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Passes the Bechdel test

The Amityville Horror

1979. Directed by Stuart Rosenberg, written by Sandor Stern and Jay Anson and George Lutz.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    6 women characters. 7 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 6 scenes out of 181.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

Poster for The Amityville Horror

The film

George Lutz (James Brolin) and Kathy Lutz (Margot Kidder) purchase a spacious Long Island home despite its notorious past. Soon after moving in with Kathy's children, Greg, Matt, and Amy, strange events begin disrupting daily life. Father Delaney (Rod Steiger) attempts to bless the property but encounters terrifying resistance. As George becomes increasingly withdrawn and obsessed, Kathy investigates the home's history while unexplained phenomena spread throughout the house. Amy forms a bond with an unsettling unseen companion, and growing pressure isolates the family from outside help. With warnings mounting from clergy, friends, and investigators, the household struggles to hold itself together as the forces surrounding them become impossible to ignore.

Released
27 Jul 1979
Genres
Horror
Rated
R
IMDb
6.2 / 10
Metascore
28 / 100
Awards
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 8 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. George 132 lines, man
  2. Kathy 104 lines, woman
  3. Bolen 26 lines, man
  4. Delaney 25 lines, man
  5. Jeff 22 lines, man
  6. Amy 15 lines, woman
  7. Carolyn 13 lines, woman
  8. Rathy 12 lines
  9. Jackie 11 lines, woman
  10. Jimmy 10 lines, man
Full cast, 32 people
  • James Brolin as George Lutz
  • Margot Kidder as Kathy Lutz
  • Rod Steiger as Father Delaney
  • Don Stroud as Father Richard Bolen
  • Murray Hamilton as Father Ryan
  • John Larch as Father Nuncio
  • Natasha Ryan as Amy
  • K.C. Martel as Greg
  • Meeno Peluce as Matt
  • Michael Sacks as Jeff
  • Irene Dailey as Aunt Helena
  • Helen Shaver as Carolyn
  • Amy Wright as Jackie
  • Marc Vahanian as Jimmy
  • Elsa Raven as Mrs. Townsend
  • Eddie Barth as Agucci
  • Hank Garrett as Bartender
  • James Tolkan as Coroner
  • Val Avery as Sgt. Gionfriddo
  • Peter Maloney as Newspaper Clerk
  • Charlie Welch as Carpenter
  • J.R. Miller as Boy
  • Patty Burtt as Girl
  • Michael Hawkins as New York State Trooper
  • Richard Hughes as 2nd New York State Trooper
  • James Dukas as Neighbor
  • Baxter Harris as Cop #2 at the House
  • Michael Stearns as Policeman
  • Jack Krupnick as Dead Father
  • Carmine Foresta as Cop at the House
  • Harry as Harry (dog - uncredited)
  • Brian Bruderlin as Ronald DeFeo Jr.

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 181

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 476
5 to 871
9 to 1261
13 to 1688
17 to 2010
21 to 24310
25 to 2833
29 to 3204
33 to 3626
37 to 4051
41 to 4408
45 to 4887
49 to 5222
53 to 5624
57 to 6022
61 to 6454
65 to 6861
69 to 7200
73 to 76813
77 to 801723
81 to 8488
85 to 88114
89 to 92414
93 to 9645
97 to 10000
101 to 10403
105 to 108119
109 to 11235
113 to 116421
117 to 12053
121 to 124611
125 to 12842
129 to 132214
133 to 13648
137 to 140142
141 to 144112
145 to 14810
149 to 15210
153 to 15600
157 to 16020
161 to 16400
165 to 16818
169 to 17276
173 to 17614
177 to 18002
181 to 18100

The evidence

  • Straight from the script
  • Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
HELENA: Kathleen... I’m sorry. I mst have placed ic on the edge of the counter... I'm sorry... but IT have cto go. KATHY: I doen't understand.
KATHY: ic down. I'll make some taa. I boughc your Zlaverirce kin HELENA: No. I'na sorry. ! reaily have to go... I -- I feel terrible. KATHY: Aunt Helena,. come on. Rest for awhile... Don't just mm off. HELENA © I can't stay... I don't feel well enough, I don't.
JACKIE: am I supposed to give Amy an aspirin or anything? KATHY: Yeah, one more before she goes to sleep. I left them out.
HELENA: Hello, Kathleen. Kathy Looks up. ANGLE ON AUNT HELENA She is wearing her aun's habic and looks much fizcer than the first time we saw her. A… KATHY: You feeling better?
JACKIE: It wouldn't open. JACKIE: It wouldn's open!! AMY: Jody wouldn't let me.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 39 are women's.

166 lines from women, 265 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

6 women and 21 men in the cast. 7 women and 18 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 7 of 501. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 25 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 37% of the words (2,231), men 63% (3,828). Women have 39% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 9% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Stuart Rosenberg (man)
Written by
Sandor Stern (man)
From the novel by
Jay Anson (man)
Produced by
Ronald Saland (man), Elliot Geisinger (man)
Shot by
Fred J. Koenekamp (man)
Edited by
Robert Brown (man)
Music by
Lalo Schifrin (man)
Cast by
Mike Fenton (man), Jane Feinberg (woman), Judy Taylor (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    0 women, 5 men, 3 not listed

  • Production

    2 women, 5 men

  • Other crew

    0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 4 men

  • Directing

    1 women, 3 men

  • Editing

    0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 20 on average. Men: 37 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Natasha Ryan 9, Margot Kidder 30

Men

Meeno Peluce 9, K.C. Martel 11, Michael Sacks 30, Don Stroud 35, James Brolin 39, Rod Steiger 54, Murray Hamilton 56, John Larch 64

Exhibit H: the money

It made 18.4 times what it cost.

Budget
$4.7 million
Box office
$86.4 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 181 scenes and 501 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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