Amityville 3-D

**Amityville 3-D** is a 1983 American supernatural 3-D horror film directed by Richard Fleischer, which was released by Orion Pictures on November 18, 1983.

## Plot

Investigative reporter John Baxter (Tony Roberts) buys a notorious house in the Long Island suburb of Amityville, New York in an attempt to prove that stories about its being inhabited by demons are fraudulent.

But soon John's daughter, Susan (Lori Loughlin) and her friend Lisa (Meg Ryan) are experiencing inexplicable terrors while his estranged wife, Nancy (Tess Harper) & supernatural expert Elliot West (Robert Joy) fear that the evil has begun to spread outside the house's walls.

## Cast

* Tony Roberts as John Baxter
* Tess Harper as Nancy Baxter
* Robert Joy as Doctor Elliot West
* Candy Clark as Melanie
* Lori Loughlin as Susan Baxter
* Meg Ryan as Lisa
* Neill Barry as Jeff
* Josefina Echánove as Dolores

## Production

Filming for "Amityville 3-D" took place on February 14, 1983 in Mexico City, Mexico.

The Amityville house exteriors were filmed in Toms River, New Jersey. The filmmakers very nearly missed their chance to film at the house as it was slated to be picked up and moved over one lot. They were just able to film the exterior shots before the house was moved.

Like Jaws 3-D (which was released in July 1983), "Amityville 3-D" was filmed using the ArriVision 3-D process, supervised for this film by cinematographer Tibor Sands.

ArriVision produced 3-D movies in full color, using a single camera and a single strip of film. A special twin-lens module fitted to the Arriflex camera divided the ordinary 35mm frame in half, placing left and right two-perf, Techniscope-sized frames one above the other in a "stacked" configuration.

A single, standard projector outfitted with a special converging projection lens allowed for a relatively simple presentation of the resulting stereo imagery in cinemas.

At the film's screening, movie patrons were given the disposable polarized glasses so they could see the film, creating the illusion that certain props and elements were coming toward the viewers.

The frost that blows out of the basement onto Candy Clark was actually warm wax. Clark later admitted that she had to wash her hair with detergent to get it all out.

Legal disputes with George Lutz and Kathy Lutz prevented "Amityville 3-D" from legally being presented as a sequel to The Amityville Horror.

As a result, any reference to the Lutz family by name could not be made in the film, and a disclaimer was placed in the credits that this is an unrelated film (that just so happens to be loosely based on a later part of the true story).

## Box Office

"Amityville 3-D" grossed $2,366,472 during its opening weekend. Overall, it grossed $6,333,135 worldwide on an estimated budget of $6,000,000.

## Critical Reception

"Amityville 3-D" received negative reception from critics and in many cases, it was selected as one of the worst films of 1983.

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 10% based on 20 reviews with an average rating of 3.30\10. The site's consensus reads: *"A gimmicky Amityville retread with insufferable characters."*

Variety said: *“A new cast of characters and the addition of 3-D does little to pump new life, supernatural or otherwise, into this tired genre."*

Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote: *"Once the first two films in a series have exhausted most opportunities for action, the third is liable to average half a dozen exposition scenes for every eventful episode."* About the 3-D, she said: *"3-D exposition is the stuff of which headaches are made; the footage tends to be so dark that you can barely tell whether it's night or day."*

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) said: *"There is not really anything that could be called suspense in Amityville 3-D, at least, any more than the suspense involved in waiting for a pop tart to pop."*

The Washington Post called the film *"a tease that anticipates a subsequent atrocity."*

Nick Schager from Slant Magazine called it *"one-dimensional in every way but its hokey visuals—is too poorly written, awkwardly staged, and pathologically stupid to register as campy fun."*

TV Guide Magazine wrote: *"Director Richard Fleischer demonstrates a keen understanding of the potentials of the 3-D gimmick here, but there is little else to recommend this dull retread."*

The Miami Herald said that "Amityville 3-D" is *"even slower and less engaging than is standard for its undistinguished genre."*