Reviewer's Rating 3 out of 5
The Amityville Horror DVD (1979)

James Brolin and Margot Kidder make possibly the worst real estate move ever, as they buy one of the creepiest houses in horror movies. While hardly a masterpiece, there are some enjoyably good shocks and Rod Stieger is good fun as the priest, so why not take a peek at the new DVD release?

The main selling point for this disc is the excellent picture transfer. Even during the gloomy cellar scenes (why do they go down there?) the detail remains good for a film that looks surprisingly fresh.

Disappointingly, there's only a 2.0 mono mix available on this DVD. It's technically good, but surely Lalo Schifrin's atmospheric score could have been expanded for the front speakers?

The one extra feature is a trailer. Not much really, but then a James Brolin commentary with wife Barbara Streisand was probably never going to happen. Mind you, Streisand could have least have sung a tribute song for the DVD like she did for the release of Disney's "Snow White" on disc.

Region: 2
Chapters: 16
Ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (mono)
Extra Features: Scene selection, trailer, multiple languages and subtitles, and English for the hearing impaired.

End Credits

Director: Stuart Rosenberg

Writer: Sandor Stern

Stars: James Brolin, Rod Steiger, Margot Kidder, Don Stroud, Murray Hamilton, Michael Sacks, Helen Shaver

Genre: Horror

Length: 104 minutes

Cinema: 1979

DVD: 22 October 2001

Country: USA