The Amityville Horror (1979)

"I checked into the murders. And I checked into the twenty year old boy who killed his parents, and his four brothers and sisters. And when he was at trial, he testified that he heard voices in the house. He heard voices in the house and the voices told him to do it! Now, I was in the house and I heard the voices, too!" -Fr. Delaney.

First off, I know it's been a while since I've posted. I've taken a hiatus for personal reasons, but plan to get back to writing more for this blog and resume work on my next book in the coming months. Having said that, as it is Halloween, here's another review I was hoping to write for Agonybooth.com As anyone who's familiar with this film knows, it was based on a real case in which the Lutz family simply fled their home in Amityville, Long Island in 1975, merely a month after purchasing it. They claimed it was because the house was haunted, although some said it was due to the pater familias George falling behind on payments he had to make. But was is true is that, the previous owners were murdered by their son a year earlier in that house. The murderer, Ronald DeFeo, also murdered his siblings and was subsequently institutionalized. George and his wife Kathy explained their sensational story to journalist Jay Anson, who would chronicle it in the best selling book The Amityville Horror. The story itself became a media sensation, even becoming a subject on In Search Of.... Naturally, this success prompted Hollywood to make a movie about it. The film begins with George (James Brolin) and Kathy (Margot Kidder) purchasing the house shortly after their marriage. Despite the fate of the previous owners, they decide to settle in quickly with Kathy's three children. Shortly afterward, Kathy's pastor Ft. Delaney (Rod Steiger) comes by to bless the house. However, his attempts to do so are thwarted by a barrage of house flies, mysteriously thriving in winter, and a disembodied voice saying "GET OUT!!!" This leads to Delaney quickly leaving the place.

Later, after finding mysterious blisters on his hands, Delaney informs his colleagues Fr. Ryan (Murray Hamilton) and Fr. Nuncio (John Larch) about what happened, but they don't offer any support. Delaney and Kathy attempt to contact each other via telephone several times but all they hear on the line is static. Meanwhile, the Lutzes are becoming unhinged by strange occurrances involving their home, including a toilet flushing black ooze, an incident where a babysitter in inexplicably stuck in a closet for hours, and George constantly stoking a fire to keep warm. The latter causes him to neglect his job and his appearance, which, naturally, makes the family take a financial hit. Once Delaney inexplicably becomes blind, Kathy looks up the house's history at the local library. She discovers that it was built on the site of a Shinnecock burial ground and how George is actually starting to resemble DeFeo, which leads her to return to the house on a stormy night.

She gets assaulted by George as he attempts to kill the children. Fortunately, he snaps out of it so he, Kathy and the kids can escape. He even gets back into their good graces by going back into the house to rescue their dog, Harry. The film was a huge success of American International Pictures, despite some initial critical pans. Personally, I thought the performances were fine and the house spooky, but not overly so (unlike the house in the crappy 2005 Amityville Horror, which overdid everything here with bad acting to boot). What I've always loved about the movie, though, was Lalo Schifrin's haunting musical score. While The Amityville Horror isn't as fun to watch as House on Haunted Hill (1958), it isn't as masterful as The Shining (1980), and it isn't as exciting as Poltergeist (1982), it has a nice, creepy atmosphere so it's understandable why it was successful. I'd take it over its shitty sequels and remake any day.