Reviewed by Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com
Directed By: Tony Randel
Written By: John G. Jones, Christopher DeFaria, Antonio Toro
Starring: Stephen Macht (Jacob Sterling), Shawn Weatherly (Andrea Livingston), Megan Ward (Lisa Sterling), Damon Martin (Rusty Sterling), Jonathan Penner (Dr. Leonard Stafford), Nita Talbot (Iris Wheeler), Dean Cochran (Andy)
Some horror fans automatically have a negative connotation attached to franchises with a lot of sequels. Moreover, some have antipathy toward direct to video sequels and make assumptions that because they were not in the theater that they are automatically going to be bad regardless. I have watched the entire original run of the Amityville movies and this could be argued as the best direct to video sequel of the lot. First released by Republic Pictures in 1992, “Amityville 1992” takes the premise of the book it is based on and gives a good outing to a dying franchise.
The plot is that Jacob Sterling brings back a vintage clock from his trip in NY near the Amityville house. Soon after, the Amityville curse inside the clock is unleashed upon the family. The premise follows the fourth movie’s idea of a piece of the Amityville House causing mischief inside another family’s home. Completely ignoring the fifth movie (and rightfully so), this movie goes a step further than the fourth sequel and makes it more scary again.
The acting is surprisingly good. Jacob Sterling’s (played by Stephen Macht) slow madness after being bit by a dog in his leg sends him spiraling on a path to destroy his own family. Andrea (Shawn Weatherly) and Rusty (Damon Martin) are good protagonists to wade through the insanity going on with Jacob and his daughter Lisa. The next door neighbor is played by veteran actress Nita Talbot (as Iris) who adds more mystery to the clock for Rusty.
There is some gore here but not much. The most that can be seen in the gore department is Jacob’s leg. He refuses to do anything to it so it is festered up and the special effects are marvelous here as it does look realistic and disgusting. One of my favorite scenes is Lisa (played by Megan Ward) in the living room with the clock. She looks in the mirror and suddenly she sees herself being seductive and she is never the same after this scene as the Clock has overtaken her. Along with the soundtrack, it adds to the eeriness going on in that scene and most of the movie.
While this movie is not as good as the first two, it is a worthy entry in the franchise to try to spark some life back in to it and try to make it scary again. A good cast and a surprisingly good twist ending makes this one of the solid sequels in the Amityville Horror Franchise. I give this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars. I can’t think of anything that stands out that is just plain bad about this movie. “Amityville 1992” has a 4.2/10 on IMDB.