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There is a nice house on a shady lane in the Long Island village of Amityville; and in the middle of the night in late 1974, a disturbed young man who lived there with his parents, two brothers, and two sisters went on a killing spree, shooting everyone in his family. Nasty stuff indeed. Soon after, Jay Anson moved in with his own family, and their one-month stay in the house became the experiential source for his bestselling book, The Amityville Horror, which in turn became the source of Stuart Rosenberg's over-the-top 1979 haunted house flick of the same name. James Brolin and Margot Kidder portray George and Kathy Lutz, a couple with three kids who move into a beautiful suburban home with a terrible legacy, perhaps presuming that the murder of the previous occupants has drained any bad karma from the house and oblivious to the possibility that there might be a portal to hell in its basement. Among the oddities the Lutzes immediately encounter are strange breezes, unpleasant odors, oozing goo, and demonic voices bidding them to leave. And when patriarch Brolin's personality inexplicably darkens, the family calls in a priest (Rod Steiger) to assess the unnerving situation. Amityville's preference for manipulative chills as opposed to flat-out shocks may seem dated to audiences raised on slasher flicks, but its disquieting imagery preys on genuine fears. (Plus, the actual house's creepy background is enough to make you think, maybe...) The movie spawned a number of sequels, including Amityville II: The Possession (1982) and TV's Amityville 2000, but the original remains the true spooker. Patricia Kim O'Cone

All Movie Guide

"For God's sake, GET OUT!" was the ad campaign for the 1979 shocker The Amityville Horror. The film was based on the allegedly true story of the luckless Lutz family, who move lock, stock, and barrel into a new home, only to find that it is possessed by the demonic spirits of its previous owners. Variations of the Seven Deadly Plagues emanate from virtually every household fixture, while other forms of otherworldly mischief are suffered by the Lutz children. Enter kindly Father Delaney (Rod Steiger), who does his utmost to exorcise the house. The Amityville Horror was frequently greeted with laughs from its first-run audiences, especially after it was discovered that the "actual" events depicted in the film (based on a book by Jay Anson) were complete fabrications. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 027616092090
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
• Region Code: A
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 1:59:00
• Sales Rank: 27,211

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Amityville Horror Special Edition Gift Set
• Amityville Horror (1979)/the Amityville Horror (2005)

Features: