Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes

Patty Duke plays a woman who must protect her family from the evils of Amityville after a lamp from an estate sale transfers the evil to her home.

Duke carries the film beautifully, giving it her all and treating the material seriously without any winking at the audience and she's the highlight of the film. The haunted house sequences are par for the course for a film like this, but there is one nasty bit involving a garbage disposal that's unexpected for a film that, mostly, plays it too safe.

A fairly decent sequel without much connection to the original (tone or story-wise). Full of haunted house cliches despite it seeming unique somehow...perhaps thanks to the strength of the mostly female cast. It's middle of the road...not offensive, only mildly entertaining.

I wasn't expecting much from this film, however it turned out to be decently entertaining considering it's the fourth Amytville sequel. The plot concerns a possessed lamp removed from the original Amytville house, that is now in a new house causing mayhem. The acting is decent and the story isn't too boring. Sadly it lacked gore, but then so did a lot of films in the late 80's.

Whenever I see a lamp now I always think of this film, whether that's a good thing or not I don't know. If you can find a cheap copy then it may be worth a watch, however I wouldn't go out of your way to find it as it's not the best around.

Surprisingly good 4th installment in the now tired franchise. This time a woman buys a lamp from the infamous Amityville house and sends it to some relatives that live in California. As soon as grandmother Jane Wyatt plugs it in, the evil forces make themselves at home. Good story, acting, and music score. ***1/2 out of *****. Skip the next installment "The Amityville Curse" and get "Amityville '92: It's About Time" and the two that follow after that.

Completely awful TV-movie sequel which, if nothing else, has the fantastic Aron Whatshisface as the young "Different Strokes-esque" grandson Brian. Not only is he frighteningly pleasant, but he does happen to pick up a chainsaw in the basement and use it to make VROOOOOM-VROOOM noises. Ultimately, the chainsaw turns itself on and Brian's scary cheeks wobble as he tears apart the place only to be halted by the sheer strength of his grandmother (and some other old dear who fell down the stairs - brilliant!) and a huge bit of pipe she grabs from the wall. Possibly one of the best scenes in the history of movies. If only this was the plot of the whole movie and not a brief minute of film.