The Amityville Horror Boxed Gift Set (DVD)

This Boxed “Gift Set” (ah, imagine the kiddies’ joyous faces on Christmas morning!) of DVDs includes so much additional release material, it’s mind-boggling. On disc one you get the classic, The Amityville Horror (1979, Rated R), with commentary by Dr. Hans Holzer, Ph.D. (in Parapsychology); "For God's Sake, Get Out!" Documentary; The Amityville Horror 2005 Sneak Peek; and a New Hi-Definition Transfer. The second and third discs have the second and third movies (reviews below) with no additional release material. The fourth disc contains a treasure trove of “extras” including two fascinating documentaries from The History Channel about the real-life events and the possibility of a hoax. It's very well-balanced. There’s also an “On Location” documentary on the making the 2005 remake, and a free ticket to go see it in the theater.

The Amityville Horror (1979, Rated R)

The Amityville Horror is one of those movies you see as a kid, it scares the bejesus out of you, and you always remember it with fond fright. See it again as an adult, and you quickly remind yourself, “Hey, I was a kid. What did I know?” Of course, I also saw The Shining at around the same time, knew it was a bloody masterpiece, and still do. The Amityville Horror was good for a cheap scare then, and it’s still fairly fun to revisit.

Part of the movie’s allure at the time was the belief that it was based on true story. I’d read the book and found it absolutely spellbinding — from the undisputed facts of the familial shotgun murders which took place inside the tri-level Dutch-style home at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York, to the supernatural and nearly fatal haunting of the Lutz family, who moved into the house a year later. Since then, the Lutz’s story has been questioned and debated endlessly… but hoax or not, it still makes a damn fine ghost story.

George and Kathy Lutz (James Brolin and his beard, and Margot Kidder) buy a big, beautiful house that is so cheap they can hardly believe their good fortune. They move the 2.5 kids and dog in, and start to unpack. They soon find that making yourself at home in the devil’s dollhouse isn’t much fun — they get a few hints that the deal was indeed too good to be true in the form of black ooze coming from the toilet; a frenzy of flies; the kids’ new invisible playmates; being woken by nightmares every night at the precise time of the murders (3:15 a.m.); and of course, the house angrily yelling at the top of its bellows: “Get out!”

Right about now George and Kathy find out about “the cartridge family” and what happened in the house before they moved in. It seems the eldest son heard voices that told him to shoot his mom and dad, and brothers and sisters… something to do with an ancient Indian burial ground, or maybe the house’s former use as an insane asylum… It’s one of the many unclear dead ends in The Amityville Horror screenplay.

Several subplots are introduced then quickly abandoned, making The Amityville Horror a study in how poor screenwriting and even worse direction can somehow still result in a reasonably entertaining film. Part of that is the atmosphere — the house does look scary as hell, the theme music (originally written for The Exorcist, but rejected) is hair-raising, and the actors are 70s-sublime. Brolin’s beard is practically a character unto itself, and Kidder goes around committing crimes of fashion, donning little-girl clothes and hair-don’ts with pigtails and flowers.

It's well worth buying with this DVD boxed set, as the commentary is really interesting and entertaining.

Special Features:

- New Hi-Definition Transfer

-New State-of-the-Art 5.1 Stereo

-Audio Commentary by Dr. Hans Holzer, Ph.D. in Parapsychology

-Hans Holzer Audio Commentary Introduction

-"For God's Sake, Get Out!" Documentary

-The Amityville Horror Sneak Peek

-Radio Spots

-Original Theatrical Trailer

Amityville II: The Possession (1982, Rated R)

In this prequel to the first Amityville movie, Mr. and Mrs. Montelli (read: De Feo, but the real family names couldn’t be used) move into their new seaside home, but life is still not good. Although Mr. Montelli is an abusive alcoholic who yells at the little kids and beats his wife, things get worse when his eldest son, Sonny Montelli, is alone in the house with the ghosts and gets possessed by demons. Although it looks and feels like a TV movie, this is still a good one to curl up with on a dark and lonely night.

Special Features:

-New Hi-Definition Transfer

-New State-of-the-Art 5.1 Stereo

-Original Theatrical Trailer

Amityville 3D (1982, Rated PG)

Tony Roberts plays a ghost-buster of sorts, who debunks the Amityville house's hauntings, then buys the place as a cheap investment. No sooner does he move in than people around him begin to die in mysterious ways and his estranged wife who was once afraid of the house, is now obsessed with it. This one is the worst of the lot, but still mildly entertaining — and it’s fun to see Meg Ryan here in an early role.

Special Features:

-New State-of-the-Art 5.1 Stereo

-Original Theatrical Trailer

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson