| Artwork |
 |
| COVER GALLERY |
| Film vitals |
|
· Year: 1982
· Director: Damiao Damiani
· Writers: Tommy Lee Wallace, Dardano Sacchetti, Hans Holzer (book)
· Cast: James Olson, Jack Magner
|
| Series info |
|
One of many works involving the Amityville Horror.
· Loosely based on Murder in Amityville, the nonfiction account of the DeFeo murders that really happened in the house in 1974. The book also investigates the supernatural possibilities of the story.
|
| If you liked this, try |
|
|
| Purchase |
|
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
|
| Links |
|
|
|
| Synopsis |
|
A prequel to The Amityville Horror, this film (based on real events) tells the story of the family that lived in the Long Island house before the Lutzes of the first movie. Demons already inhabit the house on Ocean Avenue, this time attempting to turn the family's eldest son into a murderer.
|
|
|
Jack Witzig
|
Feb 4, 1999; Oct 27, 2000; Jan 14, 2001; Mar 26, 2001; Mar 1, 2002
|
|
RATING
Out of 100 |
|
14
|
|
| COLD ANALYSIS |
| 2.5 -ATMOSPHERE |
| 0.5 -GORE |
| 0.0 -HUMOR |
| 0.0 -SCARES |
| 1.25 -TENSION |
Amityville II does manage a claustrophobic atmosphere. That's the only thing it does even kind of right. Otherwise, it's a terrible mess of a film, which fails to be, by turns, frightening, arousing, disgusting, or even vaguely interesting. It is, however, maddening, especially when it directly rips off The Exorcist. And it's also repulsive in the way it exploits the DeFeo murders on which it purports to be based. I don't usually feel comfortable making moral judgments on the content of films--it's usually outside what I think a reviewer's purview should be--but I feel all right making comment here; this is exploitation. If you're interested in Ronald DeFeo's story, read Hans Holzer's much more interesting nonfiction account Murder in Amityville (if you can find it) or one of the other nonfiction accounts of the murders.
|
|
|
RATING
Out of 100 |
|
no rating
|
|
| COLD ANALYSIS |
|
ATMOSPHERE
|
|
GORE
|
|
HUMOR
|
|
SCARES
|
|
TENSION
|
An OK movie, though I would have rather seen a more truthful take on the DeFeo murders. I mean, they changed all the names of the characters and dropped one of the kids. I also wish that the creators of Amityville II had edited the [relationship] between Sonny and his sister Trish. That scene ended up being the creepiest part in the whole movie!
|
|
