Amityville (1979) 8/10

Amityville. I remember as a kid going to the local mom & pop video rental store, and seeing the countless Amityville films. Amityvlle 3-d, Amityvlle Doll House, Amityville Its About Time, and all the others. I've seen the original in bits and pieces on t.v. of course, but I had never actually sat down and watched the whole film. Given the slew of sequels, and the recent remake, I decided to finally dip into the Amytiville franchise, starting with the original.

Amityville for those who have been living in a cave under a rock, is about a spooky house of notorious history. In real life a family moved into the home and the owner's son killed the whole family one night with a rifle. So, the film takes place after this true-life event. Once again a family moves in but all is not well. The father, played by James Brolin starts to become paranoid, agitated and irritable, and possibly homicidal. The mother realizes something evil is in the home and invites a priest to come cleanse it, but the house won't let the priest do his cleansing, striking him blind. How can the family survive in a house soaked with evil?

Amityville is filled with strong acting and strong directing. James Brolin especially does a superb job at playing a slowly deteriorating man that was once strong and good. We feel for him as he becomes increasingly frightening, and we feel for the family as well. It's very hard to make a dangerous character likeable and still have him be frightening and realistic. The priests all do a wonderful job here as well. The film oozes a creepy atmosphere that builds effectively throughout the film. The only problem here is that the director never pulls the trigger. We sit and watch the tension build and then suddenly the family decides to leave the house before any serious danger is dealt.

So, the ending is a bit anti-climactic but the rest of the film is so carefully crafted and produced that it makes up for it's shortcoming. Here is a film that deserves to have a slew of sequels. Nearly 30 years old and it still instills a feeling of fear and suspense rarely seen today.

Gore-mild

Nudity-none

Overall - 8/10