Amityville 3-D is an American-Mexican horror film of the haunted house subgenre. It is the third film in the Amityville Horror series and follows 1982's Amityville II: The Possession. It is succeeded by Amityville: The Evil Escapes in 1989. It is the last film from the original series to be released theatrically. It is also the only film in the series to be shot in 3-D. Amityville 3-D was directed by Richard Fleischer and written by William Wales. It was produced by Orion Pictures and the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group and released theatrically in the United States on November 18th, 1983.
Filmed in Toms River, New Jersey. Exterior shots of the Amityville house were filmed at 18 Brooks Road. The movie was shot on 33 milimeter film with 3-D effects provided by ArriVision.
Grossed $2,366,472 over it's opening weekend.
Amityville 3-D was originally released on home video by Vestron Pictures in VHS and Betamax formats. The film is included on the Amityville Horror CollectionDVD set released by MGM studio on April 5th, 2005. It was also released as a stand-alone DVD in both full-screen and widescreen formats. A 3D home video version of the film was released in the UK in PAL format in 2006.
This is the first film in the series that is completely fictional whereas the previous installments of the franchise were allegedly based on actual accounts. Most information relating to the Lutz family from the first Amityville Horror have since been debunked.
This is the only horror film work for director Richard Fleischer. Fleischer is best known for directing the 1954 sci-fi classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
This is the first major film work for actress Meg Ryan who will go on to become an icon of the Romantic-Comedy subgenre in years to come.
This is the only known film work for screenwriter William Wales.
Actor Tony Roberts also played the role of Mister Davis in the 1991 horror film Popcorn, directed by Mark Herrier.
The novelization of the film was written by Gordon McGill, author of Armageddon 2000: Omen 4.
Actors John Beal and John Harkins (aside from both sharing the same first name) have both made recurring appearances on episodes of the 1960s soap opera series Dark Shadows. Beal played Judge Vail in nine episodes of the show while Harkins played several characters such as Lieutenant Costa, Garth Blackwood, and Horace Gladstone.
This film was released in the same month as Sleepaway Camp.
