''The Amityville Curse'' (released in the Philippines as ''Amityville Horror 1993'') is a 1990 Canadian
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 ...
directed by Tom Berry and starring
Kim Coates
Kim F. Coates (born February 21, 1958) is a Canadian–American actor who has worked in both Canadian and American films and television series. He has worked on Broadway portraying Stanley Kowalski in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and in the lead ...
,
Cassandra Gava
Cassandra Gava (born April 28, 1959) is an American actress and producer best known for her performance as the witch in the 1982 film ''Conan the Barbarian'', and as the slave woman Alessa in '' High Road to China''. She appeared in 21 films betw ...
and
Jan Rubeš
Jan Ladislav Rubeš CM (6 June 1920 – 29 June 2009) was a Czech-Canadian bass opera singer and actor.
Life and career
Rubeš was born in Volyně, Czechoslovakia, to Ružena (née Kellnerová) and Jan Rubeš. Not long after World War II, ...
. It is loosely based on the
novel of the same name by
Hans Holzer
Hans Holzer (26 January 1920 – 26 April 2009) was an Austrian-American author and parapsychologist. He wrote more than 120 books on supernatural and occult subjects for the popular market as well as several plays, musicals, films, and doc ...
. It is the fifth film in the
''Amityville Horror'' film series.
Plot
In
Amityville, New York
Amityville () is a Political subdivisions of New York State#Village, village near the Babylon (town), New York, Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, in New Yo ...
, the same town in which
Ronald DeFeo Jr.
Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. (September 26, 1951 – March 12, 2021) was an American mass murderer who was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in Amityville, Long Island, New York. Conde ...
murdered his family in 1974, a Catholic
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
is shot to death in a confession booth in his parish church. After the murder, the booth is removed and stored in the basement of the
clergy house
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically ow ...
.
Twelve years later, psychologist Marvin and his wife Debbie purchase the clergy house. The couple invite their three friends: Frank, Bill, and Abigail, to help renovate the home. Debbie is immediately perturbed by the house and hears noises emanating from the basement, but Marvin dismisses her. Debbie suffers nightmares revolving around the basement, particularly the confession booth. Marvin urges Debbie to journal about her nightmares so he can
psychoanalyze them. The next morning, the group are visited by Mrs. Moriarty, the eccentric former church secretary.
Marvin and Bill investigate the basement, and Bill comes across the confession booth, among other artifacts from the church. After an outbreak of apparent
poltergeist
In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...
activity occurs throughout the house, the group all become convinced the home is haunted, with the exception of Marvin. To calm their nerves, they plan to go out for dinner at a local bar. Frank, suffering a
migraine
Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few hou ...
, remains at the house alone. At the tavern, Marvin speaks to two older men regarding the town's paranormal activities and feels it is nothing but a case of mass hysteria. The men bring up
a boy murdering his whole family and possibly being possessed, and implying the house Marvin is currently in is likely possessed. At the same time, Debbie encounters Mrs. Moriarty again in the bathroom, where she obscurely rants and raves about the priest who once lived in the home.
The next day, Mrs. Moriarty again stops by the house, but is confronted by an unseen assailant and thrown down the basement staircase to her death. Her murder is inadvertently recorded on a video camcorder Bill left in the house. Meanwhile, Debbie has a disturbing vision of a man
hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
from a tree in the front of the house. Police are summoned after Mrs. Moriarty's body is found, and a detective tells Marvin about her connection to the house; he also divulges that police identified the murderer of the priest, a local teenage boy, but that he hanged himself before he was apprehended.
Abigail is disturbed by the event and leaves. Marvin begins attempting to decipher Debbie's dream diaries, which Bill realizes consist of
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
writing. Meanwhile, Debbie suffers a nightmare in which she witnesses the truth of the priest's murder: He was shot to death by his
illegitimate son
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...
, conceived during a sexual tryst with a female parishioner, who sought vengeance for being abandoned. She awakens and searches for Marvin, whom she finds dead in the confession booth in the basement. There, she is confronted by Frank, now
possessed
Possessed may refer to:
Possession
* Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else
** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body
*** ...
by the priest's illegitimate son. Meanwhile, police investigating Mrs. Moriarty's murder review the video tape, and are able to identify Frank as the perpetrator based on his shoes, which are caught on tape.
Meanwhile, Frank chases Debbie through the house, during which she disfigures him by burning his face. He continues to pursue her, attempting to impale her with a
processional cross
A processional cross is a crucifix or cross which is carried in Christian processions. Such crosses have a long history: the Gregorian mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England carried one before them "like a standard", according to ...
. Debbie manages to stop him by shooting at him with a
nail gun
A nail gun, nailgun or nailer is a form of hammer used to drive nails into wood or other materials. It is usually driven by compressed air (pneumatic), electromagnetism, highly flammable gases such as butane or propane, or, for powder-actuated ...
. Abigail returns and finds Frank, apparently dead, but he reawakens and begins strangling her. Using the processional cross, Debbie stabs Frank through the chest, impaling him to death. Later, Debbie and Abigail are escorted out of the house by police. A detective shows Debbie a photograph of an infant boy—the priest's illegitimate son—found at the crime scene. He asks if it is hers, to which she responds that it belongs to the house.
Cast
Production
The film was shot in Quebec.
The film was loosely based around
Hans Holzer
Hans Holzer (26 January 1920 – 26 April 2009) was an Austrian-American author and parapsychologist. He wrote more than 120 books on supernatural and occult subjects for the popular market as well as several plays, musicals, films, and doc ...
's book ''The Amityville Curse''. There are questions as to whether the house in this film is supposed to be the same house in which the events of previous Amityville films took place. The tagline would suggest that it is the same house, however the timeline does not add up.
The murder scene at the start of the film takes place in 1978, twelve years before the rest of the film (1990). If the house was also being used as a rectory at the time of the first murder scene, this would conflict with the fact that the house was being used as private family residences in the events of the prior Amityville films, which took place in 1975, 1974, and the early 1980's.
The film has a plot line and back-story completely unique to this film and other than the mention of the DeFeo murders, appears to be in no way connected to the previous films. Some fans believed that the house is linked to 112 Ocean Avenue through the tunnel from the first three films. A brief reference is made to the DeFeo murders and to the town's supernatural history.
Release
The film was shot from April 12, 1989 - May 12, 1989, and released directly-to-video by
Vidmark Entertainment
Trimark Pictures was an American production company that specialized in the production and distribution of television and home video motion pictures. The company was formed in 1984 by Mark Amin as Vidmark Entertainment with Vidmark Inc. (late ...
on June 6, 1990. In the Philippines, the film was released in theaters as ''Amityville Horror 1993'' on December 9, 1993.
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 ...
(under license from Canadian International Pictures) released the film for the first time on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on October 25, 2022, making it exclusively available through their online store until it will be distributed by other retailers beginning November 29, 2022.
Critical response
Cavett Binion of the website
AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
wrote of the film: "This fifth installment in the tiresome horror series is so far removed from its creatively depleted source material that one wonders why the filmmakers bothered to use the "Amityville" reference in the title. In fact, there is some question as to whether the haunted house featured here is even supposed to be the same accursed residence as established in the four prior chapters."
It currently has a 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
References
Works cited
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External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Amityville Curse, The
1990s Canadian films
1990 direct-to-video films
1990s English-language films
1990 films
1990 horror films
1990 independent films
1990 thriller films
1990s ghost films
1990s horror thriller films
1990s mystery thriller films
1990s police films
1990s psychological horror films
1990s psychological thriller films
1990s supernatural horror films
1990s supernatural thriller films
Amityville Horror films
Canadian direct-to-video films
Canadian films about revenge
Canadian ghost films
Canadian horror thriller films
Canadian independent films
Canadian mystery thriller films
Canadian psychological thriller films
Canadian sequel films
Canadian supernatural horror films
Canadian supernatural thriller films
Direct-to-video horror films
Direct-to-video sequel films
Direct-to-video thriller films
English-language Canadian films
Films about amnesia
Films about Catholic priests
Films about murder
Films about nightmares
Films about psychic powers
Films about psychoanalysis
Films based on American horror novels
Films set in 1977
Films set in 1989
Films set in Long Island
Films set in New York (state)
Films set in religious buildings and structures
Films shot in Montreal
Murder mystery films
Canadian mystery horror films
Patricide in fiction
Quebec films
Religious horror films
Religious mystery films
Religious thriller films
Trimark Pictures films
1990s mystery horror films