alexanderdavies-99382 "The Amityville Horror" film claims to be based upon real events about supposed paranormal activities at a particular house where a family was terrorised. However, all this has been disputed since the release of the film. The plot is fairly good on the whole and includes some moments of atmosphere and suspense. One highlight, is when the babysitter is locked in the large cupboard and the child in her care just gazes at the locked door, ignoring the cries for help. We bear witness to the family in question as their idea of their dream home gradually becomes a nightmare. James Brolin and Margot Kidder don't employ much in the way of subtlety once their characters begin to feel the strain of living in a haunted house. For me, the acting honours go to Rod Steiger as a local priest who seems much in tune with the paranormal activity at the house. He conveys much in the way of Fear and torment. An arresting performance. Murray Hamilton and John Larch are wasted in their one scene appearance. The inevitable climax is one that tries to pull out all the stops but I was slightly disappointed with it. It wasn't dramatically effective enough for my liking. One considerable weakness in the plot, is that Rod Steiger didn't have a proper scene with either of the leads, which he should have done in order to provide some spiritual comfort. In addition, he should have been included for the climax. The direction is ok but nothing special and the pace tends to be rather leaden. The film has dated without question and I have seen far better haunted house movies. Worth seeing if only the once.

savanna-2 Nostalgia? Familiarity makes the heart grow fonder? When I went to check out the details for this movie on IMDb I thought the average score of 6.2 was a bit low, until I clicked in and saw my own paltry rating of 5! What was I thinking? This movie has it all, tension, atmosphere, heavy doses of symbolism, good acting, flies ... plus made in the 70s. With that 70s look to the film, where nothing is overly bright or sunshiny.I watched the remake of this last week and perhaps that's what made this look better than my original assessment. The remake was overwrought and deliberate and no matter how hard they tried to catch the gritty atmosphere of the original, it just. didn't. happen.So, if you haven't seen this in awhile or worse, like me, thought this was a rather middling mediocre affair, see if time hasn't changed your perspective.P.S. I did change my rating and reward this film with a solid seven. Watch it, you won't be sorry!

DansHauntedHouseful The Amityville Horror certainly isn't the best haunted house film out there, but it's not so bad. In fact I'll say it's "pretty good," so long as "pretty good" stands for slightly less than "good." The establishing shots of the house are excellent. Who can forget those creepy attic windows that look like jack-o-lantern eyes! I love the background music. Now-a-days, creepy music is often replaced by the sounds of electronic jolts and thuds. Who can resist those singing children and their haunting "la la's"? I sure can't! The book is better, but the film stands on its own. The book is able to cover more ground, but that is to be expected since the book has 300 + pages compared to the film's 2 hours of footage. What the film is able to capture with its limited amount of time is done reasonably well. The mood is eerie, the characters are mostly well developed, especially Rod Stieger as Father DeLaney. Katherine Lutz's character could have used a bit more development.For a more comprehensive review of the Amityville Saga, please check my IMDb profile and for the link to my blog - TheBooksofDaniel

thiszizlife The fly scene with the priest will never get old. Then never resolves to anything substantial. We find something is disturbing the priest enough that he pukes outside by his car. Everything seems find for George and the gang. They had to have been drinking TAB soda as they were fixing up the place. Haven't seen that soda in a while. Love how Stuart Rosenberg adds in the old stuff, too. Them old school wall pencil sharpeners in the kitchen and, rotary phone. There is something about this place that George likes since, he buys one of the old lamps that broke during the murder that took place there. The dialogue for starters in this film is family-like. And Kathy and George are a trip. George gets cold and says. "This house is supposed to be well- insulated." Where did this line come from? Why inform us of this now and not when the realtor was present. Skipping ahead to the love scene, it could be better. I like how he looks at her and says, "Kathy, I love you." This also builds feeling in both characters and we see them as humans and we feel for them. Great job! Rosenberg. This film carries us through a destructive tide of disorder at its best. That family dinner table fight. That car argument with someone. I think we have all been there and can relate. Rosenberg knows this and does a great job of bringing this out during the babysitter closet scene. The real incident of this took place in New York, resident address of 112 Ocean Avenue. This did not take place in Detroit. This kind of ruins the authenticity factor. Yep, that went right out the door. And, there was no car being possessed in the original story. The use of atmosphere makes this film enjoyable. Some houses are just creepy and this is one of them. Those old houses with those stairway basements are just nasty! Kathy would be much better off with Father Bolen. This film suggests that. That we never really see the good until it's too late and we are stuck in marriage. A lot of this film sucks you into nothing happening scenes that could very well be omitted. Things start to pick up towards the end of the film and Rosenberg I think is at his best. Lot of unnecessary effects that steal the suspense. I would have loved the run through action in this film a lot better without the musical score. In a film like this you want to hear the screams, be involved in the tension build up of what's going on with the characters, and not detached from them by this music. The main theme in the credit roll would have been better if Rosenberg utilized it during George's walkarounds of the boathouse.