Amityville III: The Demon

Amityville III: the Demon (aka. Amityville 3D) (1983)

So at this point having already told the “true” stories related to the Amityville house in the first two movies the producers of this one decided to make something up. Given how little I actually enjoyed the first two movies I had hoped this would then be the creepy haunted house movie that the first two had sort of promised they would be. It didn’t really work out that well.

The movie opens with a man and his wife driving up to the familiar house for a séance. Almost as soon as the lights dim the medium contacts the spirit of their dead son. Suddenly the man and his wife leap up and start taking pictures and looking around with a flashlight, which catches the rest of the medium’s crew red handed. It seems the man and woman aren’t married at all but are actually professional skeptics who expose fakes like the medium. While at the house the man, John Baxter, decides he likes the house and buys it from the owner who wants nothing to do with it. Amityville house plus a skeptic equals a lot of denial. Almost as soon as Baxter moves in strange things begin to happen. The man who sold him the house dies in it, Baxter’s partner dies in a fiery car crash, and then Baxter’s daughter drowns at the nearby lake. Eventually the skeptic calls in a researcher and his team to investigate the house ala. Poltergeist. What do they find? A giant rubber demon that pops out of a well to hell is what they find, so now you don’t have to bother watching this waste of time!

So I guess that may be a bit harsh of me, but this is one of those movies that has nothing to offer. First of all the film is built around 3D gags, which unfortunately don’t work when the movie is in 2D. It is almost as if they had a formula that forced them to insert some sort of 3D gag every so often, which kills any atmosphere or creepiness the movie might have been able to generate. Hell until the last 5 minutes of the movie there isn’t even a jump scare! A ghost story that isn’t scary is just boring. Oh and the last 20 minutes of the movie is trying so hard to be Poltergeist that it is just sad. Lets some about the cast. I found Tony Roberts as John Baxter to be a terrible choice as the lead of the movie. He has zero charisma and isn’t interesting at all to watch. Tess Harper as his estranged wife isn’t much better. Though I will say that genre vet Robert Joy (Land of the Dead) does okay as the scientist leading the investigation of the house. Also keep an eye out for a very young Lori Loughlin as the Baxter’s daughter and Meg Ryan as her best friend.

All of the effects are geared towards the 3D, which might have been cool. But until they work out how to make 3D look good on a television we are stuck watching this in 2D. All of the effects that might have been nifty to see in 3D look terrible and hokey without it. But even if the effects jumped off the screen at you many of them are forced and a bit silly. The exceptions to this are a pretty decent burnt up body and a rubbery but fun (in a cheesy way) demon in a well and other than that not much to see here.

One of the words that kept popping up in my notes while I was watching this one was pointless. I think that sums up this movie really well. There isn’t really much to the story, and what it does have stays unresolved. This movie feels like an excuse to shoot something in 3D to cash in on the brief craze in the early 80s. I recommend that you pass on this turkey.

1 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer