Simply A Masterpiece

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Helen Royce goes to get her sister Alice (Jane Wyatt) a hideous looking lamp from Long Island at a garage sale as a joke. She cuts her finger on it and dies shortly after. Meanwhile, Nancy Evans (Patty Duke) is a widower, struggling to make her family into a cohesive unit. Nancy makes the choice to move in with her aloof mother (Jane Wyatt) Things go wrong right from the outset when strange occurrences keep happening from electronic appliances. Nancy's daughter Jessica thinks she is talking to her father, but that's just the beginning. They have no clue of the evil that awaits them from that lamp. Those that like cheesy entertainment are likely to get a few kicks out of this one. This isn't a good movie at all, but it's never boring and it does manage to give you unintentional chuckles. I guess they got bored of the Amityville house and decided to start making inanimate objects threatening. Next time they should make a T.V haunted, or a phone, get my drift? The entire plot setup is way too easy. How is it that Helen Royce's character finds nothing of interest at a garage sale and conveniently gets interested in a hideous looking lamp? I guess we're supposed to believe the lure that Amityville has or something like that. There are some great cheesy moments, Brian with a chainsaw is a blast. The death scenes are extremely weak as well. We get a bird in a toaster, a rubbery phone filled with goo, a nasty finger wound, and blood here and there. It was pretty lame. Speaking of lame, how about that lazy ending? All that struggle for an easy payoff like that? Talk about cheap. The actors try hard. Patty Duke is above this and she knows it. She certainly doesn't phone it in and does what she has to do well as the mother. I can't fault her. Jane Wyatt plays it stone faced half the time. The fact that it takes so much for her to believe something is wrong in the house was ridiculous. It shouldn't take Albert Einstein to make a verdict! Watching her go nuts in the end, throwing a lamp out the window was amusing though. Brandy Gold is annoying as Jessica. What do you expect from a child actor? Oddly enough, she never worked again after this, according to IMDb. Rest of the cast are OKFinal Thoughts: Fun can be had in a corny way at times, but it'll likely take a few beers for the fun factor to kick in. It's a pretty crappy movie and not worth seeking out. What more do you expect from a T.V movie?4.3/10

The "Amityville Horror" series continues. Actually for anyone who is a fan of that series, this film is much better than the 2005 remake which is so derivative as it seems to owe royalties to the original director.This time Patty Duke and family move out west; her mom is Jane Wyatt (always a nice TV presence).While the story is a bit contrived, this time Wyatt's sister on Long Island has sent her a hideous lamp, which seems to be the key to the evil and insanity brought into the house. Sound silly? Well, it's better than the "ketcham and kill 'em" reference in the latest tired Amityville saga. In the new film the name Ketcham is invoked to imply a witch/warlock who lived in the Amityville L.I., NY original house. If you drive on Ketcham Street today you will see nothing except quaint souvenir shops and coffee shops; there was never a mystery, just a cottage industry.

This movie is just awful, but in a very fun way. We had a blast watching it, so watch it with a group of people and you will have a good time making fun of it. If you are looking for a drinking game, here it is...During the movie, they make a really big deal about the haunted floor lamp lighting by itself even though it is not plugged in. It happens a lot, trust me. Here are the rules: Every time the lamp turns itself on and does the spooky glow thing, everyone in the room has to say out loud at the same time, "Oh my God, the lamp lights by itself!", and take a drink. Put some emotion into it - it's fun. You better have a designated driver if you do this... the lamp really likes to light itself up.Have fun.

I have always felt there was something special about this TV movie. The film isn't actually anywhere near as bad as a lot of the reviews. Because the acting is decent, the storyline is a little silly but well executed, and most of all you get to see the Amityville house before it moves location. Jane Wyatt and Patty Duke are faultless as the concerned elders of a dysfunctional family. The theme music gives away a sense of evil and the lamp looks as hideous as as dreaded it needs to be.Within the 96 minutes nothing seriously gory happens (this film is disturbingly rated US:R and UK:18), although a lot of people die. That demonic deaths occur around veteran actors Duke and Wyatt make this film pretty disturbing as the atmosphere is unnervingly more Murder She Wrote than a demonic horror - nice houses, antiques, old people, all being looked upon by a hideous piercing-eyed evil. That certainly gives this an edge over the other formulaic episodes in the series.So yes, don't be deterred by the silly storyline because the Evil Escapes handles this very well.Interesting facts: The televised UK version of this movie is laughably cut by approx 15 seconds for the mild gore (waste disposal/plumber hand sequences).