The Amityville (plotless) Horror
Jackie Starner
Issue date: 4/21/05 Section: Life!
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The opening scene of The Amityville Horror thrusts you into the gore, which permeates the film. Ronnie, the oldest son of a family living in a picturesque Dutch-colonial house erected in 1642 on Long Island, murders his parents, younger brothers and his little sister Jody with a shot gun. Before putting a bullet through Jody's head, Ronnie says, "I love you Jody," alluding to the fact that forces beyond Ronnie's control have caused him to commit these murders.
After introducing the initial murders committed in the house, the film cuts to a new family. They live in another part of Long Island and dream of owning their own home. Kathy Lutz, mother of three kids from a previous marriage, spots an ad for the house in the local paper. Although this house would normally be out of a young widow's price range, she goes along with her new husband George to check it out because for some reason it's really cheap. Of course, the young couple decides to buy it, though they have learned of the crime committed there. The house symbolizes to the couple a piece of the American dream.
After the new family moves in, there are really no plot surprises left in the film. We easily predict that the dark force present in the house will drive a member of the Lutz family to commit a crime similar to Ronnie's. The only point of watching the film becomes not to find out what happens to the characters, but to be grossed out and startled, which might be the point of a horror film in the first place.
The film definitely freaked many in the theater out as they screamed in unison at the gory figures haunting the broad hallways of the otherwise beautiful home. Some people might even find it necessary to watch a majority of the film between the slits in their fingers because practically no scene is startle free.
Especially creepy characters include the little girl Jody, who immediately befriends Kathy's daughter of about the same age. One of the classic situations like in The Others where the young child meets a ghost and the parent thinks the child just has an imaginary friend occurs.
After introducing the initial murders committed in the house, the film cuts to a new family. They live in another part of Long Island and dream of owning their own home. Kathy Lutz, mother of three kids from a previous marriage, spots an ad for the house in the local paper. Although this house would normally be out of a young widow's price range, she goes along with her new husband George to check it out because for some reason it's really cheap. Of course, the young couple decides to buy it, though they have learned of the crime committed there. The house symbolizes to the couple a piece of the American dream.
After the new family moves in, there are really no plot surprises left in the film. We easily predict that the dark force present in the house will drive a member of the Lutz family to commit a crime similar to Ronnie's. The only point of watching the film becomes not to find out what happens to the characters, but to be grossed out and startled, which might be the point of a horror film in the first place.
The film definitely freaked many in the theater out as they screamed in unison at the gory figures haunting the broad hallways of the otherwise beautiful home. Some people might even find it necessary to watch a majority of the film between the slits in their fingers because practically no scene is startle free.
Especially creepy characters include the little girl Jody, who immediately befriends Kathy's daughter of about the same age. One of the classic situations like in The Others where the young child meets a ghost and the parent thinks the child just has an imaginary friend occurs.