Newly-weds move into a house where a murder was committed, and experience strange manifestations which drive them away.
I’m really excited to be reviewing this franchise, so lets get on with it!
When you mention “The Amityville Horror” I automatically think Horror classic, it maybe hard to imagine now but when this film was originally being filmed for release there wasn’t a-lot of interest or expectation. Because the movie was made on a relatively modest budget, James Brolin took less money up front but with a promise of 10% of the gross sales after its release. After the movie became an unexpected blockbuster (at that time it was in the top ten of all time), he eventually received about $17 million. If adjusted for inflation that would be equivalent to a little over $55 million in 2014 dollars, Smart business move Mr. Brolin.
James Brolin was hesitant when he was first offered the role of George Lutz. He was told that there was no script and that he must obtain a copy of Jay Anson’s novel and read it as soon as possible. Brolin started the book one evening at seven o’clock and was still reading at two o’clock in the morning. He had hung a pair of his pants up in the room earlier and at a really “tense” part in the book, the pants fell down from wherever they had been hanging. Brolin jumped out of his chair, nearly crashing his head into the ceiling. It was then that Brolin said, “There’s something to this story.” He agreed to do the movie.
James Brolin puts in a masterful performance that still gives me goosebumps to this day, he truly stole the films spotlight. Margot Kidder, as talented as she is puts in quite a sloppy performance but since going on record stating that she hated the film this is no surprise. Apart from that the rest of the cast put in some worthwhile performances that make the film great viewing.
Director Stuart Rosenberg manages to deliver such a thick atmospheric feature that is sometimes hard to watch (in a good way) and cinematographer Fred J. Koenekamp gave us such amazing scenes that were an inspiration to many and so artistic for the viewer.
“The Amityville Horror” may not have aged well and seem very dated when viewed today but it’s still a classic Horror none the less. I still love the film and watch it regularly, if you haven’t seen it then you’re truly missing out.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
James Brolin became very friendly with George Lutz and his children, he was highly doubtful of their story.
Like James Brolin, star Margot Kidder also went on record saying she didn’t believe the Amityville story either.
While shooting the scene where Kathy Lutz is startled by the red eyes in the window, director Stuart Rosenberg wasn’t impressed by Margot Kidder’s reaction. According to Kidder, Rosenberg then tried to hold up a “a day-glo orange stuffed velour pig with glass eyes” in an attempt to startle Kidder. She said the result was only hysterical laughter, not fear.
Shot in seven weeks.
Cinematographer Fred J. Koenekamp admitted to having a hard time filming the scenes with the flies, as he claimed to be scared of insects. He says that whenever he was to film a scene with a close-up facial shot of a fly right in the camera, he would look away or close his eyes and hope for a good shot. He also lost nearly 30 pounds because he refused to eat, saying the flies made him lose his appetite.
James Brolin said he didn’t get a job for two years after doing this movie because of the cruelty of his character.
Stars James Brolin and Margot Kidder visited the real Amityville house as part of a publicity junket.
In 1979, attorney William Weber (Ronald DeFeo’s defense attorney) filed a lawsuit against George Lutz and Kathy Lutz, charging them with fraud and breach of contract. He alleged that they reneged on an agreement to collaborate with Weber on the book (and subsequent movie). In an interview with the Associated Press, Weber admitted that he and the Lutzes had concocted the horror story scam “…over many bottles of wine.”
The first major write-up of the alleged events was in “Good Housekeeping” magazine. The article came out before Jay Anson’s “The Amityville Horror”. The two accounts disagree on a number of points.
The outdoor scenes of the movie were not filmed in Amityville, Long Island, but rather Toms River, New Jersey. Local police and ambulance workers played extras.
The Toms River, New Jersey volunteer Fire Company Number One was used to provide the “rain” during one of the exterior scenes. If you look closely, you can see that it is sunny and not “raining” in the background, the next street over.
Jay Anson who wrote the book “The Amityville Horror” actually wrote out a screenplay for this film only for the producers to turn it down. Eventually they found Sandor Stern and liked his take on it so he was hired for the job.
At the time of its release the film was one of the highest grossing independent films of all time and American International Pictures’ biggest hit.
Contrary to popular belief, Lalo Schifrin’s score for this film was not the legendary rejected score composed for The Exorcist (1973). The rejected Exorcist score has subsequently been released on CD and is completely different in every respect.
In hopes of creating more publicity for the film the studio would concoct stories of “weird” occurrences on the set of the film.
Honey was rubbed on Rod Steiger’s head to draw the flies to him.
James Brolin’s brother was actually used for the image of the bearded man seen appearing from the ‘red room’ in the cellar. The studio wanted someone who bore a close resemblance to James Brolin and discovered he had a brother who shared a strong resemblance to the star. Brolin’s brother was applied with a fake beard for the bit part.
Finnish name for the film meant “For God’s sake, get out of there!”.
The film was originally planned to be a made-for-TV production for the CBS network, until executive producer Samuel Z. Arkoff bought the rights after reading Jay Anson’s book in one sitting.
The church in the movie is St. Peter’s church in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, about 20 miles north of the movie house in Toms River. They also used the park across the street from the church, Pleasure Park, for the priest playing basketball scene. They used local kids as players, and had to ask them to take it easy and let the priest get the ball from time to time.
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