When it comes to the Amityville Horror, I take the claim that it was "based on a true story" with a grain of salt. In his book, "The Amityville Horror Conspiracy," Stephen Kaplan does an excellent job of pointing out the many inconsistencies in George Lutz's account of the haunting. However, The Amityville Horror needs to be judged as to whether or not it succeeds as a horror film, rather than if it's an accurate depiction of a supposedly true event. The Amityville Horror is an infuriating film, in that it has the makings of a classic horror film, but is often undermined by the hammy performances of James Brolin and Rod Steiger, and some rather questionable directorial decisions.
The first half hour is wonderfully effective, the director, Stuart Rosenberg, does a wonderful job of hinting at the paranormal by often framing his shots with doors or windows, often given the viewer the unsettling feeling that the Lutz family is being watched an external force. In one memorable moment, after Ronald DeFeo has brutally slayed his family, there is a point of view shot from inside of a hearse with the Amityville house stationed in the background. The shot lingers for a few seconds before fading to black. It's an extremely creepy moment and certainly far more effective than it's fire and brimstone ending.
In another effective scene, a real estate agent is giving the Lutzes a tour of the house and whenever they enter a room the movie cuts to the night of the DeFeo murders and then cuts back to present. It serves two functions:
1) It allows the audience to know where the rooms and the family are in relationship to one another. Horror films tend to be confusing in terms of where one character is in relationship to another. Friday the 13th, the unseen killer often seems to be in two places at the same time, or has the ability to teleport, because film does a poor job of laying out the geography of summer camp. The Amityville Horror avoids such confusion and when something startling does happen we know where the characters are.
2) During the tour, Kathy turns to George and expresses her disgusts over the murders that took place in the house. George counters, "Houses don't have memories." However, in this case George is wrong as the memories of the murders pervade the house. Almost everything is a reminder of that horrible night and despite George's apparent calm demeanor, it's something that the family can't shake off. A sense of dread hangs in the air from the very get go, never allowing the audience to get comfortable.
Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse with the arrival of Rod Steiger as Father Delaney. Steiger was on Oscar winning actor (In the Heat of the Night) and I'm guessing his presence was supposed to add prestige to the picture, kind of like how Marlon Brando brought respectability to Superman. The irony is that the well respected actor Steiger gives easily the worst performance in the film (and probably his career). Steiger's performance single handedly sinks the film with his laughably over the top performance; he does a lot of shouting, while his eyes bug out of his head. The character of Father Delaney is fairly extraneous to the film, he doesn't share a single scene with either George or Kathy. The scenes of Father Delaney tend to undermine the tension that has been building up in the Lutz household; often the film will be building up to a scare, only cut to Steiger hamming it up. The movie could have easily removed the Delaney subplot without missing a beat, not to mention it would be about twenty minutes shorter.
James Brolin seems to take his cue from Steiger often bugging out his eyes to show that George Lutz is slowly losing his mind, but Margot Kidder is surprisingly sympathetic as Kathy Lutz and gives the film a soul that it desperately needs. Kathy is often trying to make the best of a bad situation, while George essentially just grumbles on about how cold it is. The other actors are adequate, if unmemorable; Murray Hamilton seemingly couldn't shake off his Mayor Vaughn role in Jaws, as he is cast as a similar character, Father Delaney's skeptical superior in the diocese. Hell, the scene in which Delaney tries to convince his superiors of a genuine haunting is almost a carbon copy of a similar scene in Jaws (Chief Brody attempting to convince his superiors of a shark), the only difference being that it's set in a church as opposed to a ferry.
There's a few other questionable decisions by the filmmakers as well; in one scene a window crashes down on the hand of the of the Lutz boys, while Psycho-like music blares on the soundtrack. That such a minor scare is given the grandiose treatment makes it rather laughable. The other "scare" scene that always stands out is when Kathy's aunt Helena, who happens to be a nun, visits the house and becomes nauseous. She offers up Kathy a half assed apology, for leaving so abruptly, and then runs out of the house to her car. Finally, she can't hold it any longer and vomits, off screen. Again, this scene is more laughable than scary, due to the rather poor acting by the actress; she makes a lot of loud heaving sounds and that's about it. It is a rather brief sequence and doesn't do any long term damage.
A flaw that is inherent among all Haunted House movies is that they tend to be anti-climatic, they either end with the family fleeing house and getting consumed by it. The Amityville Horror ends with the Lutzes finally deciding they had enough and hauling ass, though, George does go back to save the family dog from danger. It's a rather weak ending, given how effectively the film builds up to this moment. Again, this plagues most Haunted House movie; the only film in the genre that comes closest to having a "satisfying" ending is Poltergeist. However, for all it's faults The Amityville Horror is a fairly entertaining film, largely due to Margot Kidder's likable performance and some truly unnerving scenes scattered through the film.
Cast: Margot Kidder (Kathy Lutz), James Brolin (George Lutz), Rod Steiger (Father Delaney), Don Stroud (Father Bolen), Murray Hamilton (Father Ryan), Natasha Ryan (Amy), K.C. Martel (Greg), Meeno Peluce (Matt), Michael Sacks (Jeff), Helen Shaver (Carolyn), Amy Wright (Jackie), Val Avery (Sgt. Gionfriddo), Irene Dailey (Aunt Helena), James Tolkan (Coroner).
Screenplay: Sandor Stern
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Running Time: 117 min.
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