Amityville: The Evil Escapes (1989)

That was an excellent one.

Powerful

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The evil escapes, the restored house, inside of an ugly lamp bought at a yard sale by a woman for her recently widowed daughter.Shifting our focus to California, Nancy and her three kids move in only to experience the same paranormal activity that befall those in Long Island.How the original house is still left standing after three falls back on my theory that it was meant to be the last and these are the events that took place before. Also I find it a little hard to believe the Lutz's left everything they owned behind.The mythology will follow this route of using appliances until the very end and even reminds me of the same style used for Stephen King's Trucks of everyday tools turning against their owners.While an evil lamp sounds silly, it actually was creepy taking on an inhumane form and adding to The atmosphere. Willing its power over the helpless inhabitants inside the home and even striking at opportune events to cause echoes. Like the poor handyman who has his arm chewed to bits in the garbage exposil and the eldest son trashing The basement in a fit of rage.Party Duke was delightful, fabulous and blew the rest of the caste away by her star presence.Not a bad television production and even became one of my favorites sequels.

Given everything that happened in the first three films, you have to question the wisdom of buying anything from a yard sale at the infamous Amityville house, but that's exactly where Helen Royce (Peggy McCay) goes to get a present for her sister Alice (Jane Wyatt). An ugly light stand powered by three centuries of evil, the unlikely gift turns up at Alice's home in California just as her recently widowed daughter Nancy (Patty Duke) and grandchildren Amanda (Zoe Trilling), Brian (Aron Eisenberg) and Jessica (Brandy Gold) arrive to stay.Very few horror series reach a fourth instalment with much dignity intact, and it seems that the Amityville movies are no exception: The Evil Escape is totally dumb and devoid of logic. Thankfully, it is also so daft at times that it becomes one of those 'so bad it's actually quite entertaining' experiences that can be passable fun just so long as one watches it accompanied by several beers and a few mates with equally questionable taste in movies.Much of the film's unintentional hilarity can be attributed to podgy faced actor Eisenberg, whose awkward mannerisms and unconvincing facial expressions are almost as terrible to behold as his nasty 90s hairstyle (Eisenberg's 'best' scene: Brian wrestling with a possessed chainsaw in the cellar), but the film also gets chuckles courtesy of its laughable central prop (the supposedly malevolent lamp that looks like a balloon-headed tree-person with glowing hands), a couple of silly death scenes (plumber drowned in goop, strangulation by lamp cord), and one hell of a crazy climax that sees the evil defeated by elderly Alice, who simply throws the lamp out of the window!Sadly, being a made-for-TV movie, Amityville 4 suffers from minimal gore (the only bloody scene being when a guy gets his hand caught in the garbage disposal) and nudity is non existent despite Zoe Trilling looking more than qualified for a gratuitous shower scene.

A number of priest, go to this house and get the evil force out of the house, one of the priest get hurts and see that evil force as got into the lamp.Now that stuff of the house, is now being for sale and that includes the Lamp that as evil force in it.two women then end up buying the lamp, so she send it to her sister for her birthday.The lamp get to her sister, Alice Leacock house and on that same day Alice Leacock Alice's daughter, Nancy Evans and her 3 kids Amanda, Brian and Jessica come to stay and i can not wait to open the package.Soon odd thing start to happen, alice tells Nacy thinks this is all kids doing, Nacy is also worried about Jessica is talking to Lamp, thinking she talking her dad, who passed away before.Meanwhile the priest is out of hospital and trying to track down the lamp and but time is running out fast, will it make in time to save the family before evil force takeover yet another house.This is movie is really good, much better then the third, this movie can a get a bit silly at times but it works well with the rest of the movie, movie never gets boring, there is always something to keep you entertained.One of the better movies in the series, I will give this movie 6 out of 10

Everybody, or at least most people, understand that made-for-television movies are hardly considered classics or works of cinematic art, and Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes is no exception. Also, this being of the horror genre of the 1980s, you would expect to see many clichés, one- dimensional and unbelievable characters, mediocre acting, silly special effects, a cheesy score and loads of boobs. But this does not seem to be the case with this film. In fact, within the 80s television horror flick genre, Amityville 4 is perhaps vastly superior to others.We start out with a group of six priests pulling up to the famous Amityville home, which magically and supernaturally managed to resurrect itself from the dead (remember, it blew up at the end of the last one). Armed to the teeth with crucifixes, aspergillums and Latin, the priests are going to battle with the evil in the house, which has manifested itself in rattling chandeliers, gas stoves turning on by themselves, attacking death chairs, and a lamp. BUT not just any lamp – the most hideous and repugnant lamp you've ever seen! So averted by the sight of this lamp, the priest is blown off his feet and into the wall where he later requires hospitalization. The lamp is pure evil personified - as the satanic force enters it via the cord.The next day, all the contents of the house are being sold in a yard sale. (We wonder whom all this antique junk belongs to anyway?) Helen Royce is rummaging through the items with her neighbor Rhona and catches a glimpse of the LAMP with a $100 price on it. Little did she know, she was getting more than she bargained for? Inside the house, the oldest priest believes the house is cleared of the evil, he can "feel it in his bones." (Maybe evil takes the form of arthritis? It appears to for some.)3000 miles away in the fictitious Oceanside hamlet of Dancott, California, Nancy Evans, a recently widowed woman, along with her three kids Brian (Mr. 80's himself), Amanda (chipmunk cheeks) and Jessica, arrive at Grandma Leacock's house at exactly the same time as the parcel from Amityville. That evening, Nancy has a heart-to-heart with her mother, Alice when they are interrupted by the dimming of the lights and the radio playing a rendition of "Disney Girls" (OH the HORROR!) and poor granny burns her hand on an electric kettle. Later, Nancy sees a vision of her late husband who happens to look astonishingly like Chevy Chase, and his hand reaches out to hug her in the middle of the night. For a split second she looks reassured, but soon jumps out of bed gasping. Meanwhile, Jessica is down in the living room having a remarkable Poltergeist-like conversation with Daddy Lamp. The next morning Brian is shocked to find an unexpected breakfast dish in the microwave – granny's pet parrot! And later, in a scene of completely unintentional comedy, Brian retreats to the basement to play with the chainsaw, which mysteriously turns on by itself. The look on Brian's face is superb – almost Elmer Fudd-ish. (Be verwy quiwet, I'm wruining gwamaw's basement.) Peggy, the Alice-from- the-Brady-Bunch-type maid (complete with the blue apron, similar hair and everything) calls an electrician to look over the appliances, which have turned on by themselves.The electrician's son Danny comes instead, gives the bedroom eyes to Amanda (but is apparently too shy or awkward or dense to actually ask her out) and gets his hand cut off in the garbage disposal. Nancy states that the family should not use any electrical appliances, but immediately contradicts herself by answering the phone (can you say hypocrite?) The next day, the electrician senior comes to the house to investigate what has been going on. He seems rather unconcerned that his son just lost his hand in this house, and later says he has no idea why the electronics in the house are malfunctioning. Then the water in all the taps in the house turns to a black substance that "smells like a sewer". A plumber arrives to fix the problem and Peggy (who seems to be about twenty cents short of a quarter) responds to the water problem by doing laundry. The plumber gets trapped under the house and the black goo; followed by Danny's hand, land on his face. (What happens to him? We don't know. For all we know, he could still be down there.) BUT his van mysteriously drives off by itself, with no human behind the wheel. (I like to think the demon will be pulled over for speeding. Imagine that police radio call!)Later the lamp manages to strangle the old maid with its cord. Dr. Brooks, who looks near ready to retire, labels it as a heart attack. Never mind those deep red strangulation marks on her neck, trust me, it was a heart attack! He even tells the detective he'd bet money on it.Yadda….yadda….yadda…..Eventually Father Kibbles-n-Bits (Kibbler for short) arrives at the house. He performs a pretty entertaining and half-assed exorcism on the lamp, which consequently flies out the window with Father Kibbles-n- Bits's arm caught in the cord. Nancy saves his life by chopping the cord with an axe. The next morning, both Alice and Father Kibbler hop in a taxi to the airport. Both are going to Amityville – Alice to her sister Helen's funeral (she died of tetanus two days before, after cutting her finger on the evil lamp when she bought it). Everything is great until………until…………the cat Pepper gets possessed by the three-century-old evil that possessed the lamp! Maybe we'll get another sequel!