Originally published: June 02, 2006 @ 11:41pm PST

The Amityville Horror (1979)<br /> on DVD

This review covers the original 1979 film The Amityville Horror Jay Anson’s book of the same name. Jay Anson did write a screenplay for this film but it was rejected in favor of one by Sandor Stern. Since that book will be reviewed right here on our site at another time, I’m going to stick strictly to the movie and not delve too much into the back story. With this disclaimer in mind, let’s get to the review, shall we?

Here’s the basic sketch of the story – as much as I care to say without spoiling it for those of you who may not’ve seen it (because I’m told it ends differently than the 2005 re-make). On November 13th, 1974 police were summoned to the DeFeo residence at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. Here they discovered all but one member of the DeFeo family slain execution style in their beds. Later, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. was convicted of their murders and sentenced to life in prison. Thirteen months later, on December 18th, 1975 the Lutz family moved in. This is where the movie begins…

I don’t know what it is about movies from the 70’s and 80’s that makes them feel so much scarier to me. It’s not just George Lutz’s (played by James Brolin) hair, either. It’s not even the tighty-whiteys he wears when he walks about the house in the middle of the night. No, I think it’s the lighting. Movies from this era (and I saw quite a few when they were edited for television, during my childhood) have such harsh lighting that doesn’t soften the facial expressions of the actors. Each shadow presents a contrast that almost always ends up making people look even creepier than they might appear otherwise. Rooms seem darker and the end effect is that the ambience is all the more unnerving.

Brolin and Margot Kidder do a superb job in their roles as George and Kathy Lutz. It seems that with all the special effects, clever dialogue and cinematic tricks available to filmmakers now we rarely see this style of performance. In many scenes the actors have nothing but their own gestures, voices and facial expressions to work with and they do quite a good job keeping you watching their performance. There’s something especially disturbing about little Amy Lutz (played by Natasha Ryan) – even when she’s not talking about her imaginary friend, there’s something in her mannerisms that suggests she’s more aware of what’s going on than the script allows her to say.

Of course, through the lens of time we may find certain elements of The Amityville Horror to be quaint or silly. The wardrobe would appear unfamiliar to younger audiences and an embarassing memory to those who lived through this time period. The house, however, certainly helps create the sense of forboding with its interior design. I’ve lived in houses alot like the one on 112 Ocean Avenue and I can tell you firsthand that they are not the easiest places to relax in. Houses like this seem just a little too silent, a little too old.

The tension which builds reliably throughout the course of the story is to be expected as part of any horror movie, but I felt this movie did it nicely. There’s no rushing from plotpoint to plotpoint and the director allows the scenes to flow evenly. There’s no forced use of jump-cutting MTV-style through the story, we’re allowed to experience a more natural pacing so that we have time to formulate our own ideas of what may lie ahead for the characters. It’ll be interesting to see how these aspects compare with the 2005 re-make which I’m eager to review.

I feel this version of the Amityville films

I bet you already knew I was going to go all sentimental and give this film a 5 out of 5, didn’t you?