Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes ** (1989, Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt, Norman Lloyd and Fredric Lehne) – Classic Movie Review 13,089

Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes release poster.

Sandor Stern’s 1989 American supernatural horror film Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes is the made-for-TV part four of the series, and stars Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt, Norman Lloyd and Fredric Lehne.

Director Sandor Stern’s 1989 American supernatural horror film Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes (also known as Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes) stars Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt, Norman Lloyd and Fredric Lehne.

Part 4 of the series of eight, and the Amityville haunted house looks in surprisingly good nick after the happenings at the end of Amityville 3D. This time the demonic forces in the Amityville house transfer to an ancient lamp, which finds its way to a remote California mansion where the occupants find their daughter falls foul of the Evil, who possesses the little girl after taking the shape of her dead father. A young priest arrives to try to save the day.

This third sequel, made for TV, offers nothing particularly new, but the performances are good, as you would expect from the talented and experienced Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt, and Norman Lloyd, and it is pretty eerie and effective.

It was made for TV and it premiered in the US on NBC on May 12, 1989, but it was released on video by Medusa in the UK in April 1990.

The cast are Patty Duke as Nancy Evans, Jane Wyatt as Alice Leacock, Fredric Lehne as Father Kibbler, Lou Hancock as Peggy, Brandy Gold as Jessica Evans, Zoe Trilling (billed as Geri Betzler) as Amanda Evans, Aron Eisenberg as Brian Evans, Norman Lloyd as Father Manfred, Robert Alan Browne as Donald McTear, Gloria Cromwell as Rhona, James Stern as Danny Read, Peggy McCay as Helen Royce, Warren Munson as Doctor, Alex Rebar, Jack Nader, and Michael Korn.

Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes (also known as Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes) is directed by Sandor Stern, runs 97 minutes, is made by Steve White Productions and Spectacor Films, is released by Medusa, is written by John G Jones and Sandor Stern, is shot by Tom Richmond, is produced by Barry Bernardi, and is scored by Rick Conrad.

Four more films followed in the original series: The Amityville Curse, Amityville: It’s About Time, Amityville: A New Generation, and Amityville Dollhouse (1996).

Amityville Dollhouse (1996) was the last film in the series before it was rebooted nine years later as The Amityville Horror (2005).

The Amityville Horror films

The Amityville Horror (1979), Amityville II: The Possession, Amityville 3-D, Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes, The Amityville Curse, Amityville: It’s About Time, Amityville: A New Generation, Amityville Dollhouse, and the reboot The Amityville Horror (2005).

More followed: The Amityville Haunting, The Amityville Asylum, Amityville Death House, The Amityville Playhouse, Amityville: Vanishing Point, The Amityville Legacy, The Amityville Terror, Amityville: No Escape, Amityville Exorcism, Amityville: Evil Never Dies, Amityville: The Awakening, and finally The Amityville Harvest (2020) which seems to be the last film in the series.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,089

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