The Amityville Horror

Starring: James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger, Don Stroud, Murray Hamilton
Directed by: Stuart Rosenberg
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
1979

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A family unknowingly moves into a home where a family was murdered by one of the children a year ago. As they begin their new life there, strange things start occurring, especially regarding the patriarch (James Brolin) of the family.

Review:

Tim: The Amityville Horror is one of those horror movies that does much right, but has a few flaws that really detract from the end result. I know this was a popular movie when it first came out, even though I tend to think it doesn't deserve as much credit. On the plus side, this is a fairly competent, interesting horror movie. There are some legitimately creepy scenes, even if the movie itself isn't overly frightening. It is an effective movie (for the most part), and is mostly entertaining.

The big problem I had with the film is the sheer lenght of the thing. There is no reason for this movie to be almost two hours long. We have a number of scenes involving local priests and their involvement in the strange events of the house. These scenes should have been cut back. Truly, some of them are among the best of the entire film, but the whole story of the priests is less effective than the focus on the family. Cutting some of these scenes would have helped. The movie also tends to drag on and on about two thirds of the way through. It gets to the point where we understand what's happening- this family is being terrorized by some unseen force. However, for a good forty minutes, there is very little development. Sure, the whole family descends a little deeper into chaos and madness, but there's very little momentum. The film feels like it gets stuck in the wrong gear and just doesn't advance the story. This is a shame, and one of the film's biggest flaws. I also thought the whole religious aspect (which really felt like it grew increasingly important as the movie went on, for no real reason) was a bit unnecessary. These are some of the film's biggest flaws, not to mention a bit of an anticlimactic ending. I know this is based on "true" events, so they were constrained somewhat. However, I wish the ending had been a bit more powerful.

I really enjoyed the cast. James Brolin was fantastic as the patriarch of the family. Brolin really embodies the slow descent into craziness as the house impacts him emotionally, mentally, and physically. Brolin's convincing performance is one of the main reasons this movie works. I really enjoyed him here. I also very much enjoyed Margot Kidder as his wife. Kidder is a very likeable, entertaining actress, and she works well here. I do wish she had a little more of substance to do, but I'm mostly happy with her.

The cast is also helped out by the excellent Rod Steiger. As the local priest, he gives a convincing, oftentimes superb performance. Horror movies need strong actors to make the crazy events seem believable, and Steiger brings that to the film. The highlight has to be the scene where he is screaming at a fellow priest to believe him about the house. His emotions are boiling and he conveys so much emotion with his face. It was excellent acting.

While The Amityville Horrorw does a number of things right, it ultimately sinks under its flaws. The movie should have been streamlined some, as 15-20 minutes could have been cut out in the middle. The film is creepy, but not exactly scary. The movie does boast some strong acting, though. In the end, this is a decent horror film, but it does not live up to its potential.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Amityville II: The Possession, Amityville 3-D, The Amityville Horror (2005)