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Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It was tough sticking with this until the end, but I made it! If you're going through Horror history, it may be worth a watch, but the remake was better in this case

This movie shaped the horror genre in ways words can't explain. With this film in particular you are gifted with some excellent acting and a terrific storyline. THE AMITYVILLE HORROR went on to create a franchise for itself with several renditions of the gruesome houses plagued horror. Most films under this genre highlight a masterful balance of paranoia with good acting. Like with most haunted house films the build up of tension to the climax is a short journey that normally takes place at the last 15-20 minutes of the film. However, during this time you get a scare of a lifetime and creeps that you've never felt before.www.chorror.com

I've never really been a fan of horror movies that become a large series of repetitive franchises (Resident Evil, Paranormal Activity, Insidious, etc.) but what makes me love this 1979 film isn't so much the plot, it's more the way the story is presented that I loved.The plot is as basic a horror flick as you're gonna get, a Kodak moment-type family moves into a large house in the country despite the fact that another family was previously murdered there. Soon some odd events start happening, getting more and more sinister each day. Anyone could come up with that story, it would be easier than anything. But the film presents the horrific events in ways so intense that it makes this movie stand out above the others in its genre. For example, when one of the kids has a window slam shut on his fingers. It's graphic, sad and incredibly disturbing, the poor boy screams in terror as blood oozes out from his trapped fingers and his parents frantically scream for help. On the version of the film I bought, the sounds of people screaming are enhanced to be louder than the rest of the film, making for many jump scares. The soundtrack is haunting, eerie and beautiful and the 1970's atmosphere makes me want to do up my hair in a feathered hairstyle, grab a super 8 camera and a ticket stub to Star Wars, some disco vinyl records and go back in time to when days were better! This movie has certainly been replicated, remade and butchered far too many times (The Conjuring is the rip-off that stands out the most), but this version is a true cult classic and a campfire-style horror story that will probably keep affecting viewers for generations to come. I also recommend watching Sinister (2012), Pet Sematary (1989), The Shining (1980) and The Messengers (2007) if you're looking for similar movies.

Looking at this movie 35 years after it's release, it's very easy to see it's influence on movies made since, especially more recent (last ten years) horror, including movies like Insidious, paranormal activity etc. There are so many great ideas in this movie, I particularly like the relationship the child has with the spirit, that only she can see, an idea that has been used countless times since. But I feel like it was never fully followed through, it almost seems like they didn't know how to end this movie, how to tie it all together. The plot with the priest just fizzles out, the plot with the ghost on the child can see fizzles out, the idea that the husband is going to kill everyone fizzles out.. it just fizzles. It's just such a shame considering the possibilities. I also think it's overly long, and quite boring in some parts. There are a few jump scares early on but nothing spectacular. I kept waiting for things to get scary but most parts just seemed comical, like when the lead actor saw a ghost head of himself hovering in the cavity behind the wall in the basement. It even had a cheesy bit of music to go with it. I feel like maybe they were channeling some of the exorcist here with the priest plot lines, but it just didn't work. In the end, it was a totally unsatisfying movie, with a really weak ending. Having said that, I have to give it kudos for inspiring the movie makers of today, and I think modern horror is so much better for the ones that went before.