tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post4146178545271164801..comments2024-03-26T05:01:57.793-07:00Comments on DREAMS ARE WHAT LE CINEMA IS FOR...: THE AMITYVILLE HORROR 1979Ken Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-68844542165034943792020-05-02T10:11:45.727-07:002020-05-02T10:11:45.727-07:00yeah, if anyone had ever told me that i would have...yeah, if anyone had ever told me that i would have to wait from 1979 to the 90s to see brolin in less than his tighty-whiteys, i never would have believed it. was it worth the wait? i'll say yes. after all, in the intervening years, brolin has become mr. barbara streisand and the father of thanos.<br /><br />the only problem is that the dvd of that shannon tweed movie is one of those rarities that was once everywhere, but is now impossible to find. ironically, josh can be found on youtube doing the nude bucket challenge like it's nothing. i think i kinda love josh even though i'm not a big fan of the marvel cinematic universe except for the thor movies (loki/thor subtext), the first avengers film (again loki/thor), and captain america civil wars because it turned out to be much better than i expected. <br /><br />in a funny kind of way i admire and feel sorry for shannon tweed. once upon a time she was in soapy dramas like falcon crest, but then she or her agent decided that her acting needed to be supplemented with full nudity scenes. i guess she's the poor man's sharon stone. that being said, i wish there was a male equivalent of shannon tweed. lorenzo lamas was on falcon crest too, but for all the laughable movies he's done, he's never dropped his drawers. no matter how tight things get for a man in hollywood, he never has to showcase his skin in front of the camera. the double standard incenses me because of all the opportunities pregnant with male flesh i've been denied. lol. petercox97https://www.blogger.com/profile/05818754297522029991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-71825111383262525052020-04-24T14:10:38.294-07:002020-04-24T14:10:38.294-07:00Although I would give almost anything to unsee the...Although I would give almost anything to unsee the nude Rod Steiger in THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, I'm always happy whenever male nudity makes an appearance in pop culture. Helps to balance the scales. But I never knew Brolin had fallen on times so hard that he actually appeared in a Shannon Tweed film! The only film ever saw Brolin appear nude in was 1991's "Ted & Venus." Clearly, the 90s were a liberating decade for him. Thanks, Peter!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-23449072048221629692020-04-23T23:46:43.631-07:002020-04-23T23:46:43.631-07:00defrocked priests. steiger, father delaney, nude i...defrocked priests. steiger, father delaney, nude in the illustrated man and don stroud as bowen almost letting it all hang out in playgirl. and in the 90s, brolin would doff the tighty whiteys and let it all hang out in a sexual thriller with shannon tweed.petercox97https://www.blogger.com/profile/05818754297522029991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-80999212407219583842017-11-22T03:23:12.284-08:002017-11-22T03:23:12.284-08:00Hi Don
I remember reading that book back in the 80...Hi Don<br />I remember reading that book back in the 80s (I might even own it) and you're right about Stephen King's take on the film being an interesting read. He’s got a point. It’s difficult to make it through the entire film without it crossing one’s mind (at least once) that that big old house is something of a money pit. <br />In fact, when the Tom Hanks movie THE MONEY PIT came out several years later, I recalled King's essay and imagined how, with the addition of a jaunty soundtrack, one might easily re-edit AMITYVILLE into a trailer that would make it look as though it were a comedy.<br /><br />As for DRACULA, I’m intrigued that you love it. I think I need to see it again. I only saw it the once--rare for me, but I don’t have a strong recollection of disliking the film. I mostly remember really liking Kate Nelligan. So strange that I have a dimmer recollection of films I saw as an adult than those I saw as an adolescent.<br />So terrific hearing from you, Don. Thanks heap for reading and especially for taking the time to comment!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-15542179262911739102017-11-21T19:00:30.214-08:002017-11-21T19:00:30.214-08:00For me, Schifrin's Oscar-nominated score is th...For me, Schifrin's Oscar-nominated score is the film's most memorable feature. Stephen King's essay about the movie in DANSE MACABRE is an interesting read: he argues that the film's true horrific subtext is about the financially-strapped, upwardly-striving middle class (George's struggling business, the lure of the house's suspiciously low price, and of course the house swallowing up the wedding money, causing George to bellow during his fruitless, crazy-making search: "WHERE IS IT?!")<br /><br />And I actually LOVE the Langella DRACULA! Do you love anything about it, Ken? Enough to write about it? <br /><br />Don Mancinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12258469836226845683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-11126565258493333782017-11-15T18:56:18.393-08:002017-11-15T18:56:18.393-08:00Hi Michael
Sorry to take so long in responding to ...Hi Michael<br />Sorry to take so long in responding to your wonderful comments. Your thoughts revisiting the film are in line with what I imagine most adults would be. Seems like AMITYVILLE is a good film to have seen when you were very young, for the frights are low-level enough to be pretty terrifying to a kid. <br />To an adult, I think you nail it: Everythign seems to happen to the hammy priest! And why single him out when "they" could just as well have one after the nun or the Vietnam Vet priest. (Always amuses me how, when people in movies like this have somethign VERY important to tell someone on the phone, they waste perfectly good time prefacing it with the superfluous lead-in: "I want you to listen very closely...I've got something very important to tell you," and of course shit hits the fan before they can blurt it out! <br />You also jogged my memory as to the kind of mania the public had at the time for all those "believe it or not" TV shows, books, and movies. Small wonder there was such a willingness to buy into the con of the Amityville story.<br />I saw the AMITYVILLE remake and not a single frame stays with me (not true, I do remember Ryan Renolds in his pajama bottoms) but that it it. <br />This film, for all its flaws and laughable moments, does indeed have its pleasures. Most of them in the realm of inadvertent humor.<br />Thanks for reading this and for reminding me of how this book was everywhere at the time, and somewhat explaining the zeitgeist allowing for us all to be so wanting to belive in a haunted house/possession.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-38743212362844649582017-11-13T01:20:07.104-08:002017-11-13T01:20:07.104-08:00Ken,
Thanks for posting about this. I had the DVD...Ken,<br /><br />Thanks for posting about this. I had the DVD tucked away and your review inspired me to dig it out. I know I saw the movie when it first came out but after watching it again I realized that what I recalled as the scariest parts actually came from other movies, most notably Burnt Offerings and Poltergeist. What struck me about The Amityville Horror is that not much spooky stuff actually happens in the film. Those oddly shaped windows with the red back-lighting and Lalo Schifrin's very creepy score sure do a lot heavy lifting in this film. That effective combination creates a real sense of dread that the rest of the movie fritters away. I think the real problem with the movie is that the really horrible things happen to Rod Steiger's Father Delaney and those mostly happen out of the house. That seems to be the real story and the Lutz family are just supporting players in that tale. Why is the evil pursuing him so relentlessly? It was more interesting than what the Lutz family was getting up to.<br /><br />Weirdly, thinking back to 1979 when the movie came out, I can remember the ad campaign much better than the movie itself. The paperback with the flies on the cover and the devil tail was everywhere that summer. I'd forgotten how many places you could by paperbacks back then, but they were in spinner racks in drugstores, supermarkets, bookstores and newsstands so I would see that book pretty much every time I went out. There were also radio spots with the "Get Out!" voice that were in regular rotation. That was also around the time In Search Of.... with Leonard Nimoy was on TV and books like Chariots of the Gods were selling well so I was primed, along with the rest of the world, for a true story about a haunting. What we got was the Amityville Horror, a film where it looks like more creativity was put into promoting it than making it. Oh, well.<br /><br />Still, the movie does have its pleasures, even if they weren't the scares the filmmakers intended. Rod Steiger stumbling around with fake flies glued to his face was more risible than terrifying but a lot of fun to see. And the scariest thing about the ooze spewing toilets was the thought of how much it was going to cost to get a plumber out to fix them at that hour. I'm glad that I watched it again so thanks for the idea. <br /><br />MichaelMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-76611289335691653752017-11-06T20:35:36.225-08:002017-11-06T20:35:36.225-08:00I think most of my life I've entertained much ...I think most of my life I've entertained much of the same sense of "How could anyone fall for that?" kind of skepticism when it came to these kind of public hoaxes.<br />This election year has proven to me that a large segment of the American public (too large) is more likely to believe in demonic pigs with red eyes than scientific fact. I used to think a silly con was difficult to pull off, now I'm certain it takes nothing more than persistent repetition and hype.<br />Many years after all the hubbub, I got a look at the Lutzes, always in and out of court with lawsuits and trying to make sure they could milk every cent out of their "story," they struck me as the worst sort of opportunists. Never credible for a second. <br />I think this cynical reality makes the film much more enjoyable, because everybody involved in making it seems to be treating it with such solemn respect...like a profound religious battle is being waged against this rather bland family.<br />And PROPHECY! I had such high hopes with John Frankenheimer at the helm, and (unaccountably, but I guess I was a fan) Taliah Shire's participation. It felt like a Roger Corman movie. Not much better than EMPIRE OF THE ANTS or FOOD OF THE GODS.<br />Thanks for reading my post, JF, and good to hear from you. You may be the only one to have actually read the book!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-69626021431929153952017-11-06T20:07:14.016-08:002017-11-06T20:07:14.016-08:00Hi Michael
How terrific that you saw this when it ...Hi Michael<br />How terrific that you saw this when it opened and recall the film's then-effective frights and scares. I know a lot of people still find it a good scary movie, but, like you, the camp elements have become the entertainment.<br />Always kill me that after they uncover the red room, see George's doppelganger AND "psychic" girlfriend gets monetarily possessed and declared that room the gateway to HELL (!!!!) - the family has no qualms about spending another night in that creepshow house, the little kids off in their rooms alone. <br />I don't know that any of that any of that even caught my attention of first viewing, being all caught up in the events and all, but rewatching it just brings to light one laughable plot point after another.<br />Margot Kidder probably was a huge selling point for the movie at the time. She was so appealing in SUPERMAN, I was eager to see her in anything.<br />I love that you have seen the infamous house! I've seen photos of it, and indeed, without those windows seem from those spooky low-angle shots, the house is quite ordinary-looking. Still, even without believing in ghosts or possession or any of that stuff, I'd be hard pressed to live in a home that was the site of such a horrific tragedy. Yikes!<br />So good to hear from you, Michael. And thanks for sharing your Long Islander's memories of seeing THE AMITYVILLE HORROR!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-10891389111279081692017-11-06T07:55:10.249-08:002017-11-06T07:55:10.249-08:00I read the book when I was a teen. I'll always...I read the book when I was a teen. I'll always remember the obsession with the demonic red pig eyes and flies. So utterly ridiculous. I didn't find much of it scary as I found it all so bizarre that they anyone would think an intellignet person would accept any of it as "paranormal activity." A lawyer the Lutz family met claimed the whole thing was made up during a meeting in a bar and yet the Lutzes continue to claim that the story is mostly true. Quite a mess.<br /><br />I recall nothing about the movie, but I know I've seen it. Thanks for your usual entertaining dissection of an unintentional camp fest. I may have to find a copy for a re-viewing.<br /><br />P.S. Your passing mention of PROPHECY brings back vivid memories of seeing that preposterous movie in our local theater back in my highs school days. For months afterwards my brother and I made fun of that poor attempt at a horror movie. The first of many in a long line of 1970s eco-disaster/"Beware of pollution"/deformity-horrors-in- the-works monster movies.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-48748169516714358222017-11-06T07:28:38.221-08:002017-11-06T07:28:38.221-08:00Hi Ken! I was on of those teens who saw this openi...Hi Ken! I was on of those teens who saw this opening night in 1979 (at the now-defunct Hylan Cinema on Staten Island). An audience full of people roughly my age or older, shrieking at every "scary" moment. I think I was genuinely spooked at that time, but now I see it as campy (GET OOUUUTTT!!!! ..... FIND THE WELL....IT IS THE GATEWAY TO HELL!!!!) ) <br /><br />I big draw for me was seeing Margot Kidder. I was very drawn to her after SUPERMAN a few months previously (one of my super-favorites) and I was interested in seeing her in a different role. <br /><br />I did drive by the house one night, it's about an hour away from me on Long Island. It's been renovated so as to get rid of the distinctive windows, and it looks like any other house. <br /><br />I loved your analysis! Thanks again for another great article! <br />MikeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-16516074533728088222017-11-01T20:56:33.414-07:002017-11-01T20:56:33.414-07:00Awww, you didn't like Brolin as Clark Gable in...Awww, you didn't like Brolin as Clark Gable in "Gable & Lombard"? No, that's one I haven't even seen myself. I agree with you 100%...I too think this is Brolin's best work. Whatever that implies. <br />I remember the diminutive, bearded Al Parker, but I don't think his hair ever achieved that full-tilt blow-out status of Brolin and Payne. Their hair is a bit like Mary Tyler Moore's in "Ordinary People" Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-2838025967902709122017-11-01T10:38:21.618-07:002017-11-01T10:38:21.618-07:00And let’s not forget the resemblance to Al Parker ...And let’s not forget the resemblance to Al Parker (finally a topic I know something about). Aside from Marcus Welby MD, I’d say that this is James’ “claim to fame”, and he does those tighty whities proud. It is his best work. I saw a TV true crime story about the actual case, it was horrific. loulou de la falaisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17120127948192259286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-45451386873157760362017-10-31T09:48:20.445-07:002017-10-31T09:48:20.445-07:00Hi Chris
Ha! I like the way you think. I would be ...Hi Chris<br />Ha! I like the way you think. I would be curious to know which of Brolin's films Barbra has seen (if any) and what might be her favorite. And then, of course, vice versa.<br />Among the reasons for why this film has endured is I think in large part to it being a VERY scary movie for those who saw it at a young age. Secondly, the remakes and spinoffs have all been so consistantly lousy, this one actually doesn't look so bad by comparison. That's an experience I had with THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE...it rose in esteem in direct proportion with how lousy the remake was.<br />But I do think AMITYVILLE is one of those rare horror films that's as fun for those who take it seriously as it is for those who like to watch it for laughs. It's fast-paced, just silly enough, and nothing really disturbing happens. As you say, a perfect Halloween treat.<br />Happy Halloween to you, Chris, and thanks!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-4010303795165223062017-10-31T08:44:10.265-07:002017-10-31T08:44:10.265-07:00Do you think Jim has ever sat down with a bowl of ...Do you think Jim has ever sat down with a bowl of popcorn to watch this with Barbra? Why do I doubt it, even though I just KNOW he has watched Funny Girl and Yentl with her umpteen times?!<br /><br />Serously, thugh, Ken, I thought this was a very very scary movie as a kid, but just watched it recently and it holds up well. A bit campy, yes (the nun especially as noted--she was on my favorite soap opera Another World!), and you are right...Brolin is pure pornstar hotness with his briefs and his shaggy hair! <br /><br />The remake with Ryan Reynolds wasn't bad, but this is the real deal! A perfect Halloween treat!!<br /><br />Happy Halloween to you and all your readers, Ken!<br />-Chrisangelman66https://www.blogger.com/profile/16471674180789592940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-86275166373365612532017-10-31T07:09:28.075-07:002017-10-31T07:09:28.075-07:00Hi Poseidon!
Yes! Getting Halloween off to a nice,...Hi Poseidon!<br />Yes! Getting Halloween off to a nice, histrionic start! This book really was so popular, the only thing I can guess about not being all that familiar with it is that I was in college at the time and making plans to move to LA. It must have slipped past my radar.<br />Like that billowing curtain for THE EXORCIST, those flies were a major marketing motif for AMITYVILLE. <br />My partner and I got such a kick out of laughing at this film lately, I am kinda bummed that I don't remember if I ever took it seriously, or if it was more impressive on the big screen. All I seem to remember clearly are the reactions of the audience.<br />You're right in noting that the nun's overacting drew a few giggles, the biggest laugh reserved for this really loud and cartoonish retching sound that they dubbed in when she hurls by the side of the road later. Little by little you could hear the film losing the audience; not in disinterest, but an inability to treat much of what was going on seriously.<br />too bad you DIDN'T see it when you were 12, I suspect a kid would of that age would have found it perfectly terrifying. Bad acting and all.<br />Your bringing up THE SWARM reminds me that that is one film I regret not having seen when it opened. I'm sure I would have howled throughout.<br />Thanks for the pic and reminder of that other bearded, pouffy haired model of the 70s. I remember him well and it confirms that this almost demonic look was quite prevalent. Thanks dropping by and for the fun comments. Happy Halloween to you!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-21231009915456568932017-10-31T05:25:34.731-07:002017-10-31T05:25:34.731-07:00What a fun way to kick-start Halloween! I recall t...What a fun way to kick-start Halloween! I recall this book being EVERYWHERE as a teen and the image of the house petrified me. TV ads always showed Steiger and those horrible flies! (Which, in retrospect seem oddly tied with Olivia de Havilland and her bees from "The Swarm!" LOL) I didn't even consider going to the movie (I was twelve when it came out.) I first saw it maybe a decade ago finally. I thoroughly enjoyed your description of the glowing eyes and all the (bad) acting throughout. I seem to recall the nun strenuously overacting as well? I also loved the side-by-side comparison of Brolin and Payne, though I think the delectable Bill Cable could also give them both a run for their money! https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3a/49/89/3a498917b2690ab92c521a9e60e21644.jpg Happy Halloween and thanks!Poseidon3https://www.blogger.com/profile/10465785002285422594noreply@blogger.com