good back-story, and good acting

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The acting in this movie is really good.

A young family move into a house where a young man killed his entire family. And they wonder why the house price was so low.Cue all manner of haunted house shenanigans- flies, crucifixes being turned upside down, the kids suddenly acquiring imaginary friends, red eyes being seen through the window at night, black ooze overflowing from the toilet...the list is endless.It feels like every camp and childish haunted house cliché has been poured into this movie that is actually based on a hoax. This sets the tone for the film.There are some funny moments though- watch out for the vomiting nun and the worst teeth brace you'll ever see. It looks like some kind of torture device.Also, Margot Kidder seems to be have some kind of naughty schoolgirl, proto Britney Spears vibe going on in this film. A bit pervy. Keep your fantasies in the bedroom, hun.

Nostalgia? Familiarity makes the heart grow fonder? When I went to check out the details for this movie on IMDb I thought the average score of 6.2 was a bit low, until I clicked in and saw my own paltry rating of 5! What was I thinking? This movie has it all, tension, atmosphere, heavy doses of symbolism, good acting, flies ... plus made in the 70s. With that 70s look to the film, where nothing is overly bright or sunshiny.I watched the remake of this last week and perhaps that's what made this look better than my original assessment. The remake was overwrought and deliberate and no matter how hard they tried to catch the gritty atmosphere of the original, it just. didn't. happen.So, if you haven't seen this in awhile or worse, like me, thought this was a rather middling mediocre affair, see if time hasn't changed your perspective.P.S. I did change my rating and reward this film with a solid seven. Watch it, you won't be sorry!

I've never really been a fan of horror movies that become a large series of repetitive franchises (Resident Evil, Paranormal Activity, Insidious, etc.) but what makes me love this 1979 film isn't so much the plot, it's more the way the story is presented that I loved.The plot is as basic a horror flick as you're gonna get, a Kodak moment-type family moves into a large house in the country despite the fact that another family was previously murdered there. Soon some odd events start happening, getting more and more sinister each day. Anyone could come up with that story, it would be easier than anything. But the film presents the horrific events in ways so intense that it makes this movie stand out above the others in its genre. For example, when one of the kids has a window slam shut on his fingers. It's graphic, sad and incredibly disturbing, the poor boy screams in terror as blood oozes out from his trapped fingers and his parents frantically scream for help. On the version of the film I bought, the sounds of people screaming are enhanced to be louder than the rest of the film, making for many jump scares. The soundtrack is haunting, eerie and beautiful and the 1970's atmosphere makes me want to do up my hair in a feathered hairstyle, grab a super 8 camera and a ticket stub to Star Wars, some disco vinyl records and go back in time to when days were better! This movie has certainly been replicated, remade and butchered far too many times (The Conjuring is the rip-off that stands out the most), but this version is a true cult classic and a campfire-style horror story that will probably keep affecting viewers for generations to come. I also recommend watching Sinister (2012), Pet Sematary (1989), The Shining (1980) and The Messengers (2007) if you're looking for similar movies.

A whole family has been massacred by one of its own, and years later, the spooky looking house where these gruesome crimes took place is back on the market. Will tragedy repeat itself as the new owner seems to become possessed with the spirit of the dead killer? Possibly, since both of them had Charles Manson like beards. James Brolin, that great emotional actor, gives another stirring performance as the husband and father whose house may or may not be possessed. His wife is the smoky voiced Margot Kidder, straight from "Superman", giving a sensual performance in the romantic scenes with Brolin and a frantic portrayal of a woman who comes to her wits end thanks to the real estate mistake she made with hubby Brolin.The real star of the film is the spooky score by Lalo Schifrin, up there with "The Exorcist" as something I wouldn't want to hear while alone in the middle of the night. The house appears to have huge eyes, and some of the effects are truly horrific. As happens with most haunted house movies, there's a frantic priest (Rod Steiger in an extremely hammy part) and Kidder's nun aunt ("Another World's" Irene Dailey), both becoming psychological victims of the house's horrific evil.Having seen this in its original run and having been truly horrified at the time, I guess over the years, I've become immune to the type of effects this utilizes. Of course, there have been better horror movies with the house as monster ("The Haunting", "Poltergeist") which makes this one seem pretty insignificant in comparison.