The Amityville Horror (1979)

The written companion

Draft companion · Awaiting editorial review

The Amityville Horror: A Familiar Haunting Loses Its Hold

Matt returns to The Amityville Horror with affection already in place. It belongs in his October viewing, and Margot Kidder brings an attachment that reaches back to his childhood with the Superman films. This time, though, the movie does not pull him in as strongly as he hopes.

He still likes individual ideas: a babysitter trapped in a closet, a father gradually losing his grip, a home becoming dangerous. The problem is that other films come to mind as more effective versions of those fears. Unusually for him, he prefers the remake, leaving the original at six out of ten.

Cayla is less forgiving, but careful about the distance between her viewing and the film's original audience. Images that may once have felt alarming are familiar to her now. She finds the acting exaggerated and the experience boring, giving it three out of ten rather than mistaking its age for an automatic excuse.

Dan enters through a different door: his interest in true crime and the story behind the house. His contribution separates that curiosity from whether the adaptation works as horror. The group can be interested in how a legend formed without being frightened by this particular telling.

Can you imagine a familiar horror movie through its first audience's eyes? Does knowing the story behind a haunting make the film more unsettling, or invite you to question it?

Watch The Amityville Horror discussion ↗

Draft based on captions. The episode uses a ten-point scale. Claims about the haunting are discussed as claims, not verified events.