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REVIEW – Amityville 3D

Christian Sellers — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:51:35 +0000

Much like the Hollywood of today, the early 1980s saw a sudden and somewhat brief revival of 3D, with even popular franchises such as Jaws and Friday the 13th jumping on the bandwagon. Following on from Damiano Damiani’s disturbing prequel Amityville II: The Possession (which surpassed the original in every way), cult producer Dino De Laurentiis decided to embrace the latest craze and shoot the next installment with the added gimmick. Drafting in the talents of legendary filmmaker Richard Fleischer (10 Rillington Place, Mr. Majestyk), De Laurentiis set out to compete with the other big budget 3D flicks of the year.

Journalist John Baxter (Tony Roberts) assists in a sting operation to drive two fake psychics out of the legendary haunted house, before relocating his family there after striking a deal with estate agent Clifford Sanders (John Harkins). But after finding Sanders dead in the house soon afterwards, John is still not convinced that anything strange is afoot, even when his partner, Melanie (Candy Clark), claims that something within the house had tried to harm her. But whilst John’s daughter, Susan (Lori Loughlin), also feels that there is a strange presence in the house her best friend, Lisa (Meg Ryan), is too fascinated with the previous incidents to be concerned.

The Amityville Horror failed to live up to its reputation as a terrifying or effective horror classic and so the bar was set rather low from the very beginning. Haunted house movies had been a standard fixture of the horror genre for decades and Stuart Rosenberg’s film added little to the formula. Damiani, however, seemed to have an understanding of the genre and lent the film a European gothic feel, resulting in an uneven yet disturbing thriller. The critics were hardly convinced but and the series continued to be less respected than many of its contemporaries.

The third entry in such a tedious franchise was hardly going to be a classic, and with the added 3D aspect the result could have been far worse. In fact, what is most surprising about Amityville 3D is that it is actually a well made and entertaining movie. Fleischer was an extremely gifted filmmaker and added an element of style to the movie, aided by an effective score by Howard Blake and brooding cinematography from Fred Schuler. The cast all perform relatively well (including an early appearance from Meg Ryan) and whilst the script maybe somewhat clichéd the film still flows along at a decent pace.

The wise decision that the filmmakers took was to avoid throwing unnecessary objects at the screen in an effort to justify the use of 3D (something that Friday the 13th Part 3 would be guilty of). Aside from a few dated effects, most are quite effective (particularly a steel pipe that smashes through a windscreen) and do not interfere too much with the story. Whilst the movie is hardly a classic (and the ending is a little disappointing), it was certainly among the more entertaining of the ‘80s 3D craze and was far more effective than the sequels that followed.

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REVIEW – The House of the Devil

Christian Sellers — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:12:27 +0000

Many horror movies of recent years have promised to capture the raw feel and visual style of the late 1970s and early ’80s. The dawn of the home video, this was an era in which advancements in prosthetic effects and the accessibility of cult exploitation flicks caused a major revival in the genre. Whilst Adam Green’s Hatchet and the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double feature Grindhouse had failed to truly replicate the experience, others such as Matthew Reel’s Jessicka Rabid, had benefited from their low budget and relatively amateur roots. Although his supposed breakthrough feature, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, has still yet to receive a proper release, director Ti West’s belated success seems to have finally come with his ’80s throwback The House of the Devil.

Desperate to escape her depressing dorm room, sophomore Samantha Hughes (Jocelin Donahue) agrees to rent a house from a sympathetic landlady (Dee Wallace), despite being unable to pay the rent. Searching for a fast way to earn her first month’s rent, she replies to an ad for a babysitter. Although the client (Tom Noonan) initially stands her up, he later calls to apologize, stating that the girl he had hired was unreliable and required someone to work that evening. Although her best friend, Megan (Greta Gerwig), is somewhat skeptical about traveling out to an isolated mansion, Samantha agrees to task in exchange for $400. But once the man and his wife have left for an evening to celebrate a coming eclipse, Samantha senses that all is not what it seems and soon begins to fear for her life.

Credit where it’s due: West has succeeded in recreating the feel of an early ‘80s supernatural horror. Perhaps the most obvious comparison would be The Amityville Horror, with young star Donahue even somewhat resembling Margot Kidder. Wisely avoiding the modern post-Scream beauties, the two young leads in The House of the Devil look straight out of Happy Birthday to Me, further adding to the authentic feel (despite the fact that in real life Donahue is an extremely attractive model). Wisely avoiding referencing a year, there are no cell phones or laptops on show and Samantha even sports an old school Walkman, with which she blasts out some truly dated rock and synth tunes.

Whilst those raised on a diet of MTV-style horrors such as Saw may find The House of the Devil boring and uneventful, those who recall many of the Italian horror movies from back in the day (such as Mario Bava’s Shock) will find this a rather effective little flick. Even down to the opening credits (which utilize an appropriate yellow font) and the oh-so-dated clothes, West and his team have come up with something that certainly feels authentic. Thankfully, whilst many teens in horror films these days are somewhat obnoxious and unsympathetic, Donahue is a strong and likable lead and the script avoids any overly clichéd dialogue (except that which is used to recreate the ‘80s vibe). Noonan, known to most for his villainous turn as Cain in RoboCop 2, gives suitably creepy support as the mysterious Mr. Ulman.

For the majority of its running time, The House of the Devil strikes almost every note to perfection, combining the ‘70s exploitation and supernatural feel with an element of ‘80s slashers. West is clearly a talented filmmaker and his love of old school horror is clearly evident. But where the film does fail is during its final fifteen minutes, when the antagonists finally reveal their evil plan and what had previously been a subtle and relatively restrained chiller (aside from one brutal death) suddenly feels forced and desperate. Instead of remaining true to the ‘80s, the climax felt closer to the modern torture porn cycle than anything retro. It is a shame as, had the movie kept up its charm to the very end, The House of the Devil would surely have been a classic.

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REVIEW – Amityville II: The Possession

Christian Sellers — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:04:01 +0000

Whilst The Amityville Horror was a huge success upon its initial release, sparking the usual ‘cursed production’ rumours and catering towards the crowd that had previously flocked to see The Exorcist and The Omen. Another year, another haunted house movie, bur its popularity at the box office almost guaranteed a second film. Yet instead of going the usual sequel route that had become so commonplace during the 1980s (even the aforementioned movies had produced unnecessary follow-ups), the makers of Amityville II: The Possession decided instead to make a prequel. Taking place before the events that torn the Lutz family apart, the second film briefly dabbled with the usual haunted clichés before taking the film in an unexpected and much darker direction. Whilst failing to make the same kind of profit as the original, it was arguably a far superior film.

The Montelli move into their new home at 112 Ocean Avenue. The strict and aggressive father, Anthony (Burt Young), constantly comes to blows with his rebellious teenager son, Sonny (Jack Magner), whilst his sweet-natured sister, Patricia (Diane Franklin), has a close bond with her mother, Dolores (Rutanya Alda). The family is rounded off by two younger children, Jan (Erika Katz) and Mark (Brent Katz). But soon after their arrival, Sonny begins to act stranger, becoming even more distant from his family, except for Patricia, whom he has begun to lust after. Eventually, as the curse of the house begins to take over him, he takes his father’s shotgun and massacres his entire family. Desperate to dispel the evil for good, Father Adamsky (James Olson) visits Sonny in jail and tries to face the demons inside him.

What is immediately apparent about The Possession is how darker and more stylish it is to its predecessor. Whilst The Amityville Horror was a very American production, the sequel has a European feel to it thanks to Italian director Damiano Damiani, who had previously been responsible for the above-average drama Il sorriso del grande tentatore (The Devil Is a Woman). One of his greatest assets during the production was Franco Di Giacomo, who had previously lensed Dario Argento’s underrated giallo 4 mosche di velluto grigio (Four Flies on Grey Velvet) a decade earlier. There is something eerie and sinister by the mood of the film and the house has a sense of foreboding, particularly with Damiani drenching the evening scenes in shadows, with the possibility of all types of evil lurking within.

Taking its inspiration from Murder in Amityville by Hans Holzer, who supposedly obtained photographic evidence of ghosts in the house, the task of writing the screenplay fell to John Carpenter veteran Tommy Lee Wallace, who would also make his directorial debut the same year with Halloween III: Season of the Witch. By far his most layered and well developed script, The Possession changed took the basic premise of Holzer’s book and changed the names of the characters (Sonny was inspired by Ronald Defeo Jr. who, in 1974, had murdered his entire family). Whilst the film starts off at a rather slow and predictable pace, Wallace manages to focus on Sonny’s increasingly deteriorating mental state, resulting in him eventually succumbing to the possession and slaughtering his family.

For such a low budget production, the quality of acting on display is rather impressive. Young (who played Paulie in the Rocky franchise) is suitably nasty as the unsympathetic and stern father who is in part to blame for his son’s eventual downfall. Franklin displays a sweet and almost childlike innocence as Patricia, whilst at the same time being unintentionally seductive. By far the best performance, however, comes from Magner who, for one reason or another, chose not to pursue a career in acting, aside from a small role in Firestarter two years later. His transformation from average-if-slightly-moody teen to disturbed and frightening monster is an impressive turn and he portrays the character with a subtle intensity that avoids reducing Sonny’s demonic state to a simply pantomime villain.

Amityville II: The Possession is certainly not without its flaws. Both Alda and Olson lack any real interest, as does Moses Gunn as the detective investigating the case. The pace of the movie is a little uneven, beginning in a rather bland and uninspired manner before suddenly turning dark and sinister halfway through. Wallace’s script is a little uneven at times and occasionally relies on the usual clichés one would find in a haunted house movie. The filmmakers are also bound by certain obligations to both the original movie and its literary source, although they do take many liberties with their adaptation. These issues do not ruin the overall flow of the film and Amityville II: The Possession succeeds at being the most effective and intense of what is arguably an overrated and disappointing franchise.

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