USA, 1982
105m, 9407 ft
Technicolor
stereo, English
Original Release Date: 24 September 1982 [USA
An American horror film directed by Damiano Damiani. It was first released in the USA on 24 September 1982 1Screen International no.359 (4-11 September 1982) p.6.
Plot Summary
In 1974, The Montelli family move in to their new home in Amityville and are soon assailed by all manner of strange phenomenon. The centre of the haunting appears to be moody teenager Sonny who picks up strange messages on his Walkman, encouraging him to go to bed with his sister Patricia and planting thoughts of murder in his mind. Father Adamski decides that Sonny is possessed and sets out to save him. But back in Amityville, obscene messages are appearing in the nursery, excrement is leaking out of the basement walls and Sonny is physically mutating as the evil force takes hold. Adamski, disturbed by a dream, returns to the Amityville house and prepares to face the evil without official sanction from the church.
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Director: Damiano Damiani
Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, Media Technology
Executive Producer: Bernard Williams
Producers: Ira N. Smith, Stephen R. Greenwald
Associate Producer: José López Rodero
Script: Tommy Lee Wallace, Dardano Sacchetti *
Book: Murder in Amityville by Hans Holzer
Director of Photography: Franco di Giacomo
Editor: Sam O'Steen
Music: Lalo Schifrin
Sound Recordists: Neil Fallon, Kim Ornitz
Costume Designer: William Kellard
Make Up: Joe Cuervo
Hair: Werner Sherer
Special Make Up Effects: John Caglione Jr
Special Effects Supervisor: Glen Robinson
Production Designer: Pier Luigi Basile
Cast
James Olson (Father Adamsky)
Burt Young (Anthony Montelli)
Rutanya Alda (Dolores Montelli)
Jack Magner (Sonny Montelli)
Andrew Prine (Father Tom)
Diane Franklin (Patricia Montelli)
Moses Gunn (Turner)
Ted Ross (Mr Booth)
Erika Katz (Jan Montelli)
Brent Katz (Mark Montelli)
Leonardo Cimino (chancellor)
Danny Aiello III (removal man 1)
Gilbert Stafford (removal man 2)
Petra Lea (Mrs Greer)
Alan Dellay (judge)
Martin Donegan (Detective Cortez)
John Ring (Police Chief)
Peter Radon (assistant chancellor)
Lawrence Bolen (funeral director)
Tony Boschetti (elderly man in church)
Alternative Titles
Amityville II – Der Besessene – German title
Amityville – paholaisen piiri – Finnish title
Amityville 2: Le Damné – French title
Amityville II, le possédé – French title
Amityville Possession – Italian title
Amityville II: Opetanie – Polish title
Huset som gud glömde 2 – Swedish title
Unwanted Company – early title 2Screen International no.229 (23 February-1 March 1980) p.6.
Links
Sequel to
The Amityville Horror (1979)
Sequels
Amityville 3-D (1983)
Amityville: The Evil Escapes (1989)
The Amityville Curse (1990)
Amityville 1992: Its About Time (1992)
Amityville: A New Generation (1993)
Amityville: Dollhouse (1997)
Amityville 2000 (2000)
Press
1982
The Sunday Mirror 31 October 1982 p.26
Amityville II: The Possession must surely be the most ludicrous and laughable ghost film ever. – from a review by Albert Jacobs
The Glasgow Herald 1 November 1982 p. 8
Amityville II is true to its genre – that is, the humans in it are monumentally stupid and never realise that anything is amiss when the taps gush blood and whole rooms are destroyed by poltergeists. And the characters say “Oh Gaawd” a lot, another mark of the genre. This film is sub-Spielberg, sub-Exorcist, sub-Alien. An American family is destroyed by evil for which they are not responsible (though there is a hint of an innovation in the character of the father, a real culpable brute) and there is a lot of skin disease about as they are destroyed. The press show was punctuated by the merry laughter of critics at some of the deathless dialogue, (the devil tells the priest he can't exorcise him because “Ya're not authorised” but Amityville II is tiresomely difficult to review. It is, yes, bizarre to watch a face putrefying before your eyes, and the wider significance of the' current American craze for the paranormal destruction of the family is entertaining meat for argument. But those who like this sort of thing, will like Amityville II and those who don't, won't. – from a review by Lindsay Mackie
References
Periodicals
Cinefantastique vol.13 no.2/3 (November/December 1982) p.91 – review (by Steve Dimeo)
Delirium no.5 pp.21 – 22 – credits, review
Films and Filming no.339 (December 1982) p.35 – review (by Martin Sutton)
The Hollywood Reporter vol.273 no.36 (24 September 1982) pp.3, 10 – credits, review (by Robert Osborne)
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.49 no.586 (November 1982) p.257 – credits, synopsis, review (by Nick Roddick)
Motion Picture Product Digest vol.10 no.9 (20 October 1982) pp.34-35 – review
Screen International no.229 (23 February-1 March 1980) p.6 – note (‘Amityville' couple set sequel)
Screen International no.359 (4-11 September 1982) p.6 – release date
Screen International no.368 (6 November 1982) p.18 – review
Sight & Sound vol.14 no.12 (December 2004) p.74 – DVD review
Spaghetti Cinema vol.1 no.3 (December 1984) p.51 – illustrated review (Damiani Directs Demons! by William Connolly)
Starburst no.53 (1982) p.19 – illustrated review (by Alan Jones)
Starburst no.63 p.41 – review
Variety 29 September 1982 p.18 – credits, review (by Berg)
Newspapers
The Daily Mail 29 October 1982 – review
The Glasgow Herald 1 November 1982 p. 8 – review (by Lindsay Mackie)
The Sunday Express 31 October 1982 p.22 – review (by Richard Barkley)
The Sunday Mirror 31 October 1982 p.26 – review (by Albert Jacobs)
Books
The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.373
Elliot's Guide to Films on Video by John Elliot p.25 – credits, review
The Film's of the Eighties by Robert A. Nowlan and Gwendolyn Wright Nowlan p.18 – credits, synopsis
Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991-1992 p.23 – credits, review
Horror and Science Fiction Films III by Donald C. Willis p.12-13
Horror Films of the 1980s by John Kenneth Muir pp.216-217 – credits, synopsis, review
Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1980-1989 by Roberto Curti pp.93-96
Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Film Sequels, Series, and Remakes: An Illustrated Filmography, with Plot Synopses and Critical Commentary by Kim R. Holston and Tom Winchester pp.32-33 – credits, synopsis, review
Spaghetti Nightmares: Italian Fantasy-Horrors as Seen Through the Eyes of Their Protagonists by Luca M. Palmerini and Gaetano Mistretta p.163 – credits
Virgin Film Yearbook 2 by James Park p.8 – credits, review
Other sources
British National Film & Video Catalogue vol.22 (1984) – note
