My History With the Film:
I first watched Amityville: It’s About Time in early 2021. I had just finished up Amityville Dollhouse and figured, I might as well check out another 90’s sequel. I wasn’t quite as impressed as I was with Dollhouse, but I also didn’t have any nostalgic connection to this film. It was a good one time watch, but not something I’d view again.
What The Film Is About (Non-Spoiler):
A father brings home a clock from the famed Amityville house and with it comes evil spirits.
What I Liked About It:
-I’ll be honest, my favorite thing about this film was seeing Megan Ward. I was a huge fan of her in Encino Man and Joe’s Apartment and she’s one of those actresses I associate with the 90’s and don’t think about very often. Seeing her pop up in this film made the movie for me.
-The movie has that low budget 90’s feel that really takes me back to discovering my love for horror.
-Stephen Macht (Monster Squad) plays the father and plays a pretty miserable human being and he does so well. Amityville films usually need a father who will chew up scenery and go over the top and Stephen Macht does that well.
-The house is hideous and it works. It’s like someone took the perfect idea of a modern home in the early 1990’s and then cranked it up to the point where it is nauseating.
-I loved the transitions between evil locations and real locations that sometimes occurred.
-The final scenes, especially the possession stuff with Megan Ward is very good and the film feels like it really tries to make you feel uncomfortable.
What I Didn’t Like About It:
-The film set’s up the story, but then quickly loses steam. There are a series of moments (the dog bite, the room changing) but nothing seemed to really make me care. I believe we were supposed to empathize with Andrea (Shawn Weatherly) but she never comes off likeable enough to care about. Then she brings in her boyfriend and it just gets worse and worse.
-The ending was cheap. I didn’t absolutely hate it, but it was cheap.
Additional Notes:
-The original title was Amityville 1992: It’s About Time, but after the 2005 DVD release the 1992 was dropped from the title.
-The fourth film in the Amityville franchise, this film is loosely based on a series of short stories by John G. Jones titled Amityville: The Evil Escapes. This was the final film based on a book.
-The production designer Kim Hix and director Tony Randel intentionally designed the interior of the main house to be unpleasant and off-putting.
-The film was shot in 25 days.
Rating:
Amityville 1992: It’s About Time is a very average 90’s film. There is nothing too memorable about this film and it was a bit of a chore to get through. While the production design was impressive, there just isn’t enough in this film to make me recommend it.
I’d rate Amityville 1992 a two out of five and say skip it.