_**That iconic creepy house on Long Island**_ A newlywed couple moves into a shoreline house on Long Island with their three little kids. The house was the scene of a mass killing a year earlier but the parents (James Brolin & Margot Kidder) didn’t think it mattered and, besides, it enabled them to purchase the homestead at a much reduced price. Then strange things start happening. "The Amityville Horror" (1979) was arguably the best haunted house movie up to that point in time and was hugely successful at the box office, inspiring a gazillion sequels, remakes and documentaries. There are similarities to "The Shining" (1980): Both movies were based on books published in 1977, but the film version of "The Amityville Horror" was released a year prior to “The Shining” and was based on the supposedly true story of what happened to the Lutz family whereas Stephen King’s novel was purely fictional. The 2005 remake with Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George deviates even further from the book and is a brisker, more modern version of the story. Yet this classic version still works as a moody and mysterious drama with horrific touches. Unlike the remake, the movie takes its time to establish and develop the characters and I appreciated this; for instance, Mr. Lutz's employee (Michael Sacks) and his spiritually curious girlfriend (Helen Shaver), as well as the two priests (Rod Steiger and Don Stroud). Gene Siskel criticized it on the grounds that it wasn’t enjoyable. Seriously? Since when are horror flicks supposed to be enjoyable? This is a realistic drama with some creepy paranormal things thrown on top, based on an allegedly true account. I don’t think the filmmakers were shooting for “enjoyable.” That said, underneath the darkness the picture has a good, warm heart. Was the actual Lutz’s account true or not? They seemed to have experienced some troubling things at the house during their month-long stay and passed a Polygraph by two top polygraph experts but, assuming their story wasn’t concocted for profit (which many believe was the case), the events were certainly amped-up for the book & movie for the purpose of an entertaining tale. By the way, the large Dutch Colonial house still stands in Amityville, albeit the exterior was remodeled and hence the two distinctive windows appear standard. The film runs 1 hour, 57 minutes and was mostly shot in New Jersey as follows: Toms River (house), Point Pleasant (church), Georgian Court University in Lakewood (meeting with the hooded priest), Ocean County and Scotch Plains; as well as indoor scenes done at MGM Studios in Culver City, California; plus some shots done in Long Island, Connecticut and Glendale, California. GRADE: B

This movie set a lot of ground for other horror movies and did a lot of heavy lifting. The overt religious themes might have aged poorly. But the character work and the effective use of the flashbacks and dream sequences make this movie still work as a vehicle for tension. It is a very good horror movie with a great cast and lovely direction and a legacy that you really can't deny.

I don't suppose realtors had to declare elements of the gory past of an house when they sold it, so poor old "George" (James Brolin) and "Kathy" (Margot Kidder) are in for quite a shock when they acquire a new home. Initially, the only bumps in the night are caused by her three kids but gradually they begin to suspect that something altogether more sinister might be afoot so they send for "Fr. Delaney" (Rod Steiger). He tries to exorcise what malevolence might be lurking beneath it's timbers, but that's after about half an hour so we know that isn't going to work. What is going to happen now? Well "Kathy" takes it upon herself to go investigating into the history of the place just as "George" starts to find himself trapped in an emotional, semi-maniacal, cul-de-sac where he quite literally has an axe to grind. There are times when this manages to imbue a sense of supernatural menace but there is a great deal of padding around those moments and there's not really anywhere near enough of Steiger to sustain the suspense. Indeed what we do get from him seems all a bit too method for my liking. There is a chemistry between Brolin and Kidder, but again neither of those performances really made me care one way or the other about the fate that might await them and as for the sprogs, well the spirit world was welcome to them. There is simply too much dialogue and not enough spookery here, and though I wouldn't quite call it dull there is a surfeit of flashback storytelling and, well, it's not the best.