THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) - ♦♦

Directed by - Stuart Rosenberg

Written by - Sandor Stern, George Lutz, Kathy Lutz (based on the book by Jay Anson)

Starring - James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger

"A family moves into a haunted house and pretty soon is disturbed by paranormal presences residing within its walls. 

The original Amityville Horror is, by many accounts, worthy of being considered the daddy of all of the endless specimen of haunted house horror films that followed it. But on the other hand, despite the narrative structure influence it had on the horror genre, it is simply one of those films that doesn't live up to its expectations. 

It has very little that is stylistically memorable on a technical point of view, the story is a blatant and systematic series of shocking events that can be spotted a mile away. Perhaps it is strictly because we have grown too accostumed to seeing this formula on the big screen time and time again, however, sadly Stuart Rosenberg's The Amityville Horror has aged dreadfully."

Horror, USA