Amityville Horror, The (Blu-ray)
Steve Barton
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Reviewed by Uncle Creepy
Starring Margot Kidder, Val Avery, Eddie Barth, James Brolin, Irene Dailey, Hank Garrett, Rod Steiger
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
Distributed by MGM and Fox Home Entertainment
“I checked into the murders. And I checked into the twenty-year-old boy who killed his parents, and his four brothers and sisters. And when he was at trial, he testified that he heard voices in the house. He heard voices in the house, and the voices told him to do it! Now, I was in the house, and I heard the voices, too! And I also felt their presence in the house! I’m telling you, there was a presence in that house! What do you think I am? I am not some pink-cheeked seminarian who doesn’t know the difference between the supernatural and a bad clam! I am a trained psychotherapist! I went into that house, and what I saw there was real, what I felt there was real, and what I heard there was real! Now, gentleman, I have a family in my parish that’s at great risk! They’re facing real danger.” — Rod Steiger as Father Delaney
Yep, by 1979 the “true” case that inspired the novel and the film The Amityville Horror had become a media juggernaut. To this very day people are still reading and talking about it. In fact, I personally know some folks who were very close to the actual investigation. Their take? It was an average haunting that was blown totally out of proportion by everyone concerned. There’s no doubt some spooky stuff went down there, but giant floating pigs plus bleeding walls plus rooms full of flies equal nothing more than a script full of shit. In any event the flick we’re talking about here was some good cheesy fun.
Everyone’s favorite (for whatever reason) haunted house film, The Amityville Horror, has now come home as a high definition Blu-ray release, and the results are pretty frightening. Why, you ask? Because it seems to be becoming trendy to release these movies onto this latest medium minus all of the special features that can be found on their DVD cousins.
Yep, chalk up another bare bones Blu-ray for MGM/Fox. All we get here is the trailer. Gone is the commentary by Hans Holzer. Also gone is the documentary about the movie. Hell, we don’t even get the radio spots. As expected, the film looks great in 1080p, and it has never sounded better either, but come on, man. This is a load of crap. It’s not like we’re living in the time of the VHS to DVD jump when supplemental features had to be gathered or created from scratch for a new digital release. These supplements are pre-existing. They just needed to be ported over. No fuss. No muss. I don’t get it.
Unless you’re the biggest high-def freak walking the face of the Earth, there is no reason — and I repeat no reason — to shell out the extra cash for this release if you already own the special edition DVD from a few years ago. Come on, guys, get with the program, or for god’s sake, GET OUT!
Special Features
3 out of 5
Special Features:
1/2 out of 5
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