The Amityville Horror (1979) Dir: Stuart Rosenberg
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Thinking about it, Stuart Rosenberg's 1979 horror should be a classic. It has a great deal of ripe source material to draw from; both a book by Jay Anson, and the very real events of the Amityville murders and subsequent haunting. However, none of the films based around those events, or the infamous house that contained them, have ever seemed to turn out all that good.
I had wanted to watch this first film, in what has since become a bloated and unsuccessful series of films, for some time. It felt like it could be a decent enough classic horror to spend an evening watching, but sadly it became apparent early on that this was a pretty mediocre film.
I could see some aspects which have either influenced or, more likely, been riffed on in more modern cinema. So much of what I saw was composed of some of the most cheesy and repetitive antics in pre-90s horror, including a random sex scene, which was shot more like a piece of soft-core erotica than anything serious.
Unfortunately, the film was not remotely scary. There was an atmosphere to it, but the film failed to create any momentum or suspense. It was a real shame. The story dragged relentlessly, and stumbled its way through a dull and haphazard screenplay. I kept hoping for something significantly scary or interesting to happen, but nothing ever did.
James Brolin looked the part, but his acting was all over the place. He somehow managed to both over-act and under-act at the same time. It was frustrating to watch him act, because some of what he was doing was genuinely good, while other aspects were truly terrible.
Margot Kidder felt very maternal and sincere, but her reactions to the spooky happenings of the film weren't great. On the whole, though, her performance was alright. She was the most likeable of anyone in the film by a country mile.
None of the supporting cast were much better, but, for what it's worth, I'll still give mentions to Rod Steiger, Don Stroud, Michael Sacks and Helen Shaver for their various appearances.
Overall, this was not the classic piece of horror that I hoped it could be. Instead, it was a subpar and boring film, which did nothing for me in the slightest. It was, unfortunately, a real disappointment. For those interested, the real case is far more interesting to explore.
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