is not well. Again — the family is a mess before the Devil even gets involved. Dad is overly strict and abuse, mom clings to the Church and Sonny and Patricia yearn to have sex with one another (seriously, their first interactions define the word creepy).

While everyone else goes to church, Sonny stays behind and is taken over by a demonic force. The film nearly descends into body horror as we see the creature take root inside him. Soon, he's playing fashion photographer with his sister, a game that quickly turns into sex. Instead of her being upset, Patricia instead tells him that she loved it. Keep in mind these are pretty much the two main protagonists of the story, so the tale takes a very Flowers in the Attic turn.

As Sonny becomes more demonic, Patricia decides to confess to Father Adamsky, but breaks down before she can. At Sonny's birthday party — a scene where this film layers on the insanity — he goes full demon as she freely tries to give herself to him. She decides to call the priest and confess everything, but Father Tom (Simon himself from Simon, King of the Witches, as well as the original version of The Town that Dreaded Sundown) takes the phone off the hook so the priests can go skiing (!!!).

Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/09/26/amityville-ii-the-possession/

I liked "The Possession" more than the original. Part one was so phony that it was even comical in parts (not to mention the over-acting). Part two contains more real life horrors such as incest, child abuse, domestic violence and mental illness. Yes, it is loosely based on the DeFeo case. However, I believe the director avoided direct links to the incident because of possible lawsuits. One disagreement I have with William C. Uchtman is when he stated in his review that Ronald DeFeo Sr. was a swell guy. Well according to "City Confidential" on A&E, the father was very abusive and was reported to have beaten "Butch" to a bloody pulp one time for simply talking back at the dinner table. Wife beatings were also reported. So, the abuse scenes are quite valid. The part when "Sunny" points a shotgun at his father after he punched his wife is valid too except that, in the real case, Butch pulled the trigger with no shells inside. That was the only difference. The counterculture involved is also interesting. The Montelli's are no typical American family, you see this from the start when Sunny returns from buying a pack of cigarettes and has an arguement with his father who threatens to "kick his ass".

Yes, "Possession" did copy parts of The Exorcist, but it's still a good film with more gory scenes than the original.

If you like over-acted supernatural thrillers, you may enjoy the first. But if you want to see a movie based on a real murder case (though admittedly from a supernatural point of view), "Possession" is for you.

I love a sequel that not only ups the ante regarding the original film but decides to be as extreme as possible and really 'go for it'.

In this film theres a new family who move into Amityville. You know that any family that includes Burt Young and Rutanya Alda as members is going to be dysfunctional. And, by Christ, I mean VERY dysfunctional. Any film that deals with incest is going to be special. Theres also a domestic violence subplot which is just as shocking.

Add to that some of the grossest special effects as the teenage son is possessed and transformed into an utter beast of a nightmarish character and you have a great, twisted and truly messed up (in a good way) sequel.

I remember this having one of the most disturbing sleeves of any horror video in my local video stores which instantly made me want to investigate this further.

There is also a scene involving a Sony Walkman which freaked me out so much that it made me question using mine for days after seeing this filth classic.

Don't miss this messed up gem of a movie.