The film begins on November 13, 1974 at an approximated time of 3:15 A.M. by showing us six, gruesome murders in which a family member kills his mother, father, two sisters, and two brothers with his .35 rifle. We are shown a firey light that blares from inside the house each time someone is shot and killed, which is made especially creepy through the house's ominous quarter-moon attic windows. There is virtually no motive for the killing spree after the teenager tells the police that voices made him do it.
One year later, George and Kathy Lutz (James Brolin, Margot Kidder) are shown around the Long Island house and eventually decide to reside there with their three children and dog. Despite their knowing of the house's horrible past, they move in a month later, thinking their All-American Family Dream has been fullfilled until strange occurrences start to surround the unsuspecting family.
While outside with their children one day, close friend Father Delaney (Rod Steiger) arrives to bless the house but soon discovers that nobody is home. After entering a room upstairs, a door abruptly closes and flies start to swarm about outside the room's window. When the flies overwhelm him, Father Delaney becomes very sick when suddenly the door opens and a voice yells for him to get out of the house.
The family thinks everything's alright until their days in the house turn into sheer madness and terror when they begin to witness supernatural events orginated within the house. Even their priest, who's now become very ill, can't even help the frightened family. When everything goes out of control, the family makes an attempt to leave the house, but will the house let them leave?
Based on the bestselling novel by Jay Anson, this film depicts the events revolving around the house. It all started when Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered his mother, father, two sisters, and two brothers with his .35 rifle in their Long Island home in Amityville, New York on November 13, 1974 at about 3:15 A.M. To this day, DeFeo has only stated that voices told him to commit the cold-blooded murders, and he is currently imprisoned, a sentence of 150 years (25 years for each murder).
On December 18, 1975, the Lutz Family moved into the Dutch Colonial house. After only 28 days in their new home, they left due to their experiences with supernatural happenings. Later on, Anson was prompted to write a novel based on the Amitville House, which had many wrong detailings of true incidents, also noticeable in the film.
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg and scripted by Sandor Stern, the film instantly became a worldwide phenomenon, juggling many people's belief of the incidents. Many other families have settled into the infamous house and have had no reports of supernatural happenings. Although, skeptics and followers alike of the detailings still discuss it today.
The film itself is very interesting and an excellent beginning for people who want to learn more about the chilling aspects involving the house. There aren't too many moments in which things pop out of nowhere, but there are some pretty effective and tense moments within the film.
As always, Margot Kidder is enjoyable and very different from her portrayal as the alcoholic, foul-mouthed Barb from 1974's Black Christmas, still proving her excellent acting skills. James Brolin also gives a good performance as the father who's on the brink of insanity. Also, the three child actors who play the parents' offspring have also appeared in many other things, Natasha Ryan (Amy) was also in The Entity (1981) and on the TV soap Days of Our Lives from 1975-1980, K.C. Martel (Greg) was also in E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982) and Bloody Birthday (1980), and Meeno Peluce (Matt), half-brother of Soleil Moon Frye, was also in Don't Go Near the Park (1979).
The rejected score originally intended for 1973's The Exorcist was picked up by Lalo Schifrin and used for this film and succeeds in establishing a chilling mood, even being nominated for an Academy Award. I'd always managed to overlook this film but finally gave it a chance and was pleasantly surprised. Most of the sequels that followed weren't nearly as good as the original of course. So if you're really into ghost stories or just want a good scare, take a look at this thrillingly fun movie.
