We had a nice Halloween here at Pearl's. At first it was looking like it might be a bummer because of the wind, which was still blowing pretty hard at 4pm. We've been having what they call a "wind event" for the past three days, which I abhor because I hate wind. It's rare that we get a weather washout on Halloween here in the Valley, but when it does happen I get depressed. I recall about five years ago it rained, not hard but steadily enough so that we got no Trick-Or-Treaters. On Halloween, I'm like a little kid and I've gotta have my trick-or-treat! If I can't go myself (cause I'm almost 60, haha) then I'll hand out candy, but doggonnit I've gotta have a real Halloween or I'll have to throw a tantrum! I can't have it wiped out by weather, so thank goodness Mother Nature cooperated this evening.
Lo and behold the wind died down, almost on cue as the sky began to darken at 6pm. There was still a light breeze but it was tolerable, and - double lo and behold - as the wind stopped, the temperature seemed to rise a few degrees. The "wind chill" factor was negated, and wow!, suddenly it was t-shirt weather again, almost like magic.
The Trick-Or-Treaters started arriving at 6:30 and they continued til 9pm. We got about 30 kids, more or less the usual amount. The little ones are my favorites, the tiny Princesses and Spidermen. One little boy who couldn't have been more than three years old wore a full body "Jaws" costume. The teenagers came later, after 8pm, and we got two "Pennywise" in that bunch. The best moment of the evening came when a group of four kids, around five or six years old, came running up the driveway chanting the old Trick-Or-Treat theme song :
"Trick Or Treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat"!
I was taken aback for a second, because I hadn't heard that for years, and maybe decades. Kids from my generation were trained to say it by our teenaged elders, but it seemed to have died out sometime around the turn of the Millenium. What was so funny tonight was that it came completely out of left field. I was standing there, talking to the cat, when all of a sudden.......("smell my feet"!)
It was like no time had passed between 1965, when I learned the chant, and tonight as it was called out by a new generation. I could see their parents standing on the sidewalk, the likely suspects haha.... :):)
At 9pm, I shut things down at Pearl's, then went for my traditional Halloween Walk to check out the decorated houses. There were a lot of 'em up in Northridge. College kids were walking around in costume. I dunno if they were trick-or-treating, but I did until I was 20 years old, haha.
I'd still do it if they'd let me! :)
Anyway, to get back to what I was saying about "The Amityville Horror", the important thing is that the movie had a veteran director, a Hollywood craftsman from the old school who knew the ingredients of a good picture. He had a two hour running time at his disposal, and he chose to concentrate on developing the story, building the suspense, and then bringing out the major horror in the final act. It's an unsettling film. The House has an evil influence, but it acts gradually on George Lutz. He doesn't become a horror caricature like Jack Nicholson, who was also influenced by a building in "The Shining". James Brolin was never considered a great thespian, but he does a more than capable job here as a man succumbing to whatever it is that is trying to possess him. He doesn't realise what is happening, isn't aware of the change in himself. We don't know for sure if he is hearing the voices Ronald deFeo claimed to hear, but he is changing so much in personality that he is not only becoming aggressive, he is actually beginning to resemble deFeo. The patrons at a local bar tell him the likeness is remarkable : "You're a dead ringer for him, buddy". Now he is beginning to frighten his own family.
It's a psychological film, and Margot Kidder was an excellent choice to play Kathleen Lutz, who cannot understand what is happening to her husband. She copes the best she can because their marriage is a recent one and they've only just bought the house. She doesn't want to lose her husband or their new home, but it's clear there is something wrong with the house and their move has coincided with her husband's breakdown. Kidder was a very good actress. She had a vulnerable quality that plays well in this movie. Director Rosenberg uses "everyday" instances to ratchet up the tension the house is creating - a window is shown repeatedly open, even after George or Kathleen have closed it. A doll belonging to their daughter sits in a chair, after being missing all day. Money for a brother's wedding gets lost in the furniture, never to be found. These are the kinds of things that could happen in real life, to anyone, and so it creeps us out when there is no explanation for any of it. And of course, the toilets back up repulsively, and flies crowd the bathroom, but you already know that if you've read the book (and you've probably seen the movie, too, for that matter).
So as I was saying, it's more than a horror movie - it's a good movie by any standard. It feels like it could happen to anybody, which makes it even scarier. The opening sequence of the deFeo murders is horrific, and again real life steps in : that was an actual murder case, as gruesome as they come, and you have to wonder what would make a family want to live in such a house after a thing like that had happened. In the case of the Lutz's, it was the discount price. They only lasted 21 days before fleeing.
Rosenberg gets the supernatural aspect just right. He doesn't overplay the "ghosts" on hand, or the infamous "Jodie" character. I won't tell you any more about them. One thing he does skip over that I wish he'd have explored a little more was the issue with the boathouse. In the book, it was a pretty big deal if I recall correctly. There was something very scary in the boathouse. Rosenberg doesn't really go there, but then he already had a lot to cover. There is also a subtheme involving the local priest (Rod Steiger) who has come to bless the house at Kathleen's request. He definitely hears the voices, as does a nun who's an aunt of Kathleen's. The house will have a major effect on Steiger, but I'll leave you to see it for yourself. His reaction will alarm the clergy at his parish, who - like Father Karras at first in "The Exorcist" - have relegated haunts and demons to the dustbin of superstition. Speaking of "The Exorcist", there is also a Detective Kinderman type in "Amityville". A cigar-chomping cop hangs around outside the house, sitting in his car and staring. He was the lead investigator in the deFeo case, he witnessed it's aftermath, and while he believes only in the facts, he knows the house ain't right.
The cinematography is by turns beautiful and nightmarish. Rosenberg uses gorgeous reverse-color effects to show us the house in daylight. The upstairs windows - the house's "evil eyes" - are overlit like glowing plasma. It's a great looking movie.
I loved "The Amityville Horror", and I am gonna go so far as to give it Two Gigantic Thumbs Up. It's in the tradition of the best supernatural movies, or haunted house movies, and - like "The Exorcist" - it's a film that will stand up to repeat viewings. I'll certainly be watching it again. ////
That's all for now. Tonight I'll be going to the annual Dia de Los Muertos celebration over at CSUN's Chicano House, so I don't know if I'll have time for a movie, but stay tuned and I'll see you back here at the Usual Time. Have a great day!
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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