Amityville: Vanishing Point
Fourteenth Amityville film, released direct-to-video in 2016.
**Amityville: Vanishing Point** is a 2016 American horror film directed by Dylan Greenberg, who also co-wrote it with Selena Mars, Jurgen Azazel Munster, and Ezra Pailer. It debuted on video on demand and later went direct-to-video, marking the fourteenth movie based on Jay Anson's 1977 book *The Amityville Horror*. The cast includes Selena Mars, Amanda Flowers, and Sara Kaiser as residents of a boarding house in Amityville, New York, where strange events begin after the death of their friend Margaret East (played by Sofe Cote).
The story starts with Margaret’s death, which is investigated by Hank Denton, an abrasive man described as both a detective and an FBI agent. Most of Margaret’s friends find him irritating, but Sentinel Ernie convinces her mother, Aphrodite (the boarding house owner), to let Denton stay. The house is haunted by a demon and Margaret’s ghost. Denton has strange dreams and hallucinations, and without evidence, he suspects a cult is operating there. After Sentinel tries to seduce him, Denton attacks her and ejaculates across the room while staring at a Keith Hernandez baseball card. Later, Denton and Brigitta (the lover of Bermuda, Aphrodite’s other daughter) follow a figure they think is Margaret to a cemetery. A gravedigger and another resident persuade Brigitta to hold a séance, which Denton attends. The séance’s supernatural events, along with a shared dream, lead Bermuda to try opening the sealed basement (where her aunt died years ago) using an Ace of spades card.
In the basement, Bermuda is attacked by an unseen force and finds a videotape of Margaret rambling about the house protecting them and calling them “the beautiful ones” from John B. Calhoun’s work. Denton bursts in with a gun, stops the tape, and leaves with Brigitta. Bermuda then hallucinates an automated hand and giant insect legs, accidentally hitting Sentinel. The demon frightens Aphrodite, causing her to fall down stairs to her death; her ghost then saves Brigitta from Denton. Brigitta garrotes Denton while Aphrodite’s ghost holds him, and he dies in the same spot as Margaret. The film ends with Bermuda and Brigitta reuniting on a train crossing the Manhattan Bridge.
The film was released on video on demand via Amazon, VHX, and other platforms on April 1, 2016. Critics gave mixed reactions. Tex Hula of Ain’t It Cool News ranked it the sixth worst among twenty-one
- Release year
- 2016
- Director
- Dylan Greenberg
- Writers
- Dylan Greenberg, Selena Mars, Jurgen Azazel Munster, Ezra Pailer
- Stars
- Selena Mars, Amanda Flowers, Sara Kaiser
- Genre
- Horror
- Based on
- The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
Lore & Background
The film opens with the death of a young woman named Margaret East in Amityville, New York. Margaret lived in a Bohemian boarding house, and her death is investigated by Hank Denton, an obnoxious man referred to as both a detective and an FBI agent. All of Margaret's friends find Denton rude and annoying, except for Sentinel Ernie, who convinces her mother, Aphrodite, the boarding house's owner, to let Denton stay at the Amityville Boarding House, which is haunted by both a demon and Margaret's ghost.
Denton experiences strange dreams and hallucinations and becomes convinced, without evidence, that a cult operates out of the boarding house. After a series of bizarre events—including Denton attacking Sentinel and ejaculating while staring at a Keith Hernandez baseball card—a séance is held. Bermuda, Aphrodite's daughter, gains access to the sealed basement using an Ace of spades card, where she finds a videotape of Margaret rambling about the house and being 'the beautiful ones' described by John B. Calhoun. Bermuda is terrorized by illusions, and Aphrodite is killed in a fall. Denton is garroted by Brigitta while restrained by Aphrodite's ghost, and the film ends with Bermuda and Brigitta reuniting on a train crossing the Manhattan Bridge.
Reader's Guide
Amityville: Vanishing Point is notable as the fourteenth film inspired by Jay Anson's novel, and for its extremely low-budget, oddball approach. Tex Hula of Ain't It Cool News ranked it the sixth worst of twenty-one Amityville films he reviewed, calling it 'Definitely the most oddball of the Amityville movies' and 'Sometimes entertainingly bad, most of the times painfully bad.' Fellow reviewer Mark L. Miller was slightly more lenient, writing that as an homage it captures the feel of Lynch's bizarre world, but noted the film is filled with non-actors, scenes that go on too long, and dialogue that is 'pretentious and sophomoric attempts to be deep.' Miller added that those without a stomach for low-fi cinema should give it a pass, but called it a film worth supporting. The film's release on video on demand through Amazon, VHX, and other streaming platforms on April 1, 2016, and its surreal plot elements—such as Denton's ejaculation while staring at a baseball card and the use of an Ace of spades to access a basement—have made it a cult curiosity among Amityville franchise completists.
Did You Know?
- The film was co-written by Selena Mars, Jurgen Azazel Munster, and Ezra Pailer, in addition to director Dylan Greenberg.
- The character Hank Denton is referred to as both a detective and an FBI agent in the film.
- Denton attacks Sentinel and ejaculates while staring at a Keith Hernandez baseball card.
- The film ends with Bermuda and Brigitta reuniting on a train crossing the Manhattan Bridge.
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