- Director: Sandor Stern
- Writers: John G. Jones, Sandor Stern
- Stars: Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt, Fredric Lehne
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
Synopsis
We open on a shot of the Amityville Horror house, with its eyelike windows on a dark and stormy night. There’s a for sale sign in the front yard. A group of priests gets out of the car and go into the house to do battle. It’s full of flies, slamming doors, dripping blood, and other scary stuff. Whatever’s in the house isn’t hiding itself. One of the priests is attacked by a demon lamp and ends up in the hospital.
The old priest finally declares that the evil is gone. The Realtor asks could the house be lying low, or faking being at peace. The priest is sure that the evil is gone. They have a yard sale, and an old woman, Mrs. Royce, buys the ugly demon lamp. She cuts her finger on the lamp but says she’ll be fine. She is not fine; the finger is infected. Still, she has time to ship the lamp to her sister.
We cut to Dancott, California, where a box with the lamp arrives for Nancy Evans. Nancy’s daughter and grandkids are there to move in as well. They unpack the ugly lamp, but they do find it amusing. The cat, on the other hand, hisses and hates the thing. That night, Nancy sees her dead husband in the mirror. Nancy later finds daughter Jessie talking to her father, who isn’t really there.
The next morning, the lamp starts annoying the housekeeper. They find grandma’s now-dead pet bird in the oven. Grandma’s already regretting letting the grandkids live there.
Back in Amityville, the young priest is being released from the hospital. The young priest wants to know what happened to the lamp that put him in the hospital. He and the old priest have a discussion about evil. He believes the evil could transmigrate into the lamp and then into another house or person at any time.
Brian, the son, does battle in the basement with an out-of-control chainsaw. He tries to kill grandma, but the maid blocks the blade. Grandma is not pleased. It’s not his fault, but no one believes that.
The young priest goes to meet Mrs. Royce, but she’s dying in the hospital from demonic tetanus. He finds out where the lamp went, but they can’t contact grandma Alice as the phones keep going out.
Danny comes over and moves the lamp to the attic. The lamp gets revenge by tricking him into putting his hand in the garbage disposal.
Nancy finds Jessie in the attic talking to the lamp; she thinks the lamp is her father. Next day there’s black stuff coming out of all the sinks. The plumber comes to fix the problem, and he doesn’t live long. Then his van drives away without him, so the maid assumes he’s left for parts. The lamp lures the maid up to the attic and kills her as well.
The priest arrives and immediately gets sick without even going inside. He leaves a note. There’s lots of drama between Nancy and Jessie as they search the house for the maid.
Nancy finds the priest’s note and finally meets him. He explains about the lamp and Mrs. Royce, and that it’s about to transmigrate into Jessica. Meanwhile, Jessie goes back into the attic, and no one can stop her.
They all break in and Jessie stabs the priest. They all do battle, and Alice tries to kill the lamp with an ax. That doesn’t work, so she tries the holy water. Finally, they throw it out the window and down a mile-high cliff, where it explodes.
Jessica thinks it was all a dream. The next morning, the priest leaves, grandma goes to Mrs. Royce’s funeral, and everyone else is set for a happy ending. Meanwhile, the cat is down on the beach playing with the remains of the lamp… and his eyes start to glow.
Commentary
This was a made-for-TV movie, but it had quite a few big names in it, or at least people who would eventually become pretty well known.
This doesn’t take place inside the famous Amityville house, but there are enough ties to make it not feel like a cheat, unlike the way some of the newer movies do. The lamp came from the famous house, and the reasoning behind that is explained in the story. It’s not about the house; it’s about the demons. The lamp prop is pretty cool.
It doesn’t feel long, it doesn’t really get boring. It’s fairly predictable, but overall, I liked it. This isn’t the best Amityville movie, but it’s far from the worst. It’s a worthy thing to watch sometime.