Amityville 3-D Review

The year was 1983 and Amityville as a franchise started on another release. This is the third in the series, and once again the haunted house became a mere parody of the original story, and book. The movie features the classic 3-D treatment, and even though you can’t really get the same effect today, you certainly see where it was meant to be in 3-D. Orion Pictures apparently only put out one of these things. Oh, and the Lutz family sued over the story here, and it was meant not to be a “sequel” or at least it couldn’t be marketed as such. Whatever the case is, this movie came out and it’s part of a larger legacy of the haunted house sect. “Amityville 3-D” is, well, not that grand.

The thing that stood out this time around, was the fact that Lori Loughlin and Meg Ryan are in the movie! They don’t get top billing, but they are in there. Meg Ryan, for whatever reasons reminded me of Amber Lynn, the porno star, and therefore I just kept wanting to see here show up on screen. I know, I’m weird. Other than these little elements where I would think about adult cinema history, this movie really tried my patience. It’s a slow moving romp for the most part. Tony Roberts does very well here, but the surrounding cast seems forced through the acting elements, and it’s just not a good movie.

Now, the death sequences are interesting, and there are some elements of 3-D that still stand out as a result of the production. The larger story, however, and the “gore” that you expect from the series doesn’t really come out. The house does seem to come alive as a writer and skeptic moves in. I liked the story of the debunking magazine, and liked the opening, but overall, the speed of the production really was a troublesome thing. It’s a boring movie at times, and while it does pick up at the end, most viewers most likely gave up on it. I did appreciate the pick up at the end, as things really started to get out of hand, and the “hell house” came alive.

Overall, “Amityville 3-D” is not the best in the franchise. However, there are a few cool camera tricks, and seeing a young Lori Loughlin and Meg Ryan is really cool. Other than that, this is one that you don’t necessarily need to see, unless you’re like me, and have to see everything horror at least once or twice, or in the case of this movie, 5 times.

Pick up “Amityville 3-D” on Blu Ray as part of a larger set, or something else by clicking here.