Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes (1989)

A woman (Peggy McCay) in New York buys an ugly lamp as a gag gift for her sister (Jane Wyatt) in California. What she doesn't know is that the lamp came from the infamous Amityville "horror" house and that a demon (Satan?) is using the lamp as a means of escape. When the lamp arrives in California, horrible and inexplicable things start to happen. The 4th entry in the AMITYVILLE HORROR franchise was made for TV (it debuted on NBC) rather than cinemas. The surprise is that it's far more enjoyable than the 2nd and 3rd entries in the series. It's a potboiler to be sure but the director Sandor Stern, who wrote the screenplay for the original 1979 film, has concocted a tight rapid film that barges its way through the inherent silliness of the plot (a killer lamp?) even if its last few moments are too silly and way too obvious. Despite the AMITYVILLE connection, the film owes more to THE EXORCIST than AMITYVILLE. Strong performances by Patty Duke (who died yesterday), Jane Wyatt and Fredric Lehne as a priest give the telefilm a step up. With Norman Lloyd, Lou Hancock and Zoe Trilling.