David Annandale

The Amityville Horror (1979) remains one of the most successful haunted house movies ever. Based on a supposedly true story (emphasis on “supposedly”), the film sees George and Kathy Lutz (James Brolin and Margot Kidder) buy their dream home, only to be driven out by supernatural events (little girl makes friends with demonic piggie, blood runs from the walls, and so on). In scenes that have so little to do with the rest of the action they might almost belong to a separate movie, Rod ...teiger overacts to a degree excessive even by his own none-too-restrained standards as the priest who is targeted by the evil in the house. Too tame to be truly frightening, the film succeeds thanks partly to its “true story” aura, but most especially because of the design of the house, whose eye-like windows made it the most recognizable of all cinematic haunted houses.

The Amityville Horror Collection (The Amityville Horror/Amityville II: The Possession/Amityville 3-D/Bonus Disc - Amityville Confidential) dvd cover art

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Crimson Rivers – Angels of the Apocalypse

Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 2nd, 2005

Synopsis

A monk is found walled up alive in an eccentric monastery, and Inspector Niemans (JeanReno) is on the case. Murders multiply around the country, connecting the cases worked on byNiemans and a young hotshot (Benoit Magimel, whose role is very similar to the one played byVincent Cassell in the original). The victims are all deeply religious, were all disciples of asurvivor who bears a more-than-passing resemblance to Jesus, and have the names andprofessions of the Disciples. They mur...erers are cowled monks possessed of apparentlysuperhuman strength and agility. What does all this have to do with the old underground tunnelsand defences of the Maginot Line? And what role does a German diplomat (Christopher Lee,demonstrating excellent French) have to play in all this?