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Burt Young, Rutanya Alda, James Olson, Jack Magner, Diane Franklin ... see more see more... , Andrew Prine , Leo Cimino , Brent Katz , Erika Katz , Moses Gunn , Ted Ross

Delving into the horrific history of the infamous Long Island haunted house, this prequel to 1979's popular chiller The Amityville Horror is loosely based on the DeFeo murders but is at heart a straig... read more read more...htforward horror-exploitation film with an Exorcist twist. When the violently dysfunctional Montelli family moves into the rustic abode (claimed to have been built on an Indian burial ground), the standard haunted-house clichés (bleeding walls, swarms of flies, bubbling black goop) give way to a more direct demonic attack on the eldest son -- who develops an unhealthy interest in his nubile younger sister, followed by a much more lethal attraction to dad's shotgun. In a desperate attempt to purge the evil, the local priest tries to perform an exorcism...with unexpected results. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

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45% liked it

16,240 ratings

Critics

7% liked it

14 critics

R, 1 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: Damiano Damiani

Release Date: September 24, 1982

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DVD Release Date: April 5, 2005

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Stats: 486 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (486)

  • WrenchLT
    January 16, 2011
    WrenchLT
    A dark, disturbing and creepy prequel to the Amityville Horror, which itself was pretty good, but this one I found to be better and quite underrated. It borrows heavily from The Exorcist, but if you found The Exorcist creepy and scary than this will likely be giving you a similar... read more horrifying experience.
  • ajv2688
    January 11, 2011
    ajv2688
    An extremely strange horror movie, and not always in a good way, I don't know, I suppose some people might like this movie if you like ones where things happen that don't normally happen in movies. It's not too bad, but it's kinda crazy and sort of combines elements of other pop... read moreular horror movies too.
  • SirPant
    September 6, 2010
    SirPant
    Prequel? Really? I guess it doesn't really matter, perhaps Damiano Damiani thought that if he set the film before great horror films such as The Exorcist and Poltergeist had been made, people wouldn't realise he'd ripped them both off somewhat! To be fair, as rip offs go, it's no... read moret too bad, there are some great scenes in this film but overall it's not brilliant.
  • matertenebraum
    December 14, 2009
    matertenebraum
    Amityville II: The Possession, which claims to be a prequel to the original Amityville Horror (1979), once again takes us to the infamous haunted Long Island house. The film opens with a shot of the house with a 'for sale' sign in the foreground as the camera pans around the outs... read moreide while the credits play. Amityville II: The Possession then cuts to another shot of the house, this time the sign says 'sold'. An Italian American family have brought the house & are moving in, husband & wife Anthony (Burt Young) & Dolores Montelli (Rutanya Alda) with their four children, Sonny (Jack Magner), Patricia (Diane Franklin), Jan (Erika Katz) & Mark (Brent Katz). At first glance the large house seems perfect & is beautiful, but almost immediately things start to go wrong for the family. Dolores senses a presence in the basement which she claims touched her, when they sit down for their first meal that night & try to say a prayer the mirror on the wall suddenly falls off & begins to crack. Also that night the family are disturbed by banging on their front door & obscene images are mysteriously painted on walls. Sonny starts to hear strange demonic voices on his Walkman as well. The incidents don't stop & as a result the family starts to fall apart. However Dolores still senses an evil presence & contacts their local priest, Father Frank Adamsky (James Olson) & asks him to bless their house. Meanwhile Sonny is becoming more & more withdrawn as the evil presence in the house specifically singles him out & starts to possess him, the voices on his Walkman convince Sonny to seduce & have sex with his younger sister Patricia & eventually tries to get Sonny to kill his entire family. After witnessing some of these events & doing some research Father Adamsky starts to realise what's going on & is convinced that Sonny is being possessed by evil spirits, but is it too late to save Sonny & the Montelli family?

    Directed by Damiano Damiani I thought Amityville II: The Possession was actually a pretty good horror film & I don't usually like the haunted house sub-genre. The script by Tommy Lee Wallace based on the book 'Murder in Amityville' by Hans Holzer is well paced, entertaining, has decent characters & tries to tackle a few unexpected issues like incest, the break down of the family unit & wife/child abuse. Unfortunately some of these issues seem a little out of place & are treated in a slightly exploitative & lightweight way. But at the end of the day Amityville II: The Possession is basically a horror film at heart & exploitation is what we want so I'll forgive it. It uses all the haunted house clichés, doors opening & closing on their own, voices, eerie noises, ghostly wind that blows things all over the place, the kind elderly believing priest & spooky hallucinations but Amityville II: The Possession integrates them into the story as well as any other haunted house film. The first half of the film concentrates on these family elements while the second half is all about the possession & eventual exorcism which basically feels like The Exorcist (1973) condensed into 40 odd minutes complete with green vomit, but it moves along nicely & isn't boring. There is some brief nudity but the incest scenes aren't particularly graphic. There isn't much gore or violence, some expanding flesh, some shotgun wounds & a cool looking sequence where someone messily rips the skin off their face to reveal a monster. The acting is solid throughout by all involved but I did find Burt Young's character, the abusive Anthony very unlikeable. Technically Amityville II: The Possession is a strong film, music, photography, editing, special effects & production design are all above average, very polished & better than usual from a low budget horror. Overall I like Amityville II: The Possession a lot more than I thought I would, it's a good solid horror film that kept me entertained for 100 odd minutes & has a little more depth & style than usual without sacrificing the exploitation elements than us horror fans expect & love! Definitely worth watching.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 9, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    There you go one more part of Amytyville and still mystery to me, how can a real event have sequels.
  • creepfreak
    May 24, 2008
    creepfreak
    A truly chilling creep fest of a movie. This one sends chills down my spine. Way more frightening then the original Amityville! Watch this one alone in the dark.

    Highly Recommended!
  • YosemiteSamFan
    June 9, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    The spookiest and best of the Amityville Horror series. A family of six moves to the Amityville house, and teenaged son "Sonny" slowly becomes possessed by the evil of the house. It has some chilling scenes as "Sonny" slowly gets taken over. "Sonny" is urged to kill his family by... read more raspy demonic voices. There are frightening episodes illustrating Sonny's corruption, and evidence that there are other entities present in the recesses of the house. Then, on a stormy night, he goes from room to room and graphically executes his family members with a shotgun. Disturbing stuff. I felt especially for Sonny's beautiful sister Patricia, whose innocence was crushed. But then the movie shifts gears and becomes a legal drama and Exorcist-imitator when the family priest fights for Sonny's soul. Overall, chilling events which I try not to bring to mind at night.
  • divinetrash
    June 14, 2011
    divinetrash
    This one has even less suspense than the first film, if such a thing is possible, but they amp the camp factor and it's very watchable because of how funny it turns out.
  • leekyle1968
    April 6, 2009
    leekyle1968
    I always class this one as one of the scariest films of all time. Rutanya Alda's looking in fear moments only add to this eerie film.
  • cacutshaw
    October 3, 2007
    cacutshaw
    I remember really liking this as a kid and finding it quite scary and disturbing. I should really rewatch this one.

View All Amityville II: The Possession Reviews

Critic Reviews

Bob Bloom
December 11, 2007
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

Should have torn down the house after the first movie.

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
July 8, 2005
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is

Let's take a real story and put some Exorcist effect in, yeah that's great

Nick Schager
April 4, 2005
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

A depressing imitation of The Exorcist. Full Review

Christopher Null
April 1, 2005
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

an atrociously made film, uninteresting as a sequel/prequel and unsustainable on its own Full Review

Brian Juergens
March 31, 2005
Brian Juergens, Bloody Disgusting

Indefensibly inappopriate, and oh so much fun...

David Nusair
March 28, 2005
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

The rampant silliness of the movie's first half is certainly preferable to the utterly dull second half... Full Review

Andreas Samuelson
January 26, 2004
Andreas Samuelson, Slasherpool

A dreadful sequel delivering more yawns and laughs rather than shocks and scares. Full Review

James Sanford
July 29, 2002
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette

"claptrap, pure and simple"

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Facts

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    • Father Tom: (carrying Sonny away; to the police car) They'll understand it wasn't your fault. We'll make them understand.
    • Patricia Montelli: (possessed) Look at me. When I was making my confession, you thought about making love to me. Didn't you?
    • Father Adamsky: No.
    • Patricia Montelli: (possessed) Look at me! Confess! Dirty priest. You wanted it. You wanted it!
    • Mr. Booth: (when the judge asks him to repeat himself about Sonny's defense) Demonic possession, your honor. Possession by demons.
    • Father Adamsky: (answers the phone) Hello?
    • Patricia Montelli: (who's already DEAD) Hello?
    • Father Adamsky: Who's this?
    • Patricia Montelli: (who's already DEAD) Father Adamsky? Father? I'm worried. I'm worried about Sonny. Afraid of him. I don't know why, but, I think he wants to kill us.
    • Father Adamsky: Is it your intention not to show yourself again?
    • Sonny Montelli: (possessed) I could.
    • Father Adamsky: When?
    • Sonny Montelli: (possessed) When I please.
    • Sonny Montelli: (possessed, and laughing) I told you you'd have to leave.
    • Father Adamsky: You wanna destroy this boy's life?
    • Sonny Montelli: (possessed) I do what I want.
    • Father Adamsky: You must leave this boy's body, what your follow presence occupies.
    • Sonny Montelli: (possessed) Why should I leave? I like it here.
    • Father Adamsky: I will cast you out.
    • Sonny Montelli: (possessed) Oh...How?
    • Father Adamsky: With an exorcism.
    • Sonny Montelli: (possessed) You can't do that. You're not authorized.
    • Father Adamsky: How do you know?
    • Sonny Montelli: (possessed) We know everything.
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