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The Amityville Horror
1979 118 min United States of America R 18+
★5.8
Horror
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
🎭 Based on
«The Amityville Horror»
byJay Anson
Trailers
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Teaser
Teaser
Teaser
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Description
George Lutz, his wife Kathy, and their three children have just moved into a beautiful, and improbably cheap, Victorian mansion nestled in the sleepy coastal town of Amityville, Long Island. However, their dream home is concealing a horrific past and soon each member of the Lutz family is plagued with increasingly strange and violent visions and impulses.
Budget:
$4.7M
US Gross:
$86.43M
Worldwide:
$86.43M
Starring
James Brolin
Actor
Margot Kidder
Actor
Rod Steiger
Actor
Awards
Saturn Awards 1980
— Best Actress
Saturn Awards 1980
— Best Horror Film
Academy Awards 1980
— Best Original Score
Golden Globe 1980
— Best Original Score
Key opinion
The 1979 version of The Amityville Horror is widely recognized as a significant genre milestone that established long-standing haunted house tropes, though contemporary viewers often find it more atmospheric than frightening. While the film is appreciated for its historical influence and notable soundtrack, it is frequently criticized for its sluggish pacing and lengthy runtime.
| Score | Lalo Schifrin's haunting, Oscar-nominated score provides an effective atmospheric foundation that transcends the film's conventional narrative. | |
| Culture | The film functions as a foundational genre classic that spawned a massive franchise and solidified many tropes of the haunted house subgenre. | |
| Production | The production design, particularly the iconic round windows of the house, successfully creates a memorable and distinctive visual identity. | |
| Acting | Opinions on the lead performances are divided, with some critics praising the actors' commitment to their roles, while others view the character portrayals as either hysterical, flat, or lacking in intelligence. | |
| Pacing | The film’s two-hour runtime is a major point of contention; many viewers argue that the pacing is overly deliberate and that the experience would be significantly improved by aggressive editing. | |
| Emotion | While some appreciate the film's reliance on slow-burn dread and character-driven tension, others find the scares to be dated, sparse, and unable to disturb modern audiences. |