It took until the 23rd film with “Amityville” in the title for the 1974 Defeo family murders to finally be chronicled in full. Writer-director Daniel Farrands, with a background in horror documentaries (including “Crystal Lake Memories”), does a respectable, professional job with a middling budget on “The Amityville Murders” (2018).
The delay isn’t too surprising, since the events had sort of been told – as the opening flashback of both “The Amityville Horror” (1979) and “The Conjuring 2” (2016). Plus, “Amityville II: The Possession” (1982) – a fictional story, unlike the 1979 and 2018 films – draws from the 1979 book “Murder in Amityville” (as does this film) to imagine the Defeo murders get supernaturally repeated by the Montelli family.
Thus we have a story that’s never been told fully on screen, but most viewers know the story – a tricky situation for Farrands. A competent director, he comes up with some mood – particularly when delving into the ancient Indian ghosts haunting the house – and a few jump scares.
“The Amityville Murders” (2018)
Director: Daniel Farrands
Writer: Daniel Farrands
Stars: John Robinson, Chelsea Ricketts, Paul Ben-Victor
On Tuesdays this summer, RFMC is looking back at selected films in the “Amityville” series.
Parallels to ‘The Possession’
Still, “Murders” is more of an interesting film than a great film, as it has a conversation of sorts with the 1979 original and “The Possession.” Although it gets closer to the real-world house – making it more a part of a neighborhood, rather than isolated with a long driveway and huge yard – it mostly intends to be a faithful prequel.
“Murders” is armed with a cast strong enough to transcend the fact that we’re comparing everyone to their “Possession” counterparts. Especially good is Paul Ben-Victor as the terrifying hard-ass father, the equivalent of Burt Young’s role but (appropriately) more grounded than cinematic.
John Robinson and Chelsea Ricketts, as son Butch (eventually the killer) and daughter Dawn, are flatter than Jack Magner and Diane Franklin in “Possession,” although Ricketts is a dead-ringer for Franklin (who plays the mom here, with Young returning as the grandpa).
Farrands downplays the incest between son and daughter compared to the infamous “Possession.” One more daughter and two more sons are present, but not particularly accounted for as characters. The house interior is faithful – with those eye-windows returning – and Farrands makes fresh use of the basement’s Red Room.
A version of events
A possible controversial element of “Murders” is that it robustly chronicles Butch Defeo’s version of events – that he was possessed. (The legal system disagreed.) He’s portrayed as a tragic figure, bordering on being a victim. Some might find this disrespectful to the dead, and that also might be why several decades passed before someone made a film version of the story.
I worried that “Murders” would feel rote because I already knew the story, but the final act does pepper in one surprise about Dawn, keeping things fresh. While it piles on the supernatural elements, it doesn’t make a rational explanation impossible, as it emphasizes the thunderstorm on that fateful night.
At least on screen, I believe the shotgun blasts could blend with the thunder (also the suggestion in the prolog of the 1979 film), although maybe that’s ridiculous to people who know more about shotgun volume.
Some viewers might find their attention drifting, as the film is slightly overlong at 97 minutes and doesn’t have huge surprises. But amateur “Amityville” scholars might enjoy it, as might someone embarking on a chronological viewing of the saga, as this now becomes the first entry.
It’s not quite as good as the 1979 or 1982 films, but if you’re watching all the straight-to-video movies from 2011 to present day with “Amityville” in the title, “The Amityville Murders” will look like “Citizen Kane.”