Canon Movie Review: The Amityville Horror (1979)

Since I already watched the so-called remake of this movie, I figured that I would go ahead and watch the original, the 1979 horror film The Amityville Horror. This in spite of the fact that I was told it was actually worse than the 2005 version, which I would think would be hard to accomplish. Based on the 'true' story of the Lutz family as written by author Jay Anson, The Amityville Horror was distributed by American International Pictures and directed by Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke, Brubaker). The film stars James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger, Don Stroud, Murray Hamilton, and Helen Shaver. In The Amityville Horror, the Lutz family, including George (Brolin) and Kathy (Kidder), move into to a house on Long Island with a dark history. Hoping that they've found their dream home, the Lutzes soon realize that this is the house that nightmares are made of, and so they consult Father Delaney (Steiger) to get rid of the spirits. But can he get rid of the spirits, or have he and the Lutz family gotten more than what they bargained for? A few notes about this film:

- Because I watched the remake before the original, I couldn't help but think back to the similarities and differences of the two movies. In the original, Amy's (the daughter) imaginary friend was Jodi, some sort of demonic pig (yep, a demonic pig). In the remake, Jodi was the ghost of one of the victims in the DeLeo murders. I honestly can't decide which one was worse. Just like the remake, George is always complaining about being cold and has an obsession with chopping fire wood. In the remake, the audience gets a lot of shots of a shirtless Ryan Reynolds, which does nothing for me, while in the original, you get a sequence of James Brolin walking around in his briefs. Gee, thanks a lot. In the original, the priest and the religious aspect of the story play a much bigger role, as does Kathy Lutz, who was little more than an unwilling victim in the remake.

- You know, I might not be an expert on horror movies, but I think that one of the things its supposed to do is to provide a sense of terror and fear throughout the viewing audience. Maybe it's just me, but there's not a lot here that I would consider particularly scary. Yes, I suppose that a giant gathering a flies is kind of odd, but more annoying than scary. There's some black ink coming out of the toilet, a window closes on a kid's hand (yet doesn't break any bones), 1,500 dollars goes missing for no reason, and oh yeah, the house has a portal to hell. Plus it seems to attract lightning and it's phone keeps messing up when talking to priests. To me, all of the effects and events seem kind of dull, actually, and didn't really add any suspense to the film. Then again, maybe I'm just jaded by the whole horror film genre.

- As George Lutz, James Brolin makes a more convincing crazed lunatic than Reynolds did. Then again, Brolin started the film as an aloof guy with the look of a man that has hidden a few bodies in the basement before, so it's not that much of a stretch. At least in this version, George kind of realizes what is happening and doesn't go completely psychotic. He even tries to find out the root behind this problem by stealing a library book. Why he didn't just check the book out is a mystery. Plus, in this version, George begins to look like the killer of the Amityville murders, although what significance this has is never really explained. Overall, I'd say Brolin did an average job, although the scene where he shouts "I'm Coming Apart" somewhat reminded me of Tommy Wiseau's acting in The Room, and no, that is not a compliment.

- Meanwhile, Academy Award winner (but not for this film) Rod Steiger tries to steal the show as Father Delaney. To say the Steiger was hamming it up is a bit of an understatement, as he practically shouts every line and has two extremes, either quiet and still, or raving like a lunatic. Steiger's acting was almost comical in this film. Plus, even though he was only in that house one time, Father Delaney kept suffering misfortune after misfortune thanks to his one visit. The poor guy even went blind. I'm not sure how a house can posses a person from 20 miles away, but by golly that's what it did here. As for Kiddor, well, let's just say she acted with all the intensity that LeBron James showed in the fourth quarter of NBA Finals games.

- The script of The Amityville Horror has quite a few loose ends that just go dangling. For one, what the heck happened to that police officer that surveyed the Lutz house for two days or so, tried to talk to Delaney, then disappeared into thin air. There's also the drunk with a six pack of beer that shows up at Kathy's door, then disappears a minute later without explanation. What happened to the 1,500 dollars that disappeared? And what would a house do with 1,500 dollars anyway? What happened to George's friend's wife after she got possessed? I guess the answers to these questions were just left to twist in the wind.

Overall, I will say that this was better than the remake, but just barely. The script was better paced, but still had a lot of loose ends. There was slightly more character development in this film, but not enough to make any of the Lutz family characters you really care about. Some people consider this one of the great horror movies of its era, but I'm not seeing how that's possible. The acting was sometimes way too over-the-top, the effects were more silly than scary, and the ending was rather anticlimactic. Overall, I'd give this Amityville Horror a 3.2 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this review or film, or ideas for future reviews, then feel free to share by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at kthec2001@gmail.com.

For the trailer, watch here: http://youtu.be/p35R8X5l0cU

Canon Movie Review: On The Waterfront

This review comes from a suggestion from Canon Review reader Ben W. Mr. W had seen On the Waterfront recently, and recommended the movie for me to see. So I did. On the Waterfront is a 1954 movie which starred Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, and Rod Steiger. Directed by Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront won eight Oscars in 1955, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Brando), and Best Supporting Actress (Saint). On The Waterfront is considered by many film critics as one of the best films in the history of American Cinema. After seeing the movie, I can definitely see why. A few thoughts about this movie (Warning: Spoilers ahead).

- Brando is considered on of the best actors of all time, and his performance in On The Waterfront showed why. As Terry Malloy, a shipyard worker who struggles to do the right thing after being a part of a murder, Brando is able to convey so many different emotions just with a simple look or with body language alone. Brando immerses himself so much into the part of Terry Malloy that he became Terry Malloy, and Malloy's feelings, his loyalty towards his brother Charlie, his feelings towards the murder victim's sister, are just conveyed so perfectly by Brando. Truly a tour de force performance which few other actors have ever been able to match, let alone exceed.

- Although Brando did get the part, Frank Sinatra was originally set to play Terry Malloy. Not to trash Sinatra's acting, but if he was Terry Malloy, let's just say this movie is not nearly as revered as it is today. In fact, I really can't think of any other actor that would have been better as Malloy than Brando, and the movie wouldn't have been half as good had any other actor played the lead role.

- Even though Brando was as good as it gets, this is not just a one-man show. Karl Malden does an excellent job as Father Berry, a priest that goes out on the docks and tries to convince the longshoremen to stand up and expose the corruption of their union and its leader, "Johnny Friendly". His speech after the death of KO Dugan, a longshoreman who had planned to testify against Friendly, is so powerful and so convincing that it made me want to turn in Friendly myself. Watch it yourself to see the greatness that is Karl Malden:



- Eva Marie Saint also delivers a top notch performance as Edie Doyle, whose brother Joey was murdered by Friendly and his gang. Edie sets out to try and discover the truth behind Joey's death, while at the same time she develops feelings for Terry. Saint does an excellent job in conveying all of Edie's different emotions in a convincing manner. Not bad for someone in their first feature film (although she had done some television work before, so she wasn't a complete neophyte).

- Johnny Friendly (played by Lee J. Cobb) is a real bad man. I wonder why they call him Johnny Friendly? The movie never explained where that name came from. Anyway, Friendly is the leader of the dockworkers union, and generally treats people like crap, doing such things such as forcing people to take loans just so they could work and constantly playing favorites as to who gets to work and what they do on a daily basis. He also has a bunch of crooked deals where he skims a little bit of money off the top of every shipment of merchandise that comes in. Just your typical crook who rose to power and will kill anyone who threatens his power.

- The movie is based on a series of articles written by Malcolm Johnson for the New York Sun, which dealt with corruption, extortion, and other criminal activities taking place on the docks of New York City. The characters of Terry Malloy, Johnny Friendly, and Father Berry were based largely off of actual people. According to Wikipedia, Anthony DiVincenzo, whom the character of Terry Malloy was largely based off of, actually sued and won a settlement due to the similarities between Malloy and DiVencenzo. I'm not 100% sure if that is true, I just found it interesting is all.

- One thing that struck me odd is after the murder of Joey Doyle, his father comes in to work on the docks the very next day, knowing that his union probably had something to do with the murder of his son (he had told Joey to keep quiet about the corruption taking place). I don't know about you, but I doubt I would come in and do back-breaking labor for the man that had a member of my family murdered the day before.

Overall, Ben W. was right. This is a great film that I would recommend to anyone who likes movies. I'll give it a 9 out of 10. Thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this post or any ideas for future posts, than share your thoughts and ideas either by leaving me a comment or sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.