Own the rights?
I watched the first two Amityville horrors films. No intention of seeing any more of the sequels. Honestly, I don't see how some films attain their status. I'm under the impression that anything horror-related out of the 70s is good by definition. This along with TCM and Last House really failed to move me. I find it very disappointing since I rent these films with the expectation of seeing something worthwhile, and I found Halloween and Exorcist to be quite the extraordinary experience. Amityville falls into the category of old school disappointments.In a nutshell, the film is a series of unrelated freaky events supposedly based on a true story. How true is the story? That'll be debated for awhile to come by the people with a enough free time to care. Still though, Amityville had potential, and I don't feel it's necessarily a bad film. It's average at best and undeserving of the hype, that's all.Strengths include an intriguingly delicate yet eerie, score provided by Lalo Schiffrin - quite easily the best aspect of the film. This is a dreamlike score that combines childlike innocence with a shadow hiding something. Very well crafted despite most the rest of Amityville not pulling its weight. Other highlights - I liked the `demon eyes' windows, especially lit up at night. That aspect of the house came across as intimidating. Then later in the film when the father sees a red eyed bore inside the house sent a chill down my spine. Beyond that, though, Amityville didn't provide much in the way of narrative, characters, or visual style that really gripped me. I'd comment on the acting, but any regular visitor to the horror section of their video store knows what I'm going to say so what's the point?This film needed a stronger connection between events; it needed a sense of moving somewhere - either take liberties with the truth or drop the `based on a true story' banner. It needed more interesting characters, and it needed more imagery to match the quality of the music. But as is, it's just `okay with a few good points.'
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