Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes (1989)
Directed by Sandor Stern
Ever catch a movie on tv at a young age and remember it for the rest of your life? Well this is one of those for me. This is the fourth installment in the Amityville series and it was a made for tv movie. I caught this on a summer night when I was probably 12 or 13? I can’t remember exactly but I’ll never forget some scenes.
This one is about a lamp that is possessed by the devil. Yes you read that correctly, a damn lamp. Well some dumb old broad buys it from an estate sale and gives it to her sister. The lamp goes to work quickly by controlling the young granddaughter. The girl sees her father’s face in the lamp globe and believes her dead dad is communicating with her. Of course everyone sees the devil’s face in the lamp but her. The lamp controls things around the house, like making a chainsaw go crazy, turning the garbage disposal on when a guy’s hand is in it, etc. Will the family be able to destroy the lamp, my lord how dumb haha.
The special effects aren’t awful for a TV movie from 1989. The lamp is creepy looking, I’ll say that. The devil face in it is spooky but the effect is hilarious, it’s obvious the face is just imposed on the globe. The acting is hammy as all hell. The brother is a goofy looking kid with a poofy mullet and has some weird facial expressions. The oldest daughter is on the border of attractive and plain. The wardrobes are awful as you would expect. Why is Patty Duke in this movie? I kept wondering that haha. The youngest daughter is horrendously wooden and they explain she’s having a hard time coming to terms with her father’s passing and has reverted to a younger age, but cmon. The mother I suppose is probably the strongest actor in the movie, but that isn’t saying much.
The tension towards the end is almost laughable because they’re fighting a lamp! A FUCKING FLOOR LAMP!! If you step back and watch it is hilarious. I’ll always remember the scene of the lamp flying out of a window and falling on the rocks of a cliff and of course it explodes. Why wouldn’t a lamp explode right? The scene of the hand in the disposal is another I remember and what I always think of when I fish out silverware out of mine haha. The other scene that always sticks to me is the daughter talking to the lamp when the mom walks in, and the devil face showing up. The end scene, I totally called. The cat walks up to the remains of the lamp, looks into the camera and its eyes glow. I nearly choked laughing at that because I just got done saying to my wife “hundred bucks says the cat’s eyes glow.” Very cliche movie. Worst part? The moment the cat’s eyes glow, it is a still image, likely because cats are dumb and never stop moving. I was just waiting for the Goosebumps theme to play afterwards.
While this is a movie I’ll never forget, it isn’t good, like at all. Entertaining? Sure! The quality is bad, even for a tv movie, but if you’re looking for something stupid then check it out. It is better than Amityville 3D which was brutally slow and dull. I give this a D, only because I remember it so it has some lasting value at least for this moron.
