The Amityville Horror (1979) Review

This week we cover the original movie based on the true fake story about the haunting of the Lutz family in Long Island.

Synopsis

The Amityville Horror is based on a real life made up story about the Lutz family moving into a house that was the scene of a brutal murder of an entire family. They soon find out that the house is haunted or possessed or something. You can tell the house is evil because of the way it is. George Lutz played by Josh Brolin’s dad seems to slowly go insane while Lois Lane gradually becomes Wendy Torrence. A priest also is in the movie sometimes.

Review of The Amityville Horror (1979)

The Amityville Horror story is probably one of the most famous hauntings in America. Likely even more famous than this movie. It was one of the first investigations by Lorraine and Ed Warren on whom the Conjuring Movies are based. This film is a grab bag of haunting tropes that later got perfected by better movies. It really felt like the writer couldn’t decide what type of haunting was going on, so they covered every base. It could be haunted by the ghosts of the murder victims, possessed by a demon, cursed by a witch, cursed by native Americans, or just a simple portal to hell. Take your pick. It ends up being a rather unsatisfying story because we’re never offered any real answers. 

The Lutz family starts out promising as protagonists — George and Kathy are introduced as newlyweds with Kethy having three kids from a previous marriage. However, this interesting family dynamic is never fully developed and a lot of drama is left on the table. 

The plotline of Father Delaney feels tacked on, and never really pays off dramatically. He has one of the most memorable scenes in the movie, but it’s bizarre that the main characters never learn about what happened to him.

The movie ends up being an example of the pitfall of having a lot of plot, and no story. The characters seem one dimensional, and the ending feels unsatisfying.

Score

5/10