Amityville 3-D (1983)

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writer:

William Wales (written by)

Release Date:

18 November 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Enter the gateway to hell...at your peril!

Plot:

A reporter moves into the ominous Long Island house to debunk it of the recent supernatural events and becomes besieged by the evil manifestations which are connected to a hell-spawn demon lurking in the basement.

Plot Keywords:

House | Supernatural | Demon | Reporter | Third Part

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tony Roberts	...	John Baxter
Tess Harper	...	Nancy Baxter
Robert Joy	...	Elliot West
Candy Clark	...	Melanie
John Beal	...	Harold Caswell
Leora Dana	...	Emma Caswell
John Harkins	...	Clifford Sanders
Lori Loughlin	...	Susan Baxter
Meg Ryan	...	Lisa
Neill Barry	...	Jeff
Peter Kowanko	...	Roger (as Pete Kowanko)
Frederikke Borge	...	Elliot's Assistant (as Rikke Borge)
Carlos Romano	...	David Cohler
Josefina Echánove	...	Dolores (as Josephina Echanove)
Jorge Zepeda	...	Van Driver

Also Known As:

Amityville III: The Demon
Amityville: The Demon

Runtime:

105 min | UK:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:PG (Certificate #27133) | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Portugal:M/18 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Toms River, New Jersey, USA

Company:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)

Trivia:

Although this film takes place at the Amityville House, it is not a sequel to The Amityville Horror (1979) or Amityville II: The Possession (1982). The events in the first two films were supposedly "real".

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the swordfish flies at the camera (and also when it is shaking, ready to come off), the wire is clearly visible.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Emma Caswell: Good evening.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Land of the Dead (2005)

Amityville 3-D: Dull Dull Dull

I can't say that I'm a fan of this series. The original is overrated, and I can't see why they would bother remaking it, but the remake can only be an improvement (are they going to remake the sequels too, or create new sequels?). I've also seen Part II, and The Amityville Curse (1990) (V), which should be part five if its release date is correct. However, the numbering of the titles skipped over Curse, and made Amityville 1992: It's About Time (1992) (V) part five. There's probably a story behind that, but I don't know what it is.

Amityville 3-D carries a disclaimer that "This film is not a sequel to The Amityville Horror or Amityville II: The Possession." Seemingly that statement is required for some legal reason, but I'm not sure how accurate it is. The only similar disclaimer I can think of is for Witchtrap (1989), which insists it is not a sequel to Witchboard (1986). OK. But 3-D does make reference to the events of (as I recall) the prologue of the first Amityville movie - the DeFeo murders. And it's followed by Amityville IV: The Evil Escapes. It's also in a 1980s tradition of making the third installment of a series 3-D, like Friday the 13th Part 3: 3D (1982) and Jaws 3-D (1983).

An investigator exposes a phony medium during a séance ("phony medium"=redundant) in the Amityville house for a publication he works for. The real estate agent offers him a very low price on the house, since he can't sell it. Seemingly, it is also a bribe, since the real estate agent may have had ties to the medium and doesn't want any bad publicity. The agent almost falls into a well in the basement, said to be a pit into hell, but dies inside the house soon after of other causes. Photos the investigator's partner took of the séance appear to show a ghostly figure of the agent, who had not been there.

The haunted house also proves it can extend its power beyond its walls when it appears to be responsible for an elevator malfunction and a car crash.

Not much happens in the movie, and it's not very interesting, and has nothing to recommend it that I can think of - perhaps it was slightly better in its proper aspect ratio and in 3-D. I can't imagine that would have made much of a difference though.

The ending is pretty stupid. Lots of explosions. What brought that on?