We all know the story. Happy new family moves into a house with a sordid history and, shortly thereafter, ghostly occurrences, imaginary friends, and drastic personality changes tear the family apart. In true 70’s fashion, it’s a bit heavy-handed with the, “there’s a portal to hell in the basement” issue, but canned thunder and lightning sound effects and lighting techniques such as ‘red=evil’, make it a fun, atmospheric jaunt to a simpler time. My only complaint is that this film is much longer than it needs to be. An hour forty in, George Lutz was still “somewhat grumpy.” As a staple of horror history and the first of many film adaptations, Amityville is worth a watch.
