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The Real Estate agent had earlier told them all about the
tragedy that had occurred there thirteen months prior, when
the previous occupants, the Defeo family, had been slaughtered
in their sleep by their eldest son Ronald, who had made his
rounds through the home at 3:15am.
What they were not told was that Defeo had claimed that in
the weeks and months leading up to the murders, he and his
family had heard voices from within the house, paranoia had
taken over each and every one of them, and on the grisly night
in question, “An angel with black hands” had appeared
to Ronald, and handed him the rifle he used to kill his parents,
brothers and sister…
28 days after moving in, the Lutz family fled the home in
the middle of the night, and the ensuing story of what drove
them to do so is either one of the most terrifying tales of
haunting in U.S. history, or if you’re a sceptic, it’s
one of the biggest hoaxes of all time.
In 1977, Jay Anson released the novel “The Amityville
Horror”, which was the supposedly true account of what
had happened to the Lutz family, and a few years afterwards,
the story came to the big screen with James Brolin as George,
and Margot Kidder as Kathy.
The film documents the story of the bizarre occurrences that
plagued the family during their month long stay in their new
home, including an attempted blessing by a Catholic Priest
(Rod Steiger) going distinctly pear shaped, and many “ghostly”
things such as black slime dripping from the walls, disembodied
voices screaming at the family in the middle of the night,
George waking at exactly 3:15am every morning (ironic, huh?)
and even the (100% factual) discovery of a hidden room in
the house which did not appear on any of the building plans.
But that all ties in to their daughter’s new “imaginary”
friend Jodie, who passes messages on to the family such as
“Jodie says we’re going to live here forever.”
So that’s the gist of it all, but how’s the film
itself?
Well, I last saw “Amityville” around about 7 years
ago on a very old, very crappy tape from “Blockbuster”
that looked like it had been dragged through landfill a few
times, but I was still very impressed with the film itself,
so after having watched this beautiful -and I mean beautiful-
transfer, my appreciation for the film has grown in a big
way.
It’s not a blood-soaked horror fest, it’s not an
edge-of-your-seat kind of thing either, it’s just…
well, it’s just unsettling to watch, because it constantly
plays in the back of your mind, “What if this is actually
what happened?”, and bearing in mind that for the last
30 years, the Lutz’s story of what went down has never
wavered (even through a trying divorce), and the fact that
they quite truthfully made little money out of the whole shebang
that accompanied it, the thought has to be entertained that
it may be true after all.
James Brolin puts in a good performance as the slowly disintegrating
George, and even though I’ve never been a big fan of
Margot Kidder, I can say that I didn’t want to fast forward
past her scenes either, but that’s about as much of a
compliment as I’ll pay.
The music is a definite slice of fried-gold from Lalo Schifrin
with an absolutely kick-ass main title, and some nice little
creepy arrangements throughout, but the movie itself looks
just that little bit ominous, which does the trick nicely
in the end.
The bottom line is that if you like a good old-school horror
film that creeps you out just a bit, you wouldn’t be
putting a foot out of step by picking up “The Amityville
Horror: SE”.
Good film, friggin’ great transfer, top score and some
hefty extras make for super happy fun time. Pick it up even
if it’s just for nostalgic value.
DVD Extras
So on to the goodies, and considering this is a 2 DVD set,
you’d expect some decent stuff, and unlike most 2 DVD
sets, you actually do get some good stuff here.
Starting up is the commentary track on the film by Dr. Hans
Holzer, who is one of the few accredited researchers who actually
investigated the house itself. He talks about what’s
true, what’s false, and all the little things in between,
but believe me, Ghostbusters has lied to you…
Parapsychologists are not funny, they’re actually quite
boring and this guy’s no exception, but it’s still
reasonably interesting to hear some of his real life experiences
with the haunting.
On disc 2 are the real features, beginning with the 20-ish
minute long “For God’s Sake, Get Out!” which
is good for a bit of background on James Brolin and Margot
Kidder, but after watching it you’re only left with the
distinct feeling that they really, really, really didn’t
like each other at all.
After that is the real meat and two veg of the disc in the
form of two “History Channel” documentaries on the
haunting, the first being “Amityville: The Haunting”,
and the second, “Amityville: Horror or Hoax?”.
Combined, the two features run close to the hour and a half
mark and are genuinely interesting looks at the Lutz’s,
the Defeo’s, and everyone else who was connected to the
story. I’ve seen many of these types of documentaries
in the past, and was expecting the usual dodgy reconstructions,
but pleasantly, they’re not to be found here, instead
relying on tape interviews with Ronald Defeo, fresh chats
with the Lutz’s, and with the psychics who investigated
the house at the time.
Also included is a look behind the scenes of the 2005 remake
(reviewed
here), starring Ryan Reynolds as George and Melissa George
as Kathy, which shows a couple of creepy scenes, and some
very brief chats with the two actors. It only runs for around
the 5 minute mark, but it should still be enough to whet your
appetite for it.
Wrapping it all up is the original theatrical trailer, and
7 Radio spots (remember those?), which do the job in selling
it as the creepiest film of the year, but you won’t be
watching/listening to them much beyond the first time. Solid
stuff nonetheless.
There’s not a lot more that I can really say about it.
It’s a very solid two disc set that features a pretty
creepy film, along with some pretty good extras. Closest thing
value/content wise I can think of is “From Hell”,
which will give you a good idea of what you can expect.
Conclusion: Movie 85% Extras 90%
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