''Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes'' (also known on screen as ''Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes'') is a 1989 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

written and directed by

Sandor Stern Sandor Stern (born July 13, 1936) is a Canadian writer, director and film producer best known for his horror films. Personal life Born in the northern Canadian town of Timmins, Ontario; raised in the small town of Prescott, Ontario, on the St. L ...

, and starring

Patty Duke Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Aw ...

Jane Wyatt Jane Waddington Wyatt ( ; August 12, 1910 – October 20, 2006) was an American actress. She starred in a number of Hollywood films, such as Frank Capra's ''Lost Horizon'', but is likely best known for her role as the housewife and mother Marg ...

and

Fredric Lehne Fredric George Lehne (born February 3, 1959) is an American actor of film, stage, and television. Acting since 1978, he has appeared in more than 200 films, mini-series, and television episodes, as well as stage productions across the United St ...

. The fourth film based on ''The Amityville Horror'', it premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on May 12, 1989. This was the only ''Amityville'' sequel to be based on a book in the main book series. '' Amityville: The Horror Returns'' was to air on NBC but the film was never made. It is never explained in the movie how the house is whole again, considering it exploded at the end of the third movie.

Plot

On a rainy night, six priests, led by Father Manfred, enter the infamous

Amityville Horror ''The Amityville Horror'' is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family, b ...

house and start to exorcise it. One of the priests, Father Dennis Kibbler, is in an upstairs bedroom and begins to bless it when he sees a glowing brass

floor lamp A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...

. As he begins to chant, a burst of energy emerges from the outlet, through the cord, and into the lamp. A demonic face appears in the large round bulb. Kibbler is knocked across the room and is unconscious. A few days later, the real estate agency decides to have a yard sale by selling the previous owners' items left in the house. Father Manfred believes that the evil spirits are finally gone from the house. Meanwhile, at the yard sale, a woman named Helen Royce and her friend Rhona are looking through the items when Helen finds the lamp. At only $100.00, Helen decides to buy the lamp as a birthday present for her sister, explaining that she and her sister send each other rather ugly gifts as a long-running joke. While checking the lamp, Helen cuts her finger on a brass collar around the bulb. Ignoring the cut on her finger, Helen buys the lamp. Helen's finger begins to get infected and discolored as the day goes on. Helen later dies of

Tetanus Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'', and is characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually ...

. One week later, the lamp arrives at Helen's sister, Alice Leacock's house, a large, three-story home over a beach in a small town called Dancott, California. That day, Alice's daughter, Nancy Evans, and her three children, Amanda, Brian, and the youngest child, quiet, mysterious Jessica, move in with Alice. Once they arrive, Alice decides to open the package containing the lamp. Nancy thinks the lamp is hideous, while Alice finds it interesting. Once the lamp is turned on, Alice's parrot, Fred, begins to act crazy, and her cat, Pepper, scratches Amanda. While the rest of the family pays little to no attention to the lamp, Jessica seems to be drawn toward it. The lamp then begins to manipulate electrical devices around the house or perform seemingly impossible feats, such as killing the parrot and putting it in the toaster oven, turning on the kitchen sink's garbage disposal, and cutting off the hand of the electrician's apprentice, and vandalizing Jessica's room. When Nancy calls a plumber to fix the pipes, the lamp murders him by drowning him in sewage and then makes his van leave on its own, making it seem like he left. Jessica is drawn to the lamp and starts to believe her dead father's spirit is inside it. Meanwhile, Father Kibbler, while staying at Father Manfred's place, gets a call from the lamp, which makes smoke come out of the phone and melts the speaker. Worried, he travels to Dancott to investigate. When most of the family is away, Jessica is entranced by the lamp, which then uses its extension cord to murder their housekeeper Peggy. The police investigate though they do not find the plumber's body. Father Kibbler contacts Nancy and tries to convince her that the evil has taken possession of an object from the Amityville house. They rush home only to find that the lamp used a window to knock out Amanda and has brainwashed Jessica, who stabs Father Kibbler in the shoulder while the lamp's extension cord tries to stop him from exorcising it. Alice saves the day by grabbing the lamp and throwing it out of the window, shattering it on the rocky shoreline below. The movie ends with the family thinking their ordeal is over, not realizing that the dead plumber is still inside their house. The camera pans to the remains of the lamp, showing the evil within has now possessed the family's cat.

Cast

as Nancy Evans *

as Alice Leacock *

as Father Kibbler * Lou Hancock as Peggy * Brandy Gold as Jessica Evans * Zoe Trilling as Amanda Evans (as Geri Betzler) *

Aron Eisenberg Aron Eisenberg (January 6, 1969 – September 21, 2019) was an American actor and podcaster known for his role as Nog on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. Early life Eisenberg was adopted into a Jewish family. He was born with only one partia ...

as Brian Evans *

Norman Lloyd Norman Nathan Lloyd (' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including ...

as Father Manfred * Robert Alan Browne as Donald McTear * Gloria Cromwell as Rhona * James Stern as Danny Read *

Peggy McCay Margaret Ann "Peggy" McCay (November 3, 1927 – October 7, 2018) was an American actress whose career began in 1949, and includes theatre, television, soap operas, and feature films. McCay may be best known for originating the roles of Vanessa ...

as Helen Royce *

Warren Munson Warren Munson (born November 30, 1933) is an American film and television actor. Career Munson's likeness and voice were used to portray Admiral Owen Paris in two early episodes of '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He also played the role of Vice Ad ...

as Doctor

Continuity

Despite the destruction of the house in the conclusion of the previous film it manages to make an appearance in this film. The films after ''3-D'' usually do not pick up where the previous film left off, so no explanation has ever been given as to how the house is still standing. It is possible this film may take place before ''Amityville 3-D'' due to the house already being empty in that film and after the yard sale in this one, which was later explained in '' Amityville: It's About Time''. The furniture that was left in the house in the beginning of the film is believed to be owned by the Lutz family in the first movie. The film also makes a reference to '' Amityville II: The Possession''.

Release

''Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes'' was distributed on home video by Medusa in the United Kingdom in April 1990. It was released on DVD twice by Allumination Filmworks in 2003 and 2007. In 2019,

Vinegar Syndrome Cellulose acetate film, or safety film, is used in photography as a base material for photographic emulsions. It was introduced in the early 20th century by film manufacturers and intended as a safe film base replacement for unstable and highly ...

released the film on Blu-ray in the US which was included in the boxset ‘Amityville: The Cursed Collection’. In 2022, the film was released on Blu-ray in the UK courtesy of Screenbound Pictures Ltd.

Reception

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

web site, ''Amityville 4'' is one movie listed in the article "Night of the Killer Lamp: 23 Ridiculous Horror-Movie Adversaries". The article states the film's efforts to make a possessed lamp seem scary "border on

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

Filming locations

The replica of the original Amityville house was located at 402 East M St.,

Wilmington, California Wilmington is a neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, covering . Featuring a heavy concentration of industry and the third-largest oil field in the continental United States, this neighborhood has a high percentage of Lat ...

. A facade was added to the side of the house to give it the Amityville appearance. The interiors of this house were filmed also. The exteriors for Alice Leacock's house were filmed at the James Sharp House, 11840 W. Telegraph Rd,

Santa Paula, California Santa Paula (Spanish for " St. Paula") is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. Situated amid the orchards of the Santa Clara River Valley, the city advertises itself to tourists as the "Citrus Capital of the World". Santa Pau ...

. The house is an historical Italian Villa style home built in 1890. In reality, it does not back out onto an oceanside cliff as depicted in the movie. Instead, it backs out onto the Santa Paula Freeway, about a quarter of a mile behind the house. For a second, you can see the tower of the house in the distance while driving on the Freeway. The interiors of the grandmother's house were filmed at the Woodbury-Story House in

Altadena, California Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...

. Hospital scenes were filmed at the California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles. An exterior shot of the John Marshall High School in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

was also used.

References

External links

* *
And You Call Yourself A Scientist - Amityville 4 extensive plot summary and review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amityville 1989 1989 crime drama films 1989 films 1989 horror films 1989 independent films 1989 television films 1980s horror drama films 1980s psychological drama films 1980s psychological horror films 1980s supernatural horror films American haunted house films American horror drama films American horror television films American independent films American psychological drama films American psychological horror films American sequel films American supernatural drama films American supernatural horror films Amityville Horror films Demons in film American drama television films Films about Catholic priests Films about animal cruelty Films about dysfunctional families Films about exorcism Films about grieving Films about murder Films about single parent families Films about widowhood Films based on American horror novels Films directed by Sandor Stern Films set in California Films set in hospitals Films set in Long Island Films set in religious buildings and structures Films about shapeshifting Films about spirit possession Films shot in California Films shot in Los Angeles Maids in films NBC network original films Religious drama films Religious horror films Sentient objects in fiction Television films based on books Television sequel films Television prequel films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films American prequel films