Amityville II: The Possession

1982
X
1h 44m

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

13K

YOUR RATING

A family moves into their new home, which proves to be satanic, resulting in the demonic possession of the teenage son. Only the local priest can save him.

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Body Horror Supernatural Horror Horror

A dysfunctional family moves into a new house, which proves to be satanic, resulting in the demonic possession of their teenage son.A dysfunctional family moves into a new house, which proves to be satanic, resulting in the demonic possession of their teenage son.A dysfunctional family moves into a new house, which proves to be satanic, resulting in the demonic possession of their teenage son.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

13K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Trivia
In a 2018 interview, Diane Franklin talked about her infamous incestuous sex scene. She said while she definitely understood the peculiarity of it, she didn't have a huge issue with doing it. "I never had a brother, so luckily, I didn't have that association or the weirdness that went along with it." Franklin did admit filming the scene did end up being very awkward, but not because of the content. It was the producers who made her nervous. Shot in Mexico with no parents or chaperones at her side, the script called for the actress to appear topless, which she agreed to because she had no issue taking off her top in front of cast and crew. She'd already done it in The Last American Virgin (1982). But when producers tried to persuade her to go fully nude, she balked and successfully stood her ground. "They said I was beautiful and they really wanted me to do it. I said thank you very much but no." Franklin laughed. "They got around it by shooting me from the back, which I had no say in. And that was that."

Goofs
(at around 18 mins) In the brushes scene, in the kids room, one brush comes out of the red paint can, and the shot after the other brush comes out of the green paint can. The final shot only, showed two brushes with red paint.

Quotes
Mr. Booth, the Lawyer: [at the Montelli trial] ... Your Honor, it is my intention to prove that Sonny Montelli is a victim of demonic possession - that is, possession by the Devil - and therefore innocent of the charges placed against him.
Judge: Mr. Booth, I admire your originality. If I accept your plea, regardless of verdict, every courtroom in this country would be inundated with pleas of demonic possession. Nobody would be guilty of anything anymore. Quite literally, "The Devil made me do it." You have three days to submit another plea, Mr. Booth.

Alternate versions
When shown on Fox, the film was heavily edited. The incest plot between Sonny and his sister was cut out. The shotgun murder scene was trimmed down and some profanity was removed.

Connections
Featured in At the Movies: Stinkers of 1982 (1983)

Soundtracks
Happy Birthday to You
Written by Mildred J. Hill & Patty S. Hill
Summy/Birchard Music division of Birch Tree Group Ltd.

User reviews190

Review

Featured review

8/10

I have never yelled at movie characters more than this!

May contain some spoilers:

It's true. I have read some of the commments in here and there's are actually two people that said the exact same thing about the film. And that was that the film should have ended when the priest was looking into the house and he sees the spirit of the dead girl walking. Then the old lady comes up to him and says she has heard stories about the house. That would have been an awesome way to end it and I then would have given it a ten. As it stands I am still giving it an 8 because even though the end was contrived and straight out of The Exorcist, it is still one hell of a scary film. And if you thought you had reason in the first one to yell " Get out!" then wait till you see this one.

The first hour of this film is absolutely terrifying. It has so much atmosphere and chilling scenes that I couldn't understand why people hated this film so much. The room in the basement is dark, dingy and the camera work is so spooky that you can't help but get suckered into believing that something is in there. When the mom is ironing and she feels something touch her arm and then the wind, that was a perfect scene. It was frightening. But the highlight of this film is when the family minus Sonny goes to church. It is here that Sonny gets stalked by an unseen force. And I even caught myself yelling at the TV, " GET OUT! " When he goes up the stairs and then down and then back up again into his room, it bothered me and it literally gave me chills. The camera work is so creative and haphazard that you really can't tell where the demon is. Is it on the ceiling, behind him, in front of him, where? That was a brilliant sequence in the film.

Some of the acting is pretty bad especially from the mom, but it makes up for that with its chills and tension. I really think that people that criticize this film are perhaps people that should watch it again. I saw it for the first time when I was about 16 and thought it was okay, but then I rented it today and it frightened me during the day. That is pretty good film making. And is it me or are Italian directors better at good horror than the average north American director? Because I've seen some pretty scary horror films that were directed by Italians and they seem to have a style all their own. Just a thought.

Amityville II is a perfect film to watch before the original. It is actually a prequel and it is good to watch them back to back. Give this film a chance and I'll bet it will scare you. It did a pretty good job on me.

8.5/10