The Amityville Horror (1979)

Look, the Lutzes were smokers and I just cannot abide by that.

I like the scene when the spirit, Jody, locks that bitchy babysitter in the closet and she stayed in there for hours. 😝

I'm watching Margo right now in "Sisters" in a dual role. She's separated Siamese twins, and has a hideous scar on one of them where they were detached. I think that when one is making love, the other one gets to sensations as well.

I've never been able to understand why this is considered a classic above other 70's horror films like Burnt Offerings. That movie was interesting and scary, but this one was laughable at best. And how is the franchise still going to this day?

I’m watching Amityville on MGM channel now. It was like a low budget made for TV movie that made $ at the BO

I though Amityville was a bore.

The only thing interesting about it was the score.

I remember it was the first R rated movie I saw, I was 12 or 13, and I thought what's the big deal, it's not even scary!

Margot made this and Superman and still didn't become a superstar.

Aunt Liz from "Another World" in a nun's habit, getting sick the minute she walks into the house!

I liked the fat, dowdy realtor lady.

It's a very silly movie. The series reached its (low) peak with part 2.

Look, for the last time, I was NOT telling the priest to "geeeeet oooooout". I was telling him to "cooooome ooooout. I'm a friendly ghost and girlfriend needed to taste the rainbow!

Critics at the time thought it was lame. Very b movie.

Just remember it was all a hoax.

None of it ever happened.

The Amityville Horror is prime evidence that the American people would rather believe a blatant fraud that tickles their fancies than learn the truth about anything. It's been definitively exposed as a hoax, but nobody wants to hear it. I don't understand the appeal of this movie--I saw it in the theater when it first came out and thought it was stupidly unscary. But the thing about horror films is that if you're in the right circumstances, like if you see it when you're too young to handle the subject matter or you're stoned off your ass, even a bad one may be able to give you nightmares.

The most terrifying thing about it were Kidder's ugly bare legs.

James Brolin. Shirtless. Underwear. Hot. That is all.

Some scenes in this are comic GOLD, like the bit where a nun visits the house and all of a sudden gets all freaked out and drives away from the house, then pulls over and throws up!

And the babysitter scene is hilarious!!!

It was widely panned at the time. James Brolin's 70s successes came to an end. And Margot kinda waltzed-off into la la land.

She had that great come-back on "Family Guy".

It had a few scary moments, like when Kidder sees the glowing eyes outside the window, and one genuinely disturbing one dealing with the missing money. I think Stephen King pointed out that it touches a nerve about home ownership whereby the Lutzes are working class people who acquire an upper class house and find that it is financially ruinous. The house itself is creepy in an understated way and the score does most of the hard work. It's like "The Money Pit" as scripted by H.P. Lovecraft.

But mostly it's tacky and too dull to be camp. The guy playing the priest is so bad that zooms past "good" and lands squarely in "actually bad".

The sequel/prequel was a lot scarier and closer to the real life DeFeo family tragedy. That's the only worthwhile entry in the franchise.

[quote]R3 I'm watching Margo right now in "Sisters" in a dual role. She's separated Siamese twins, and has a hideous scar on one of them where they were detached.

She’s superb in that.

The other actress playing the journalist, Jennifer Salt, is one of the “American Horror Story“ producers now!

Weirdest scene in “Sisters”.

I remember this came on TV at midnight when I was in junior high, and the Bernard Herrmann music gets so out of control creepy when the doctor’s taking the butcher knife from the water that I had to turn it off.

r24 is the soundtrack queen who is REALLY into instrumental film scores. She offers distinctly irrelevant commentary on movie posts.

I don’t think I’ve commented on movie soundtracks before (?)

Link, if I did. And save your useless, misguided pissing and moaning for someone else.

The Amityville Horror (book and movie) was a huge phenomenon in the late 70s. I still remember my parents leaving us with a babysitter at the time with specific instructions not to watch a TV special about the story. Of course we watched it and scared ourselves to death. The book is actually a fun haunted house story even if it's entirely unbelievable as being true. The movie is pretty boring but James Brolin in tighty whities makes it worth a look.

The red eye looking in was stupid as hell even then. Cheap and non-scary

The red pig eyes out the window was like something you'd see in a rinky dink carnival haunted house ride.

For God's sake, get out of the theatre!

I'm quite fond of it, and regard it as high camp. It's full of laughable moments. Highly entertaining.

Any info on Marc Vahanian, who played Margo's brother?

It's just so over the top. I like the cast but even they tend to go over the top. Rod Steiger literally chews the scenery.

Then there's the sequel/prequel with the creepy incest.

Scared the piss out of me when I was 7. Now, like others said, I see it was a really bad B movie.

It was worse than a made for tv movie

[quote]The most terrifying thing about it were Kidder's ugly bare legs.

Second being Margot's pigtails:

He’s tightay white-ay. Jus’ lettin’ it ALL hang out...

James Brolin is so hot in this!

Oh come on, this is wonderful trash cinema! So it isn’t The Exorcist or Rosemary’s Baby. It’s still fun to watch. And, based on a sensational fake story that was a huge deal at the time, it was destined for b-movie status. Plus a lot of its scenes have become weirdly iconic.

My social media was filled with clips of the scene with the priest covered in flies during the Harris/Pence debate a few night ago. Perfect!

James Brolin in tighty whities or shirtless Ryan Reynolds choppin' wood in the remake?

And the vomiting nun!

Best. Vomiting. Nun. Scene. Ever.

Michael Hawkins, or Christian Slater's dad is in it as one of the troopers who finds the bodies. I remembered him from Ryans Hope and had to watch it on cable several times before I noticed him in what's essentially a group scene.

The flies were an inspiration.

The REAL story is the bizarre DeFao family murder case that happened previously in the home, and inspired the Lutz’s to concoct their haunting hoax. There‘s been a whole lot of books, documentaries and crime tv series done on the case over the years. A lurid and fascinating rabbit hole for crime buffs that aren’t familiar with it!

I love this movie. I have always found it tonally bizarre, and each of the characters seem a bit "off." This is probably a result of the overwrought performances, but it gives the whole thing a strange vibe. James Brolin, Margot Kidder, and Helen Shaver all overact in it. There is also a lot of weirdness that is never explained in the film, i.e. the portal to hell, the Native American burial ground, the Satanic preacher, etc. I know it's all elucidated more in the book, but the film seems to only graze over the surface of a lot of it, and the gaps make for an odd viewing experience.

I do agree that James Brolin was handsome here. The remake came out when I was in high school, and I remember going to see it in theaters with friends. It's got some good moments, though I still prefer the '79 version overall. I will admit though that I blew a number of loads to Ryan Reynolds' shirtless body in the '05 version.

The Lutzes sound like a bunch of con artists.

When James Brolin was promoting the film he was convinced he was going to be Oscar nominated for this!

Hahahaha.

[quote]The red pig eyes out the window was like something you'd see peering out from the White House.

R47, actually, there was belief that Rod Steiger would get a nod, lol.

[quote] The Lutzes sound like a bunch of con artists.

Maybe because they were.

I remember when I was a little kid in the late 70’s this haunting case was everywhere in the media, the public was fascinated by it. I felt like the image of those damn attic windows were everywhere.

When the film came out everyone in school wanted to see it and those that had would describe its goriest scenes in lurid detail and it sounded amazing (we were 6th graders). I actually did see it around that time through a twist of fate with some college-age youth teen chaperones (imagine that), and loved it. I was too young to understand good, bad, camp, etc. it was just scary and wild.

r39, "Amityville Horror" actually was a legit A feature in the tradition of "Exorcist" and "Rosemary's Baby," not B-grade grindhouse or drive-in fare. Look at that cast. Kidder, Brolin and Steiger were respectable names. And while it didn't scare me the way "Exorcist" or "The Omen" or "The Other" did, it definitely wasn't trash.

I wouldn’t classify the original THE AMITYVILLE HORROR film as “trash.” But it’s no ROSEMARY’S BABY or THE EXORCIST that’s certain. Those are solid films (more or less).

TAH falls into camp category, for me (more or less). It’s just feels cheap and non-serious. But does work. As a previous poster said many of its most memorable scenes are ingrained in people’s memories and are often referenced in popular culture.

For me, The Conjuring is a much better haunted house film.