The Amityville Horror is a book by American author Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released from 1979 onward. The book is based on the claims of paranormal experiences by the Lutz family, but has led to controversy and lawsuits over its truthfulness.
Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. was an American mass murderer who was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in Amityville, New York. Sentenced to six counts of 25 years to life, DeFeo died in prison on March 12, 2021. The case inspired the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror.
The Amityville Horror is a 2005 American supernatural horror film directed by Andrew Douglas, and starring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, and Philip Baker Hall. It also featured the debut of actress Chloë Grace Moretz. Written by Scott Kosar, it is based on the novel The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson, which was previously adapted into the 1979 film of the same name, while also serving as the ninth film in the Amityville Horror film series, and was also served as inspiration for The Conjuring 2, which documents the experiences of the Lutz family after they move into a house at 112 Ocean Avenue, Long Island. In 1974, real-life mass murderer Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed six members of his family at the same house in Amityville, New York.
In real estate, stigmatized property is property that buyers or tenants may shun for reasons that are unrelated to its physical condition or features. These can include death of an occupant, murder, suicide, previous illicit activities, and even the belief that a house is haunted.
Amityville II: The Possession is a 1982 supernatural horror film directed by Damiano Damiani and starring James Olson, Burt Young, Rutanya Alda, Jack Magner, and Diane Franklin. It’s an international co-production between Mexico and the United States. The screenplay by Tommy Lee Wallace is based on the novel Murder in Amityville by the parapsychologist Hans Holzer. It is the second film in the Amityville Horror film series and a loose prequel to The Amityville Horror (1979), set at 112 Ocean Avenue and featuring the fictional Montelli family, loosely based on the DeFeo family. It follows the Montelli family's decline under apparent demonic forces present in their home.
Edward Warren Miney and Lorraine Rita Warren were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of alleged hauntings. Edward was a self-taught and self-professed demonologist, author, and lecturer. Lorraine professed to be clairvoyant and a light trance medium who worked closely with her husband.
Amityville 3-D is a 1983 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Tony Roberts, Tess Harper, Robert Joy, Candy Clark, Lori Loughlin and Meg Ryan. It is the third film based in the Amityville Horror series, it was written by William Wales, a pseudonym for David Ambrose. It was one of a spate of 3-D films released in the early 1980s, and was the only Orion Pictures film filmed in the format. It’s an international co-production between the United States and Mexico.
The Amityville Curse is a 1990 Canadian supernatural horror film directed by Tom Berry and starring Kim Coates, Cassandra Gava and Jan Rubeš. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by Hans Holzer. It is the fifth film in the Amityville Horror film series.
Amityville Dollhouse is a 1996 American supernatural horror film directed by Steve White and starring Robin Thomas, Allen Cutler, Lenore Kasdorf, and Lisa Robin Kelly. Released direct-to-video, it was the eighth film in the Amityville Horror film series, inspired by Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror. This was the last film in the series released before it was rebooted nine years later.
The Amityville haunting is a modern folk story based on the true crimes of Ronald DeFeo Jr. On November 13, 1974, DeFeo shot and killed six members of his family at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, on the south shore of Long Island. He was convicted of second-degree murder in November 1975. In December 1975, George and Kathy Lutz and their three children moved into the house. After 28 days, the Lutzes left the house, claiming to have been terrorized by paranormal phenomena while living there. The house became the subject of numerous investigations by paranormal researchers, journalists, and skeptics, including Ed and Lorraine Warren. These events served as the historical basis for Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror, which was followed by a number of sequels and was adapted into a film of the same name in 1979. Since then, many films have been produced that draw explicitly, to a greater or lesser extent, from these historical and literary sources. As Amityville is a real town and the stories of DeFeo and the Lutzes are historical, there can be no proprietary relationship to the underlying story elements associated with the Amityville haunting. As a result of this, there has been no restriction on the exploitation of the story by film producers, which is the reason that most of these films share no continuity, were produced by different companies, and tell widely varying stories.
Needful Things is a 1993 American horror film based on Stephen King's 1991 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Fraser C. Heston, and stars Ed Harris, Max von Sydow, Bonnie Bedelia, and J. T. Walsh. The film received mixed reviews, critics praised the performances and ending, but criticized its portrayal of its story and felt it inferior to its source material.
The Amityville Horror Part II is a book written by John G. Jones as the sequel to The Amityville Horror. The book was published in 1982 and recounts the aftermath of the original book and what happened to the Lutzes after they fled 112 Ocean Avenue. This was the final book in the series to be based or inspired by a true story. The sequels had the Lutzes as main characters and were marketed as "The Terrifying True Story Continues..." although there is a disclaimer stating that the book did change names and combined two people into one character for the book.
Amityville: The Awakening is a 2017 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Franck Khalfoun and starring Bella Thorne, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Cameron Monaghan, Mckenna Grace, Thomas Mann, Taylor Spreitler, Jennifer Morrison, and Kurtwood Smith. It is the tenth installment of the Amityville film series and a direct sequel/metafilm taking place in the "real world" outside of the continuity of the series which establishes The Amityville Horror (1979), the sequels from 1982 to 1996, and the 2005 remake of the original film as fiction. Its plot follows a teenager who moves into 112 Ocean Avenue with her family, who shortly find themselves haunted by a demonic entity using her brain-dead twin brother's body as a vessel.
The Amityville Asylum is a 2013 British horror film written and directed by Andrew Jones. It is the eleventh film to be inspired by Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror. Sophia Del Pizzo stars as Lisa Templeton, a young woman who is hired to work as a custodian at High Hopes Psychiatric Hospital, an asylum that was built on the site of a haunted house in Amityville, New York.
Poltergeist is a 2015 American supernatural horror film directed by Gil Kenan, written by David Lindsay-Abaire, and produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Roy Lee. It is a remake of the 1982 film of the same name and is the fourth installment overall in the Poltergeist franchise. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris, and Jane Adams, and follows a family who arrive at their new home and begin experiencing paranormal occurrences.
It is a 1990 ABC two-part psychological horror drama miniseries directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and adapted by Lawrence D. Cohen from Stephen King's 1986 novel of the same name. The story revolves around a predatory monster that can transform itself into its prey's worst fears to devour them, allowing it to exploit the phobias of its victims. It mostly takes the humanoid form of Pennywise, a demonic clown. The protagonists are The Lucky Seven, or The Losers Club, a group of outcast kids who discover Pennywise and vow to kill him by any means necessary. The series takes place over two different time periods, the first when the Losers first confront Pennywise as children in 1960, and the second when they return as adults in 1990 to defeat him a second time after he resurfaces.
The Amityville Legacy is a 2016 American horror film written and directed by Dustin Ferguson and Mike Johnson. It was released direct-to-video, and is the fifteenth film to be inspired by Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror. Mark Popejoy stars as Mark Janson, a father who begins murdering members of his own family after being gifted an evil cymbal-banging monkey toy that was taken from 112 Ocean Avenue, a haunted house in Amityville, New York.
Dustin Ferguson is an American underground filmmaker from Lincoln, Nebraska. He has directed numerous music videos and more than 100 horror films since 2007, including The Amityville Legacy. He writes, directs and edits his own films and is known for his prolific output, releasing several feature films each year as well as for making mockbusters and sequels.
Amityville: No Escape is a 2016 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Henrique Couto, and co-written by Ira Gansler. It is the seventeenth film to be inspired by Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror. A found footage film, it follows two storylines, one set in 1997 and the other in 2016, that both involve 112 Ocean Avenue, a haunted house in Amityville, New York.
Amityville Exorcism is a 2017 American horror film directed by Mark Polonia, and written by Billy D'Amato. It was released direct-to-video, and is the eighteenth film to be inspired by Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror. The film stars Jeff Kirkendall as Father Benna, a Catholic priest who, with the help of a troubled father played by James Carolus, performs exorcism on the man's daughter after the girl is possessed by a demon that originates from 112 Ocean Avenue, a haunted house in Amityville, New York. It was followed by two sequels, Amityville Island in 2020 and Amityville in Space in 2022.
