Sandor Stern, the screenwriter of the first Amityville movie here follows up with - so far - the cheesiest (part 4) sequel in the franchise so far. That might not be a bad thing actually, but it's hardly the best thing also. By now the Amityville Horror House feels like just another story squeezed together with Bigfoot, UFO, Atlantis and Anthony Hopkins being a good actor, but in the 70's it was da shit! Personally I love stuff like that and I read and watch everything related to the mysterious - even if I don't believe in any of it. But it's fun and it triggers the imagination.
With Amityville it feels a bit strange, because it's so closely connected to christianity. I've seen enough self-righteous priests win over evil in these movies I'm getting extra happy every time there's a twist ending revealing that evil... has escaped!
And that's exactly what happens in Amityville: The Evil Escapes. Just not in a cool way. Instead our favorite demon/Satan/thingie chooses the ugliest lamp EVER to possess and of course he gets sold at a flea market into a new home. If I become an evil spirit I will never choose a lamp (A sofa on the other hand...) to escape in! The new family has the normal freaky little girl who starts seeing her dead dad everywhere, an annoying boy, the mother trying to cope with her mother and of course that damn freaky lamp doing it's best to look ugly. Soon people gets hurt or gets killed in weird ways and of course there's a friggin' priest around the corner just waiting to do some exorcism!
Amityville: The Evil Escapes is SOOOOOO silly. But the slick TV-production look of it looks nice and it's hardly boring. A movie about a possessed ugly lamp can never be boring. I was a little bit afraid that this being a TV-production meant it would be very lame, but to my surprise it has a couple of fun deaths and some very mild gore that spices up everything. It's a well-made production, looks expensive - but the cheese-level is extreme! Just imagine the final showdown between the priest and the lamp... I'm not sure I, as a rather experienced actor nowadays, could do that scene without having a big smile on my face. It also have a quite disturbing death. A man is stuck inside the house somewhere, between the floors and is getting drowned in a black liquid (after first getting a chopped of hand in his face). It's not exactly graphic, but just the thought of getting stuck somewhere and being forced to swallow black goo fucks up my imagination.
It's a fun movie, a good movie if you - like me - consider an entertaining movie a good movie. It won't scare you and it's probably too silly for the hardcore horror fans, but for a Sunday morning it delivers a very fun experience.
And talking about a twist ending... I'm sorry, but this is a spoiler. Just beware of the... CAT!
"and Anthony Hopkins being a good actor,"
Aw, come on now.....he was great in Hitchcock(2012), entertaining in Thor(2011), The Wolfman(2010)etc.
I like Hopkins.
"Just not in a cool way. Instead our favorite demon/Satan/thingie chooses the ugliest lamp EVER to possess and of course he gets sold at a flea market into a new home. If I become an evil spirit I will never choose a lamp (A sofa on the other hand...) to escape in!"
Well, could be worse.....could have been a coca cola machine, just like in Maximum Overdrive(1986).
Dumbest killing machine ever...?
I think so....
"I was a little bit afraid that this being a TV-production meant it would be very lame, but to my surprise it has a couple of fun deaths and some very mild gore that spices up everything. It's a well-made production, looks expensive - but the cheese-level is extreme!"
Hmm....sounds like film for me.....I find some SyFy channel productions to be very entertaining.
"It's a fun movie, a good movie if you - like me - consider an entertaining movie a good movie. It won't scare you and it's probably too silly for the hardcore horror fans, but for a Sunday morning it delivers a very fun experience."
No, judging from your description, it won´t scare me.
But it sounds entertaining.
Good review and thanks Fred.
More Amityville coming up...?
Posted by: Megatron | April 21, 2013 at 16:16
Noooo Megatron, the worst works he's ever done is in The Wolfman and Thor! He's good in Hitchcock and in You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, but that's all! :)
Posted by: Fred Anderson | April 21, 2013 at 17:19
Fred: Come on......yes, he is over the top, chewing scenery left and right in The Wolfman(2010), Thor(2011), but goddamn it.....I like it.
Loook at The Bunker(TV 1981), decent Hitler biopic and a nice performance by Hopkins.
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010), I haven´t seen that one yet.
No, I stand by my words....I like him.
Posted by: Megatron | April 21, 2013 at 22:45