The Amityville Horror (1979 film)

The Amityville Horror
Promotional poster for The Amityville Horror
Directed by	Stuart Rosenberg
Produced by	Samuel Z. Arkoff Elliot Geisinger Ronald Saland
Written by	Jay Anson (novel) Sandor Stern (screenplay)
Starring	James Brolin Margot Kidder Rod Steiger Don Stroud Murray Hamilton
Music by	Lalo Schifrin
Cinematography	Fred J. Koenekamp
Editing by	Robert Brown Jr.
Distributed by	1979–81 American International Pictures 1982–97 Orion Pictures Corporation 1998–present Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	July 27, 1979 (1979-07-27)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$86,432,520 (USA)

The Amityville Horror is a 1979 American horror film based on the bestselling 1977 novel of the same name by Jay Anson. It is the first movie in the Amityville Horror franchise.

The story is based on the alleged real-life experiences of the Lutz family who buy a new home on 112 Ocean Avenue, Long Island, a house where a mass murder had been committed the year before. After the family move into the house, they experience a series of frightening paranormal events.

Plot

In December 1975, George Lutz (James Brolin), his wife Kathy (Margot Kidder) and their three children move into a Dutch colonial house in Amityville, New York. Thirteen months earlier, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. had shot and killed six members of his family at the house. The Lutzes are aware of the house's history, and they ask Father Delaney (Rod Steiger) to bless it, but he is driven out by a swarm of flies during the blessing. After 28 days the Lutzes flee the house, having been terrorized by numerous paranormal phenomena while living there.

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 and Point Pleasant Beach. 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. Indoor shots were filmed in MGM studios in California.

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. Brolin later said he could not get a job for two years because of his performance in this film, despite starring in both 1980's Night of the Juggler and 1981's High Risk.

Reception

The Amityville Horror was one of the most successful films produced by an independent studio at that time. It was a huge box office success, earning more than $86 million in the USA. However, the film received poor reviews from critics such as Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert, the latter describing it as "dreary and terminally depressing".

Lalo Schifrin's musical score was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost out to the score for A Little Romance by Georges Delerue. It is sometimes claimed that this score was the one rejected in 1973 for The Exorcist, but Schifrin has denied this in interviews.

External links

• The Amityville Horror at the Internet Movie Database
• The Amityville Horror at AllRovi
• Roger Ebert's Review