Almost 15 years later 5150, rue des Ormes, Quebec filmmaker Éric Tessier returns to horror with The Amityville Curse, a new entry in the famous American horror saga.
Without being a horror fanatic, Éric Tessier is well aware of the importance of the Amityville name in this community. And with good reason: Even four decades after its release, the first film in the series is still one of the essentials of the genre.
James Brolin and Margot Kidder played a newly married couple who move into a home where horrific murders were committed a few years earlier. And the house obviously had not forgotten those terrible events that still bore supernatural traces.
Today, Éric Tessier adds a sequel to that horrifying legacy with The Amityville Curse. It was launched in Quebec via Crave and is distributed internationally by the Tubi platform.
In this new adaptation of American author Hans Holzer’s novel of the same name, three couples move into the infamous mansion, hoping to make it into as many condos. Apparently, their ambitions turn into a nightmare when the house awakens and torments them one by one.
In Monteregie
And in Hudson, in Montérégie, the filmmaker and his team found the perfect house to camp on their property, complete with the iconic skylights, an undisputed symbol of Amityville’s history. The remainder of the filming took place in 16 days around Montreal last year.
“The house becomes a character in itself; She is a catalyst for the tensions between the characters. It amplifies their fears and feelings. Finding the right thing was absolutely necessary,” says Éric Tessier in an interview with the Journal.
PHOTO TOMA ICZKOVITS / QMI AGENCY
Eric Tessier at the premiere of his film You Will Remember Me in November 2022.
While the first film in the Amityville saga has long since achieved cult status, the Quebecer is aware that it’s lost some of its luster with sequels of varying quality since then.
In recent years, several meager-budget — and wacky synopsis — productions have tried to exploit the Amityville phenomenon by embedding it in their titles. And it’s far from over; Soon we’ll be entitled to Amityville Anaconda, Amityville Leprechaun, Amityville Cocaine Bear and other Amityville Big Foot.
Titles that, let’s say politely, should hardly be mentioned at the next Oscars.
“The Amityville house is still iconic in the horror world. Everyone knows their story. But I just wanted to make a film that was honest and coherent and didn’t take itself too seriously. I had a lot of fun shooting my Curse of Amityville, I’m going to do a sequel tomorrow morning,” says Éric Tessier.
reignite the flame
In fact, this filming may have instilled in him a penchant for horror, a genre he branded with a hot potato with On the Threshold and 5150, rue des Ormes, two adaptations of Patrick Senécal’s works. But horror isn’t exactly a common genre in Quebec, confirms Éric Tessier. A situation he would like to change.
“We have the right to make horror films, to make good films. We have the talent and the means.
- The Amityville Curse Movie is available on Crave.