AMITYVILLE 4: THE EVIL ESCAPES (1989) starring Patty Duke and Jane Wyatt

“To mistake is human, but to lie is the devil’s work!”

For a 70s kid weaned on “truth”-based pop culture like ‘In Search Of’, ‘Chariots of the Gods’ and the docudrama hilarity of such Sunn Classics entries as THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTERS (1975) and THE LINCOLN CONSPIRACY (1977), the possessed house shenanigans of all things Amityville Horror was right in my wheelhouse. Despite strict Catholic parents, I ate up everything Amityville-related during its period of peak relevance, from the now-debunked novel and newspaper articles to tv specials and, of course, the 1979 movie adaptation starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder.

Followed by a sleazy prequel (1982’s AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION) and a gimmicky 3-D heavy entry starring Tony Roberts, Lori Laughlin and Meg Ryan (1983’s cleverly titled AMITYVILLE 3-D), you would have thought that by the mid-80s audiences would have had enough of the possessed house and its propensity for attracting swarms of flies. 

Well, movie audiences had, as evidenced by the fact that A3D barely made back its $6 million budget—but that didn’t mean television wasn’t ready to cash in on a little name recognition. Which brings us to 1989’s made-for-tv thriller AMITYVILLE: THE EVIL ESCAPES starring Patty Duke (!) and Jane Wyatt (!!) as an estranged daughter and her mother who must battle, um, a lamp. 

But not just any lamp! After the horrific events at the famous abode, a team of priests—led by Norman Lloyd—clean house before the realtor can, well, clean house and sell the possessions at the world’s most ill-advised garage sale. When one zany buyer snatches up a kitschy lamp and ships it to her sister in California, she’s unaware that the lamp is responsible for landing Father Kibler (Fredric Lehne) in the hospital, where she too ends up after nicking her finger on the damned antique. 

Upon its arrival in California, the lamp begins causing all kinds of problems in the already-strained home of Alice Leacock (Wyatt), her widowed daughter Nancy (Duke) and Nancy’s three kids: Amanda, Brian and Jessica. Still dealing with the untimely death of their husband and father, Nancy and kids try not to create havoc in grandma’s seaside home, which proves harder than it sound thanks to little Jessica bonding with Lamp Daddy while everything from chainsaws and garbage disposals to sewer pipes and toaster ovens seems to have an (evil) mind of its own. 

While neither scary nor gory, THE EVIL ESCAPES is an enjoyably weird artifact from the days when horror franchises would limp their way to the boob tube before enough time had passed that they could be revived on the big screen (or at least direct-to-video) for a new audience. Shockingly, a recent trip down the Amityville Horror rabbit hole has unearthed close to two dozen Amityville-related titles (such as AMITYVILLE: A NEW GENERATION), some of which – like THE EVIL ESCAPES – aren’t half bad. — Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor of Exploitation Retrospect and had a lifelong crush on Patty Duke.

AMITYVILLE 3-D (1983, aka AMITYVILLE III: THE DEMON)

Tony Roberts stars as John Baxter, an investigative reporter who exposes frauds and paranormal scammers. After he and his partner, Melanie (Candy Clark), debunk a con at the old DeFeo/Amityville Horror house, John ends up purchasing the home from a local realtor. 

Sure, why not? 

Faster than you can say “I used to be in Woody Allen movies,” the house starts exerting its weird influence on John and those around him: the realtor dies at the home, John is trapped in a wonky elevator (that was just inspected last week!), and Melanie gets into a car crash after spotting a demon’s face in a photograph.

It all comes to a head after the deaths hit close to home and John’s estranged wife (Tess Harper) goes off the deep end. With the help of a team of paranormal investigators led by Dr. West (not THAT Dr. West), John seeks answers about the home’s otherworldly inhabitants.

The third entry in the surprisingly robust Amityville film series (check out AMITYVILLE BACKPACK or AMITYVILLE BIGFOOT), A3D leans into the trendy-for-its-time 3-D sequel concept, which gives the flick a dated, hokey feel. Besides Roberts, Clark, Harper and familiar faces like Robert Joy (Dr. West), the flick features Lori Laughlin (FULL HOUSE, the college fraud scandal) and Meg Ryan in supporting roles, making it perfect background viewing for Spooky Season. 

It would be followed by the tv movie AMITYVILLE 4: THE EVIL ESCAPES (1989), in which a possessed floor lamp takes its evil shenanigans to the west coast and terrorizes Patty Duke and Jane Wyatt. – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor of Exploitation Retrospect, and a sucker for anything with the AMITYVILLE in the title. See his review of 1993's AMITYVILLE: A NEW GENERATION.

Amityville: A New Generation (1993)

After yet another disheartening Flyers loss (their eighth in a row … do I hear nine?) it was time to head back down the Amityville Rabbit Hole with AMITYVILLE: A NEW GENERATION (1993), inspired by the book Amityville: The Evil Escapes but not to be confused with the film AMITYVILLE: THE EVIL ESCAPES (1989) which stars Patty Duke and Jane Wyatt and co-stars an evil floor lamp. Got it? Good.

Instead, NEW GEN focuses on Keyes Terry (Ross Partridge, who looks a bit like a Thrift Store Jake Gyllenhaal), an artist/photographer who lives in a trendy artist’s building along with painter Suki (Julia Nickson), sculptor Pauli (Richard Roundtree!), and Keyes’ supportive but exasperated girlfriend Llanie (Lala Sloatman aka Dollar Tree Taylor Swift). Rounding out the building’s residents are David Naughton and Barbara Howard as Dick The Landlord (subtle) and his wife, Janet.

While taking photos one day, Keyes encounters a homeless man (Jack Orend) who hands him an ornate mirror. Might it be … evil?! Well, it’d be a short–and boring–movie if it wasn’t.

Naturally, Keyes brings the mirror back to the building where it starts claiming victims (like Robert Rusler as a boozy paramour of Suki’s) and attracting the attention of Detective Clark (the always reliable Terry O’Quinn), who may know more about the mirror’s history–and Keyes’– than he initially lets on. Everything culminates at a group exhibit in the loft where Keyes’ past and preset collide.

Amityville “sequels” tend to be pretty hit or miss, but NEW GENERATION is ludicrous and entertaining, complete with trips to mirror world, an unexpected shotgun blast to the face, enough gore to be satisfying, over-the-top David Naughton, the many layered wardrobe of Thrift Store Jake Gyllenhaal, and did I mention Richard Roundtree as a sculptor named Pauli?! – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and The Hungover Gourmet, which just announced its return to print after a twelve year absence.