The line between TV and film has blurred as we approach the point where the two media will be indistinguishable in production values. In 1989, things were different. When the “Amityville” series switched from theatrical releases to a made-for-TV film with “Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes,” NBC viewers knew they’d see a drop in quality.
But there might’ve been slight intrigue: “A4” is written and directed by Sandor Stern, writer of the 1979 original. His teleplay draws from the novel of the same name by John G. Jones (the “Amityville” franchise enjoyed several fiction book sequels in addition to the film series). Sitcom legend Patty Duke plays Nancy, a widowed mother of three. They move to California to temporarily stay with Nancy’s mother, Alice (Jane Wyatt, wearing a bemused expression as if wondering why she took this job).
While continuity is wonky throughout the “Amityville” timeline (or “timeline”), this one is particularly noteworthy. “Amityville 3-D” ends with the infamous Long Island house exploding to splinters. But “A4” opens with priests taking another crack at cleansing the very much intact house, followed by a yard sale of its contents.
“Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes” (1989)
Director: Sandor Stern
Writers: Sandor Stern (teleplay), John G. Jones (book)
Stars: Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt, Fredric Lehne
On Tuesdays this summer, RFMC is looking back at selected films in the “Amityville” series.
We can say “A4” takes place before “3-D,” and since this film doesn’t reference dates and is mum about the backstory, that holds up. Father Manfred (Norman Lloyd) mentions the 1974 DeFeo killings but not the Lutz, Montelli or hoax-busting events since then. There might’ve been legal reasons why Sandor’s film couldn’t reference anything except the real-world events.
Creepiest lamp since ‘A Christmas Story’
“A4” is 95 minutes, but that seems long when there’s only 30 minutes of story. If filmed with some zest, this tale might’ve made for an acceptable episode of one of those mildly spooky anthology shows like “The Twilight Zone.”
A villainous tree-shaped lamp from the yard sale ends up with Alice. It transfers its evil energy to her (absurdly large) cliffside house. The lamp is so ugly in appearance that it’s more funny than scary. The camera lingers on its main orb, and sometimes flies buzz around it. But it doesn’t speak, so in terms of menace, HAL-9000 it ain’t.
To kill (pun intended) time until the inevitable ending wherein the family figures out the lamp is causing the problems, we’re in the territory of the “Omen” films (or, to use a later touchstone, the “Final Destinations”). Side characters do something relatively mundane and we know the house will attack them.
Mild credit is due for a garbage-disposal mishap that even the “Final Destinations” wouldn’t go for. But it’s laugh-out-loud ridiculous when the victim’s wholly intact hand later comes out of a pipe during the house’s attack on a plumber.
Not bad enough to be good
Unfortunately, “A4” falls short of so-bad-it’s-good; it’s merely dull and repetitive. Alice initially believes her grandkids are causing the problems, then she accepts that they aren’t. The mother-daughter tension between Alice and Nancy is of the ever-present daytime soap variety.
No actor embarrasses themselves, but often it seems like they are merely showing up and hitting their marks, because they don’t have substantial characters to play. I would’ve liked to have seen what Brittany Snow lookalike Geri Betzler (who later changed her name to Zoe Trilling) could’ve done as teen daughter Amanda. She has screen presence.
Youngest daughter Jessica (Brandy Gold) plays a variation on the “Omen” kid, and son Brian (Aron Eisenberg) also, um, exists. In a side plot, Amityville priest Father Kibbler (Fredric Lehne) doggedly and blandly pursues the mystery of the evil lamp, always 10 steps behind the viewer.
“Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes” is mildly interesting to discuss simply because it’s a horror movie shot with the framing, lighting and acting styles of a harmless daytime soap. In the end, we have a full understanding of why most horror films are not made in this style.