A horror film based on the novel about a house so evil the Luz family had to leave their home in terror.A newly married couple moves into their new home only to experience strange events unfolding every day as the house becomes alive and tries to swallow them whole.What made this truly unique is how it sets a sense of dead from the walks that bleed to the creaky noises in the night until it becomes a whirlwind of frights that don't stop until the credits roll. Kidder and Brolin have excellent chemistry making their marriage feel realistic and full of wild passion.The music was sensational haunting and has contempt for the audience.The themes keep you interested on a human level as you see a family try to fit in a new surrounding, to form a new family and deal with personal demons not covered in marriage counseling. It shares many similarities to Halloween in this regard to characters you root for, a scary house, Mr. Luz being driven crazy until he considers murdering his family.While the story is up for debate on rather it really happened or not and bashed by naysayers as a fake not worth taking seriously it is a tale of horror. A classic to enjoy every Halloween.10/10

James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger star in this 1979 horror film based on the book. This begins on a rainy night with a family being murdered. One year later, we meet George (Brolin) and Kathy Lutz (Kidder) who move into the same house with their 3 young children where the terrible incident took place. Soon, strange things occur and George starts behaving differently. George and Kathy discover that their house is haunted by an evil spirit of one of the deceased family members trying to possess them. The late, Steiger (End of Days) plays Priest, Father Delaney. This is a good horror flick with a decent cast and creepy effects. I recommend this for horror fans.

I'm a sucker for a good old-fashioned haunted house movie and THE AMITYVILLE HORROR is one of those all right – with the added frisson of being (supposedly) based on a true story! It's a film made at the tail-end of the 1970s replete with that fine '70s atmosphere. And atmosphere is what this film is all about; it creates a truly sinister look and feel as it depicts what happens to the innocent Lutz family after they move into a house that was the site of a previous massacre. From the title cards telling us the days of the week (building up a fine sense of foreboding) to the constant weird things going on, this film is predictable and entertainingly so. Swarms of bluebottles appearing out of nowhere, a sinister hidden room in the basement, a priest haunted by a sinister spirit, a weird pig-creature in the window, blood pouring down the walls, a crucifix turning upside down, a guy getting possessed by a killer spirit and more besides…what's not to love here? Okay, so the film has some rough edges. For the most part, though, it's surprisingly undated, especially as the special effects are kept simple and down to earth. The cast is also decent: I don't like Margot Kidder, but she gives a suitably scared turn here, although Christian Bale look-alike James Brolin has the stand-out turn as the guy becoming increasingly deranged. Rod Steiger is good value, as always, as the priest enduring a run of extremely bad luck.I first saw this film a good decade ago and found it creepy and powerful and seeing it now in the modern age I find it just as creepy, with the demonic voice shouting 'get out!' still the scary highlight. Up there with THE ENTITY and POLTERGEIST as the best this genre has to offer. This is also one of the rare instances in which the remake (released in 2005) manages to be as good, if not better, as the original.

I'm generally not a fan of the whole "haunted-house" genre, but I figured since this one's a classic- it'b be alright. First off. I knew this was gonna be a bad movie after: A: a fly caused two priests to spin out of control while they were driving (Hi--llerious) and B: after the ghost(s) stole $1500 from a groom on his wedding day. Wtf? Since when do people need to worry about ghosts stealing money. This movie gets annoying real fast. And here are some reasons why: -None of the characters know how to open doors. -No one can hold an object long enough to NOT drop it. -The kids in this movie have NO personality; and basically act as fillers until they get shot in the end; and they're ALL stupid as hell (P.S little girl; when your babysitter is locked in a closet literally three feet away from you, maybe you should do something as opposed to just sitting there like a nu-bis). -Margot Kidder is way too hot for this movie. -James Brolin looks like a homeless man (yet his legs have no hair/ looks like it all migrated to his face, loll). -Every priest/nun in this movie is bonkers (just cause your a priest doesn't mean you can just waltz right into a house completely unannounced---"But i'm blessing it".."Oh, swell man, we got a doorbell." F#**%in Creep. -The house seems to give everybody "the creeps" --even during the daytime. Oh Jinkies.-There's way too much foreshadowing--the whole movie is basically one giant spoiler. -Apparently, this movie has rewritten the boundaries of anatomy and now blood just squirts out of the epidermis- or anywhere for that matter (the walls). -George is pretty much an a**hole the whole movie. -George goes to the hospital, but doesn't bother to ask about his apparent "flu". -Nothing scary happens in the first hour of the movie. Overall, the 70's was a breeding ground for excellent, stylish horror movies (i.e, The Omen, Black Christmas, The Exorcist, Halloween, Evil Dead, Chainsaw Massacre..etc) that would define the genre and mold it into the billion dollar industry it is today (blah,blah, blah I have no idea what i'm talking about.) The fact of the matter is...this film is not one of those movies. It was born at the turn of the decade, and just missed it's mark, I guess. I think this was the point when horror movies started becoming methodical instead of original. There's the deep drone of a bassist before every startling incident; fake-out jump scares; actual jump-scares; stupid- a** kids with imaginary friends, there's blood. blood..ooh so much blood. So yeah. Just not that great of a movie.Go watch it! ;P