Amityville 3-D (1983)

Most fraudsters like to make their money and run.  George Lutz, however, made a career of suing anyone who tangentially tried to do anything with The Amityville Horror.  Supposedly a lot of it was because of people doing what he did - making things up.  It's to the point where I wonder if, at some point in his life, he convinced himself that a series of things did happen, because a lot of his complaints seemed to be people embellishing a tale that had already been thoroughly picked apart.  

Thus, the first run of Amityville movies were plagued by his lawsuits.  Couldn't say this, couldn't do this, couldn't even reference the Lutzes in the sequels.  At least by this third one referencing the Defeo murders by name was allowed, probably because by that point Ronald Defeo Jr. was unquestionably going to be spending the rest of his life in prison, so there was no longer any "allegedly" about it.  Also, Defeo was never going to see one red cent of anything revolving around him and his family.  For George Lutz this was his cash cow. 

Not that anyone really cared too much anyway.  The Amityville Horror was a competent, if mediocre, haunted house film, while Amityville II: The Possession was pure exploitation and a great example of what an Italian horror director could do when given a budget.  That is, until a little over 60 minutes in it turns into another Exorcist rip-off.  Still, it was obvious that the successful formula for an Amityville movie was to not even bother to treat it like it was factual.  So, at its heart, Amityville 3-D was based on Stephen Kaplan's work in proving the hauntings were a hoax.

John Baxter (Tony Roberts) and his partner Melanie (Candy Clark) work as investigators for a magazine that uncovers supernatural hoaxes.  Their latest are a couple of mediums that have set up shop at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, the site of the Defeo murders and numerous other reported supernatural events.  After exposing them Baxter takes a liking to the house and, since he is going through a divorce and the house is a steal because of its history, he takes the plunge. 

As usual it is not long before strange things begin to happen, seemingly tied to a dry well in the basement that is rumored to be a passageway to Hell.  Tony's soon-to-be ex-wife Nancy (Tess Harper) is definitely not happy about it, to the point where she wants to prevent their daughter Susan (Lori Loughlin) from visiting there.  Still, egged on by her friend Lisa (Meg Ryan), she does and eventually pays the price.  However, Nancy becomes convinced that their daughter is still alive somewhere in the house, and with the help of psychic researcher Elliot West (Robert Joy) they hope to find out what exactly is happening in the house.

John Baxter is obviously the fill-in for Stephen Kaplan, as the makers of the film didn't get permission to use his name.  Despite being involved and trying to prove it was a hoax, Kaplan himself had some pretty dicey credentials, claiming to be a "vampirologist" among other things.  Baxter is presented as much more grounded and believable.  It's too bad Tony Roberts, who is not a bad actor, is obviously there for the paycheck.  A little more emotion would have gone a long way as the script for this, despite what the critics have said, isn't bad at all.  It doesn't break any new ground in the haunted house genre and, without tying it to the Amityville story or adding in the 3-D gimmicks, probably would have ended up being one of those semi-forgotten films my generation remembers floating around during their childhood.  It was also PG, unlike the first two, so it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary for kids to possibly see this - although, being 1983, it has a lot more gore in it than a PG-13 film would have today.

The direction is also not bad, which should not be a surprise as Richard Fleischer had been directing since the 1940s and, although responsible for stuff like Red Sonja and Conan the Destroyer, was also the man behind the camera on such films as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Soylent Green.  He's a director for hire, but a skilled and experienced one.  What this movie was hamstrung with, however, was an early 1980s 3-D revival which often saw third sequels, such as Friday the 13th Part III and Jaws 3-D, incorporating newer advances in the technique.  Unfortunately, that still meant wearing polarized glasses and braving a massive headache, largely from trying to squint through the darkness to see whatever was supposed to be poking out of the screen.  While it looks like there was a lot of work done to make Amityville 3-D work has a fun experience for the audience, ultimately what contemporary critics and audiences report getting was a muddy, murky mess.  

On that end I'm probably lucky, as I have never really appreciated the 3-D fad, either in the 1980s or now.  Current 2-D prints of the movie are crystal clear, in the correct format and allow viewers to concentrate on the actual movie, although the obvious 3-D parts are still distracting.  I am probably one of the minority saying the actual story and film at the heart of this is not bad at all.  I think some scenes were edited out of place - Nancy talks about something happening that makes her not want Susan to visit, although nothing has happened to Susan at that point - and Roberts's performance was bland.  However, there are still some great effects, and one quite effective death scene that would be remembered more if it wasn't included in an Amityville film.

The movie was a dud, both with critics and audiences, and ended the theatrical release of any more films dealing with the subject until the remake of the first film in 2005.  However, a fourth installment was made for television, with Jamie Lee Curtis, and involved possessed objects from the house, a plot point followed by numerous direct-to-video sequels in the 1990s.  It also was one of the movies that put an early end to the brief 3-D revival, which in that case it pretty much did the world a favor.  However, it still remains a watchable, if minor, horror film that really could have benefited from not being hamstrung with all the Amityville baggage. 

Amityville 3-D (1983)

Time: 93 minutes

Starring: Tony Roberts, Tess Harper, Candy Clark, Lori Loughlin, Robert Joy

Director: Richard Fleischer