11 October 2024
Amityville II: The Possession (1982)
104 min.
Directed by Damiano Damiani.
With Jack Magner, James Olson, Burt Young, Rutanya Alda, Diane Franklin, Andrew Prine.
Okay prequel to the original Amityville Horror (1979) has the dysfunctional Montelli family moving into the notorious house.

After a series of unexplainable phenomena happens in the house, we get to the good stuff; dad Tony (Young), mom Dolores (Alda) and sister Patricia (Franklin) all find themselves terrorized by eldest son Sonny, who starts out hearing voices and eventually becomes thoroughly, demonically possessed.

Here's the skinny: Amityville II feels way too long for its type, and it's bogged down by over-the-top acting, a bizarre incest subplot between Magner and Franklin, and an obligatory, tacked-on exorcism climax.

Nonetheless, there are some occasionally scary moments, some lively make-up FX, and an adequate reprisal of Lalo Schifrin's marvelous score from the original.

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