The Amityville Horror (1979)

Starring: James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger

Directed by Stuart Rosenberg

Format: Widescreen DVD; Part of MGM’s Double Take Original & Remake package with the 2005 Remake

Tagline: “For God’s sake, get out!”

“James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Academy Award Winner Rod Steiger fall prey to the powers of darkness in this spine-tingling tale of a house possessed by unspeakable evil.  One of the most talked-about haunted-house stories of all time, The Amityville Horror will hit you where you live.

For George and Kathy Lutz, the colonial home on the river’s edge seemed ideal…but six brutal murders had taken place there just a year before.  Soon the Lutz dream house becomes a hellish nightmare, as walls begin to drip blood and satanic forces threaten to destroy them.”

My Story:

I had purchased this film for three reasons.  The first being because it is considered a horror classic.  And as an avid horror fan, I should probably see it.  The second being because I had seen part of it on TV already at some point a few years ago, and I should probably see the rest of it to coincide with reason one.  The third reason was because it was a pretty sweet deal.  It’s a single-package, double feature with the 2005 remake and I bought it for about $7 or $10.  I could’ve cared less about the remake; I just wanted to see the original.  But hey, if there are two movies for $7, I’ll go for it.  Since I know a bit about horror movies, I was chosen to pick the options for last year’s Halloween movie. I brought up Amityville Horror as an option, and the remake was chosen by the majority.

Actually, we didn’t watch any scary movie that Halloween, but we all ended up eventually watching the remake at a later date.  I never like to see a remake before the original.  But that film seemed easily forgettable and I only hope the remake is as classic as I’m supposed to see it as.

My Thoughts:

• I start the movie at 10:45pm sitting alone, in my room, and during the opening credits sequence  accompanied by the creepy score, I wonder if this is really the best film to be watching right now.

• Children laughing is very frightening when you don’t see the children.

• Did the Rod Steiger seriously just walk in to the house out of the blue to perform an exorcism?  And then at the sight of an abundance of flies didn’t think, “This is unhealthy.”  At least someone/something finally told him to get out.

• Those are some crazy pigtails Margot Kidder.

• I just feel like if a kid falls down the stairs and busts a lightbulb that is on, that his hand should be a lot more injured than it was.

• James Brolin could kick Ryan Reynolds’ ass.

• OH! Rod Steiger was blessing the house, not exorcising, Oops, I missed that part.

• Margot Kidder and James Brolin make a cute couple, even when something is obviously wrong.

• R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet” popped into my head during the babysitter scene.

• “I’d blame Detroit a lot faster than the Devil.” Yeah, me too man.

• Why must Jody be so selfish?

• Somebody needs to make some stronger church statues.  If that shit fell apart on a Sunday, there would be so many lawsuits…oh wait, did it actually fall apart or is the Rod Steiger insane?

• Nun playing basketball; can’t be a bad sign, right?

• Is Rod Steiger slowly becoming Helen Keller?

• That house is bad news.

The Verdict:

The Amityville Horror is considered a classic for a reason.  No doubt a frightening story acted out by a great cast.  Watching this, I realized I had seen the first 20 minutes and the last 15 or so on TV.  But all the inbetween material made those first and last parts so much more important and intense.  I know that sounds obvious but seriously, it all adds up, you know?  I dug the movie, and I’m almost glad I saw the remake before the original.  Doing so, I see this film as a film all it’s own as opposed to seeing the original followed by the remake and knowing what the original is like.  A solid film that only makes me more interested in what Amityville Dollhouse has to offer.  Could be huge.

GET OUT!