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Opening with thunder, lightning and the sound of gunshots, “The Amityville Horror” sets the
viewer up for a predictable horror experience in the guise of a true story. The film certainly
has all the cliches you could ask for, priest, babysitter, barman, kooky friend, incessantly
barking dog and a family just starting out. Despite its cliches or perhaps because of them,
the film is incredibly satisfying. It’s a classic with good reason and its base in fact is part of
the reason. In November 1974 Ronald DeFeo did indeed shoot and kill his entire family. He
was later arrested and jailed for the crime all the while claiming that ‘voices’ in the house
told him to do it. One year later George and Kathy Lutz and their 3 children, hot on the
heels of their wedding, moved into the under-priced ‘murder house’ and stayed only 28
days. This is where fact ends and conjecture begins. The Lutz’s claim that while they were
in the house a series of mysterious and increasingly disturbing events occurred ranging from
windows opening or closing by themselves to black and red ooze dripping down the walls in
the basement and the discovery of a ‘secret room’ there. The book, written by Jay Anson
after extensive interviews with the Lutz family details these events and is still the best
account of the Lutz family journey.
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* Audio commentary by Dr. Hans Holzer, PhD in Parapsychology
* For God's Sake, Get Out! Documentary
* Radio Spots
* Original theatrical Trailer
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The family toured the talk show circuit and sold their story to magazines in the 1970’s and
many of their claims were refuted during this process. Whatever the truth of the matter,
the story forms the base for this film and the ‘true story’ tag has lent much credence to the
film. It also lends the film an interesting pace, unlike a conventional horror in many ways.
Some creepy occurrences go unexplained, the tension falters at times and the last third of
the film is a little slower than we’ve come to expect.
When George and Kathy come to look at the property George utters the ominous phrase
“Houses don’t have memories”. Saying this in a house where an entire family had been
murdered is asking for trouble and we feel the storm brewing form here onward. The house
seems particularly to affect George and the story is as much about the tension between
husband and wife as it is about possession or haunting. George’s descent is the key to the
film. As he gets paler and angrier, the house seems to gain power and the other mysterious
occurrences intensify. James Brolin and Margot Kidder as our leads are at times unconvincing
(even by Brolin’s admission) but Kidders grating voice works in her favour as her hysteria
gains momentum. Rod Steiger is under utilized but still turns in a fantastic performance as
the priest who experiences first hand the horrors of 112 Ocean Avenue.
Kathy’s children do their bit to add to the creepiness of the film, especially the daughter
Amy who was allegedly befriended by ‘Jodie’ an invisible demon pig – a creepy idea in
anyone’s book!
The house itself is the real star of the film and we are treated to lingering shots of its
facade while the (now obligatory) children’s choir sing a very creepy musical score. The
setting continually adds depth to the simple situational scares which are the meat of the film
and make it easy to engage with the effects shots, though these are few and far between.
If you are after serious gore this is not your film. It is light on effects and there is barely any
blood. There are a few gushers and minor injuries but the real scares of the film come from
everyday occurrences given a twist, such as Amy’s imaginary friend and George’s obsession
with his axe.
The documentaries from The History Channel which come on a companion disc are fantastic
and will pique the interest of all who enjoy the film. They offer a variety of contradictory
evidence about the truth of the case and should encourage you to seek out the original novel
and perhaps the others written in the years following the case. Debate rages as to what
really occurred at 112 Ocean Avenue and theories even go so far as to consider the possibility
that DeFeo’s sister had a hand in the original murders.
Many believe that the Lutz family saw the house as an opportunity to hatch a scam and
make a tidy profit, others see it as an exaggeration of events and there are still many true
believers out there who swallow the story whole. Whatever you believe the ‘true story’ tag
on the film makes it all the more intriguing, gives the storytellers license to leave things
unexplained and makes digging into the history all the more rewarding. It is not a faithful
rendering of Jay Anson’s book but it is far more accurate (and far superior in my opinion)
than the woeful 2005 re-imagining. The story is fascinating and the 1979 film works very
well as a stand-alone experience, digging up the history just gives horror-nerds something
else to do on the ‘net! See, read, research and flame up those Amityville message boards! It
will make every future screening of the film so much more entertaining for your friends!
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