Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

If you are familiar with the story behind the original Amityville horror you will sort of recognize this movie, which is more a prequel than sequel.  Amityville II goes back and loosely tells the story of the family that was slaughter by the oldest son one night.  He of course claimed that he was possessed by demons and that they made him do it, which is what the movie portrays.  It opens with the family arriving at the house and shows them slowly falling apart until the night that the boy kills them all.  The movie then follows the family’s priest as he, thinking he failed the family, tries to save the son from the demons that control him.  This can only be accomplished by breaking the kid out of jail and taking him to the church.  But of course he escapes the priest and they end up back at the house instead.  The movie ends with the priest and the forces of evil doing battle over the eternal soul of the boy. 

I thought the first movie was mediocre and overrated, but this movie is terrible.  The story, for the most part, is predictable.  There isn’t any suspense leading up to the killings and in fact the movie deals with the building tension in such a way that it becomes laughable.  Plus the time leading up to the killings is so freaking boring that many will have a tough time staying awake.  Part of this is because the movie fails to build any tension at all and delivers zero scares.  The direction is so bad that all of the stuff that is supposed to be scary comes off as cheesy and dumb.  The only genuinely creepy thing about the movie is the relationship between the older brother and sister.  This is handled very well by the story and the actors involved in the scenes.  When the movie does finally get to the killings they are anticlimactic and disappointing.  The guy is chasing his family around killing them, including two young children, and as a viewer I just didn’t care.  But this isn’t the end of the movie because there is another half hour to go.  The last bit of the film changes gears dramatically and becomes a battle between the priest and the demon.  This is more enjoyable then the rest of the movie, but that isn’t saying much. 

I’ve spent some time complaining about the story and now I have to say something about the cast.  I’ve never thought of Burt Young (Rocky films) as a great actor, but I know he is better than this.  His portrayal of the father consists of him walking around yelling his lines and chewing up the scenery.  The child actors that portray the youngest siblings are annoying and actually had me wanting to take the shotgun to them myself!  Jack Magner, who portrays the eldest son and killer, isn’t up to the task of carrying a movie.  He is completely unconvincing as the killer and it doesn’t surprise me that this and a bit part in Firestarter appears to be the only work he ever did.  The only decent performance in the cast would be Rutanya Alda as the mother.  She is quite good in the role, but it isn’t enough to save on otherwise poorly acted and written movie. 

The direction of the movie leaves a lot to be desired.  As I stated above the film lacks any scares, which is partly to do with the inept direction of the film.  A little bit of effort put into the lighting or sound could of made the movie at least a bit creepy and built some atmosphere.  The makeup effects are disappointing.  You don’t really get to see much of the killings, which was a prime opportunity to “bloody” things up a bit.  There are a couple of nifty looking makeup effects with the possessed kid.

This is a disappointing movie that fails to deliver any scares or gore.  There are a couple of things in the movie that are creepy, but not enough to recommend it.

1 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2008 John Shatzer