In 1975, the Lutz family moved into a beautiful
home in the Amityville neighborhood of Long Island, but the house came with a
dark history: A mass murder took place there a year before the Lutzes’ arrival.
According to the best-selling book that Jay Anson wrote about this notorious
real-life incident, the Lutzes heard, saw, and smelled a variety of unexplained
phenomena, leading them to believe their house was possessed. Anson took a lot
of heat for presenting the Lutzes’ account as pure fact, and director Stuart
Rosenberg’s sensationalistic movie adaptation pushes things even further. The Amityville Horror has some scary
moments, but the scenario is so overwrought—it’s as if the Lutzes took a sublet
from Satan—that the picture regularly creeps into unintentional comedy.
The
main problem is that George Lutz (James Brolin) and his wife, Kathy (Margot
Kidder), seem like the dumbest people ever to cross a movie screen. As soon as
they move into their home, they start experiencing weird apparitions and
sensations, but instead of gathering their three young children and running for
safety, they summon a priest (Rod Steiger) to bless the house. The priest
endures a horrific scene while the house traps him in a stifling upstairs room
that fills with flies. Yet when the priest tells the Lutzes to vacate the
house, they ignore the advice. Just a thought: If the demonic voice in your
home says, “Get out,” it’s probably a good idea to comply. But, of course, if
the big-screen versions of the Lutzes demonstrated any common sense, the movie
would be over very quickly.
Sandor Stern’s silly screenplay tries to weasel
around this unworkable plot contrivance by suggesting that George has lost his
will to the evil force occupying the house, and Brolin delivers the concept through a performance of embarrassing excess. In his signature moment, a
bug-eyed Brolin howls, “Oh, mother of God, I’m coming apart!” Truth be told, Brolin
actually outdoes costar Steiger in the bad-acting department, and that’s saying
a lot. (As for Kidder, who should have been building on her sassy performance in the 1978 blockbuster Superman, she’s wasted in a vapid victim role.)
Exacerbating its other flaws, The
Amityville Horror is fairly dull through most of its running time, even
though the production values are pretty good (the ooze dripping from the walls
is enjoyably icky) and the wacky highlights are memorable. Nonetheless,
lackluster storytelling didn’t stop the picture from becoming a major hit. The Amityville Horror earned nearly $90
million at the box office, and it kicked off a cycle of sequels and remakes
that has continued well into the 21st century. Apparently, audiences are as reluctant
to vacate the house at 112 Ocean Avenue as the Lutzes were.
The
Amityville Horror: FUNKY
5 comments:
this scared me when i first saw it & now i kind of like james brolin in a state of undress.
A bad film, yes, but to be fair: Steiger's arrival to bless the house takes place the day the Lutzs move in, or at least before any abnormalities occur involving them. Also, Steiger's numerous attempts to warn the Lutzs of their impending doom are thwarted each time by demonic intervention (bad phone lines, car accident, illness).
"Mad"'s spoof suggested the tagline was a warning to moviegoers to get out of the cinema before the movie began!
Always loved this film, trash as it is. The opening always scared the crap out of me and it did the first time I saw it. I had insomnia for a week. It's fairly spooky and creates a nice atmosphere missing in most horror films today. The most frustrating part is the REAL story is the best one- the family, Defeo were some real weirdos and the Dad was a massive bastard who abused his family with ties to the mob. Lets see that story done instead!
Eddie Murphy did a routine about this film that poked fun at the lack of common sense of the main protagonists: "Ah, honey, this is great! It's a perfect house, nice neighborhood, great schools ***GET OUT!*** ...too bad we can't stay!"
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