Just when you thought the series couldn't get any worse, along comes
Amityville 3. Whereas part 2 had been made to cash in on the success of
The Exorcist, this latest pointless exercise was made solely to
cash in on the short lived craze for 3D films back in the early 80's, (those old enough, may remember
"Jaws 3D" and "Friday the 13th Part 3" in 3D).
The film begins with a couple of psychic mediums, performing a séance at the old Amityville house, only to have their racket exposed as one big hoax by a couple of journalists, John Baxter (Tony Roberts) and Melanie (Candy Clark).
After the landlord kicks out the unscrupulous occupants, John decides to buy the place for himself and therefore defy local superstitions about it being haunted. The rest of the plot is fairly immaterial as you can sort of guess what's going to happen, which involves more swarms of flies appearing in the back bedroom, people seeing ghostly apparitions and various objects being dangled in front of the camera lens at every opportunity for the benefit of the 3D audience (which looks kind of dumb, if you are watching the more commonly available 2D version).
It seems that the old well in the basement (as seen in part 1) is actually a gateway to hell, which is what's been causing the ghostly goings on. Even though in part 1 they said it was because the house was built on a former asylum for the criminally insane, and in part 2 because the house was built on an Indian burial ground (wish they'd make their minds up).
The demon creature from part 2 then pops-up out of the well and the film climaxes in a bizarre "Poltergeist" style finale, with everyone running from the house as an icy wind blows through the place and stuff goes flying around the rooms, before the building finally destroys itself.
This film sucks and is not helped by the fact that it looks even stupider with the 3D effects removed (which until the 3D DVD release in 2004 was the only way to see this), although the scene where the swordfish goes flying across the room at the end was kind of interesting. But, aside from seeing a young Meg Ryan in an early role, there's absolutely NOTHING worthwhile about this movie to recommend it. As with part 2, AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!!
