THE AMITYVILLE HORROR
Fright move
RELEASED OUT NOW!
1979 | 15 | Blu-ray (4K/standard)/dvd
Director Stuart Rosenberg
Cast James Brolin, Margot Kidder,
Rod Steiger, Don Stroud
In 1979 The Amityville Horror arrived in cinemas pre-loaded with its own legend: an allegedly true tale of a Long Island family compelled to flee a demonically infested fixer-upper.
If the passing decades have exposed the grifting BS behind that cultural phenomenon, then this new 4K remaster reveals a film that still has the power to unsettle, despite bland, Tv-level visuals and a tendency to tip into schlock. For all the malevolent sash windows and Satanic plumbing on display, it’s the image of the house itself that endures, gable windows glowing like the eyes of a Halloween pumpkin as it presides over an all-out assault on the American family unit.
Extras Two new audio commentaries provide a good mix of insights: movie historians Kim Newman and Sean Hogan are complemented by a more academic take from Josh Saco and Claire Donner; Dr Hans Holzer, the parapsychologist who investigated the original case, attempts to sift fact from Hollywood embellishment in a commentary included on a previous release.
A new and comprehensive feature on the filming locations returns to the parts of New Jersey that doubled for Long Island (22 minutes). There’s an engaging set of interviews from 2017, including a personable Brolin (16 minutes) and former child star Meeno Peluce (16 minutes), along with screenwriter Sandor Stern, who confesses “It was not my favourite movie” (16 minutes), and legendary composer Lalo Schifrin (14 minutes) who reveals the “forbidden interval” at the heart of the score. A 2004 documentary (21 minutes) finds Kidder in fine, candid form. Plus: intro by Holzer; trailer; TV and radio spots; extensive stills gallery; poster; booklet. Nick Setchfield
112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, the site of the original case, is now 108 – renumbered in a bid to deter tourists.