Best Horror Sequels/Series Part 4

 

 

Part four of my sequels posts concentrates on The Amityville Horror and its many many sequels. I loved the first couple of the movies and then they went downhill I think.

The Amityville Horror was a 1979 horror movie based on a supposedly true story about a haunted house in  Amityville, Long Island. George Lutz and Kathy Lutz lived in the house where an entire family had been murdered years before. They claimed that the house was haunted. There was no proof of this only a book which was written by Jay Anson and the book isn't evidence. The movie starred James Brolin as George and Margot Kidder as Kathy and it is a classic. I think that the movie still has the ability to scare people and there is a general creepiness to it. There was a remake but it wasn't good, so I won't spend time on it.. Watch the original instead. You won't be disappointed.

Amityville 2:The Possession was a 1982 sequel to the original and was directed by Damiano Damiani. It begins with the Montelli who move into the Amityville house. The father,Frank(Burt Young) is an abusive man and he terrorises his family. His son Sonny(Jack Magner) is becoming possessed by something in the house and he begins to act strangely. He even has sex with his sister Patricia(Diane Franklin) as part of it. His mother Dolores(Rutanya Alda) thinks that the house is evil and she calls in a local priest Father Adamsky(James Olson) to bless the house but Frank gets rid of him before he can do it. Sonny is forced to kill his family by the demon possessing him. He is found out by Father Adamsky and Sonny needs to be exorcised which he does, but it is the priest who ends up being possessed in the end of the movie. An interesting sequel to the original.

Amityville 3:The Demon is the third movie in the series and it was in 3-D which was big at that time, 1983.

This time, a writer,John Baxter(Tony Roberts) buys the house. The real estate agent drops dead in the house, but that doesn't put John off. He moves into the house anyway. Of course the usual spooky things happen and it seems as if the house is up to its old tricks again. The house gets blown to pieces in the end of this one and you wonder how they are going to write that into the next sequel which brings me to Amityville 4:The Evil Escapes(1989). The weirdest thing about this sequel is that the house is still standing in it! It was destroyed in the third movie, but it is back here, so that makes no sense. Anyway, this time, the story revolves around an evil lamp from the Amityville house. A woman buys it and gets obsessed with it. Not a great Amityville movie. One of the weakest of the bunch I think.

The Amityville Curse from 1990 is the fifth movie in the series and it is very loosely connected with the other movies. It seems like a waste of a sequel. It is about a couple who buy the house and fix it up. Weird things begin to happen and you know the rest. The sixth offering is another straight to DVD movie and it does involve the Amityville House. Amityville:It's About Time(1992) is about a clock which a guy finds in the old house. He brings it home and then all sorts of strange things happen. It seems familiar, doesn't it???? Amityville: A New Generation(1993) is another movie about the Amityville house, but it just isn't great. I was beginning to get tired by these sequels at this point. I couldn't imagine that there would be an eighth one. But, guess what????

Amityville Dollhouse from 1996 is the eighth and the final installment int he Amityville series. This time, there is a dollhouse which is an exact replica of the original Amityville house. Of course, there is something spooky about it and the house comes to life. It was about time that they put the franchise to bed and leave it at that. The eighth movie just proved that there is a time to leave the Amityville house and stop making sequels. There was a remake in 2005 but it wasn't good and it couldn't hold a candle to the original.... So, that is the Amityville franchise. If you haven't seen them, I would recommend the first three or four. After that, it isn't worth your while....All in all, the Amityville house has provided such inspiration for the movies and I have to say that at this stage, it is a real house of horrors.