In 1977, Jay Anson published a horror novel titled, “The Amityville Horror.” Story follows a middle-class family who move into a house where a real-life murder happened one year prior. At first, things were pretty normal for a typical family adjusting to their new home. Suddenly, the Lutz Family experience strange encounters inside their home. Turns out to be a haunted house. The book caught independent film production company, American International Pictures to produce a film adaptation.
Released in 1979, (same year Alien came out) it received negative reactions and was a financial hit. Overtime, the film earned praise. The Amityville Horror spawned sequels, a 2005 remake with Ryan Reynolds, and many stand-alone movies. Speaking of which, David F. Sandberg is working on a remake of the OG version. As of late 2026, no release date confirmed. One more thing, it’s Halloween Month. Right time to watch spooky stuff.
This review contains SPOILERS.
Polished & Rusty Qualities
Polished: James Brolin, Margot Kidder & Rod Steiger all did a good job for their respective performances.
Lalo Schifrin (Dirty Harry series, Rush Hour Trilogy) orchestrated the soundtrack.
Practical Effects were heavily involved.
Cinematography’s shot in tip top shape.
Stephen King interpreted both the book and film as a metaphor of the 1973-1975 recession and 1973 oil crisis. Back then, homeowners faced the horrors of losing their jobs, lack of gasoline and homes repossessed.
Random Thoughts
- I’m going to come clean. I never watched the OG Amityville Horror until now. I only watched the remake with Ryan Reynolds.
- I also haven’t seen multiple sequels and stand-alone movies
Rusty: Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke, The Pope of Greenwich Village) didn’t do so well directing. He didn’t double check the script for feedback.
Scare Factor lacked genuine terror. I didn’t get scared. That’s a huge drawback.
Pacing issues in between. Sometimes it flows well, sometimes it slows down.
I find the Lutz Family generic. They weren’t interesting characters to care about. If you’re gonna make a horror movie, you gotta have a three-dimensional protagonist the audience can relate to. George Lutz lacks charisma. That’s a cardinal sin.
Several Plot Threads were initially tied to the plot. Unfortunately, specific ones listed never payed off. Each one missed like a bowling ball not hitting a single bowling pin.
- $1,500 from a wedding party disappears. What’s the point of stealing money if you’re already a ghost? You can do whatever you want.
- Three causes of the demonic house. A backstory of a young man slays a family a year prior to the Lutz Family moving in, a burial underground and a satanic worshipper named, John Ketchum. Not a single clarifies which one happened. The story failed to comprehend a meaningful origin story of the demonic house. As if the lore has an identity disorder. Look, I’m willing to accept a Rashomon type of scenario, but The Amityville Horror lacks flashbacks of John Ketchum and the burial underground. That would’ve been an effective way for the viewer to interpret the outcome. Sadly, it didn’t work out.
- Rod Steiger’s role as Father Delaney suddenly becomes blind. This was never brought up if the house affected him or just lazy writing.
- One of the kids has an imaginary friend named, Jody. Actually, a demonic pig with red eyes. The never terrorizes.
- George has little to quality time as a stepdad.
The Final Verdict: F, FOR FAKER
Hate to break it to ya, I didn’t like OG Amityville Horror. I wanted to like it, but it has problems. Lots of problems. This so called “horror classic” is not on the same level as OG “Halloween,” John Carpenter’s “The Thing” and David Cronenberg’s “The Fly.” Skip both the original and 2005 remake in favor of “Monster House.” A much better movie about a haunted house.
