Saturday, March 1, 2014

Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes

aka Amityville: The Evil Escapes

How bad is it? It's one of the worst TV movies.

Should you see it? If you have nothing better to do. And you're drinking.

"The Amityville Horror" was a surprise hit, as it was not very good; it apparently had something to do with there being a real house that the film was based upon. Three sequels followed, all bad, the last one by far the worst, made for television. In the fourth film, the evil of the house is apparently contained in... a lamp! and it gets purchased by Jane Wyatt, who brings it to California, presumably for ease of filming. Here we get introduced to Patty Duke (who had starred with Wyatt in the TV show "Hotel") and a couple of kids. Norman Lloyd of "St. Elsewhere" make an appearance, to add to the television feel.

The film has a lot of the lamp turning on and off by itself. Not scary. There is some carnage; a plumber loses a hand, someone gets strangled with the lamp cord, the boy has a very funny scene with a possessed chainsaw in the basement. At the end, the cat appears possessed, which doesn't follow what logic the film might have.

There are people who actually like this film as a serious horror film. They must lead sheltered lives.

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