The Amityville Horror (1979 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Amityville Horror


caption = Promotional Poster for "The Amityville Horror"
director = Stuart Rosenberg
producer = Samuel Z. Arkoff
Elliot Geisinger
Ronald Saland
writer = Jay Anson (novel)
Sandor Stern (screenplay)
starring = James Brolin
Margot Kidder
Rod Steiger
Don Stroud
Murray Hamilton
music = Lalo Schifrin
cinematography = Fred J. Koenekamp
editing = Robert Brown Jr.
distributor = 1979-1981
American International Pictures
1982-1997
Orion Pictures Corporation
1998-present
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = flagicon|USA July 27, 1979
runtime = 117 min.
country = flagicon|USA United States
language = English
budget =
gross =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:2092
imdb_id = 078767

"The Amityville Horror" is a 1979 American horror film based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Jay Anson. The film was directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starred James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger. After purchasing and moving into their new home on 112 Ocean Avenue, a house where a mass murder had been committed the year before, the Lutz family experiences a series of frightening paranormal events, causing them to flee the house only 28 days after moving in. The story is reportedly based on the real-life experiences of the Lutz family, though these events have been the subject of much controversy.

Production

The on-location scenes of "The Amityville Horror" were filmed at a house in Toms River, New Jersey, which had been converted to look like the 112 Ocean Avenue home after the authorities in Amityville denied permission for filming on the actual location. Exterior scenes were also filmed in Toms River. Local police and ambulance workers would play extras in the film, while the Toms River Volunteer Fire Company was used to provide the rain during several scenes. Jay Anson's screenplay, based upon his bestselling novel, was rejected by the producers who opted for a version written by Sandor Stern.

James Brolin was hesitant when first offered the role of George Lutz. Told that there was no script, he obtained a copy of Anson's novel to read. Brolin started the book and read until two o'clock in the morning. He had hung up a pair of his pants in the room earlier and during an especially tense passage of the book, the pants fell to the floor. Brolin jumped from his chair in fright. It was then that Brolin decided to do the movie. Brolin became friendly with George Lutz and his family, though he was highly doubtful of their story.

Reception

"The Amityville Horror" was a huge box office success (earning more than $86 million in the United States), despite being given poor reviews by critics such as Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert, who described it as "dreary and terminally depressing." [cite web |title=Roger Ebert, Film Review for "The Amityville Horror" |work=suntimes.com |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19790101/REVIEWS/901010304/1023 |date=January 1, 1979 |accessdate=2007-10-07]

Lalo Schifrin's musical score for the film was nominated for an Academy Award. It is sometimes claimed that this score was the one rejected in 1972 for "The Exorcist". According to Schifrin, "Many people thought "The Amityville Horror" was the same music I wrote for "The Exorcist", but that's not the case, obviously. It's one of the first scores in which I used children's voices. It had a really nice effect." It has been spoofed many times, most recently In the "Ginger Kids" episode of South Park, where the characters hum the theme.

The film was followed by two sequels "" (1982) and "Amityville 3-D" (1983). These films were followed by five direct-to-video sequels released from 1989 to 1996. In addition to being remade in 2005, the film was parodied in "Bloodbath at the House of Death" (1984) and "Scary Movie 2" (2001). The British film starred comedian Kenny Everett and featured Vincent Price.

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0078767|title=The Amityville Horror
* [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19790101/REVIEWS/901010304/1023 Roger Ebert's Review]