[.ca] The Amityville Horror

From Amazon.com:
Based on a bestselling, allegedly nonfiction book about haunted goings-on in a Long Island house (The Amityville Horror Conspiracy), this rather cheesy horror movie is more silly than unsettling. James Brolin and Margot Kidder star as newlyweds who move into the empty home and are gradually affected by the legacy of a murder committed on the premises. Rod Steiger is a priest who can tell what's up and gets dispatched in a rather ugly way. Director Stuart Rosenberg can't lift the action above a certain level of tawdriness, and the audience ends up watching the horror from a distance instead of feeling involved. In the wake of The Exorcist, this 1979 spooker seemed like a no-brainer knockoff--and still does. --Tom Keogh

kind of boring./but spooky at times:
THE STORY OF THIS MOVIE IS BASED ON A BOOK, IT IS A PRETTY SPOOKY STORY BUT ON THE BIG SCREEN, IT IS KIND OF BORING. THE DVD IS NOTHING TO GET TO EXCITED OVER. THE ONLY SPECIAL FEATURE IS A TRAILER. BACK IN 1979 THIS CLASSIC WAS PRETTY SCARY, BUT NOWADAYS IS SOMEWHAT OF A BORE. NOT EVEN GOOD PERFORMANCES FROM MARGOT KIDDER AND JAMES BROLIN COULD HELP THIS MOVIE TO BE AN EXCITING THRILLER. ***/*****

good old school terror:
for a few really good scares,this movie works pretty good.it's not fast paced,but it slowly builds tension,while throwing in some real scary sequences.the acting by James Brolin and Margot Kidder is really credible here.They play George and Kathy Luts,who with their children,move into their nightmare,i mean--dream house.the movie is supposedly based on a true story,though depending on who you believe,the whole thing was fabricated and has been debunked as a hoax.either way,it makes for riveting,disturbing entertainment.i know i got chills down my spine more than a few times.Rod Steiger is also in the movie and is very strong as a concerned and then involved priest.the children are also portrayed very well.there are no cheap scare here.the movie earns every shiver and gasp.for me,The Amityville Horror is a 4/5

The House Knows What Scares You:
It's your typical fixer-upper: slight problems with the plumbing, doors and windows with a mind of their own and a bit of an insect problem. It's also got a bit of a grisly history (the house's former residents were killed in their sleep by one of their own), but the Lutzes (played by Brolin and Kidder) are undeterred and soon find out exactly why the house was sold for a song. This here is your typical haunted house movie (not as good as some, but better than others) and while it comes with the prerequisite scares assosciated with a haunted house story, it also generates enough energy to make the film somewhat unsettling. It should be noted that the film is based on the supposed "true story" of the Lutzes and their terrifying 28 days of residency. Whether or not you believe their stories of hauntings at the Dutch Colonial house, it is documented fact that the home was the sight of a real-life horrible tragedy in the mid-70's. Ronald DeFeo, murdered his entire family there and, when apprehended, claimed that "voices in the house" told him to do it. Herein lies the main unsettling nature of the film. It's not so much about the Lutzes or the bizarre happenings, but about the house itself. In fact, the film does an unnerving job of making the house the central character (what with it's half-crescent windows, it does seem as though the house is staring at you). The movie is filled with several not-so-very special effects, but also has enough tension in certain scenes to make it worth watching. Brolin and Kidder do an adequate job as the unsuspecting couple targeted for the house's wrath while Steiger wildly overacts in his role of Fr. Delaney, the priest who knows who the house's real owner is. Again, while the stories of the hauntings have been widely proclaimed a hoax, it is unnerving enough to imagine a new family moving into a place filled with such bad memories. This edition is sorely lacking in special features (surprising considering the incredible success of the film upon it's intial release and subsequent re-releases), but does feature an appropriately creepy menu design (which may seem silly to say, but owners of the DVD know what I'm talking about). All in all, it's worth a look whether you believe the stories or not and it does feature an incredibly well-done score courtesey of Lalo Schifrin (yes, the same composer responsible for the Mission: Impossible theme). Although "Poltergeist" would redefine the haunted house genre later in time by adding state-of-the-art (for the time) special effects, "The Amityville Horror" works mostly for it's sense of foreboding and the sincere sense of dread that the house elicits not only from it's characters, but it's viewers as well. I've seen the film several times and, while dated, it still works on some visceral level. Due, I would suppose, in large part to the house's actual history (documented here in the macabre prologue to the film). Technically adequate in the sense of direction, production and acting, it's no secret that the house is the star from the many shots of it presented in the movie (usually through an eerie red filter). My advice is to watch it with an open mind and to bear in said mind that, at least, the opening ten minutes of the film is entirely, incredibly and tragically true...

STILL HAS THE POWER !:
THIS FILM STILL HAS THE POWER TO MAKE YOU SCREAM! I DONT KNOW TO BELIEVE IN THE AMITYVILLE TRUE STORY THING. BUT EVEN OF ITS TRUE OR NOT ITS STILL IS A GREAT SCARY FILM. IF YOU DIDNT GET A SCREAM OUT WELL WATCHING THIS FILM,TURN THE LIGHTS OFF TURN THE VOLUME ALL THE WAY UP.SERIOUSLY YOU CAN GET A SCREAM OUT OF LIKE EVER HORROR FLICK IF YOU TURN THE VOLUME UP ALL THE WAY!

"GET OUT!":
It gets two stars for that scene alone! YIKES! I don't know, maybe it was because I read the book first that made me dislike this film so much. The book by the way is down right creepy - highly recommendable! If you haven't seen the movie yet, rent it first and then go from there. It's fairly disappointing but worth checking out.