Spirit possession is an unusual or an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Haitian Vodou, Dominican 21 Divisions, Hinduism, Islam, Wicca, and Southeast Asian, African, and Native American traditions. Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects on the host. The experience of spirit possession sometimes serves as evidence in support of belief in the existence of spirits, deities or demons. In a 1969 study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, spirit-possession beliefs were found to exist in 74% of a sample of 488 societies in all parts of the world, with the highest numbers of believing societies in Pacific cultures and the lowest incidence among Native Americans of both North and South America. As Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian churches move into both African and Oceanic areas, a merger of belief can take place, with demons becoming representative of the "old" indigenous religions, which Christian ministers attempt to exorcise.
In Jewish mythology, a dybbuk is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being exorcised.
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 Chloe 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.
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. 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.
Nightmare Man is a 2006 horror film written and directed by Rolfe Kanefsky. It was produced by Paradigm Pictures, a division of Paradigm Entertainment Group, and Frederico Lapenda.
Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes is a 1989 American made-for-television supernatural horror film written and directed by Sandor Stern, and starring Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt and Fredric Lehne. The fourth film based on The Amityville Horror, it premiered on NBC on May 12, 1989. This was the only Amityville sequel to be based on a book in the main book series. Amityville: The Horror Returns was to air on NBC but the film was never made. The film is set between the events of The Amityville Horror (1979), and Amityville II: The Possession (1982) and before the events of Amityville 3-D (1983).
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.
Beyond Darkness is an Italian horror film written and directed by Claudio Fragasso.
The Dybbuk box, or Dibbuk box, is a paranormal antique wine-cabinet claimed to be haunted by a dybbuk, a concept from Judaism. The box gained notoriety when it was auctioned off on eBay by owner Kevin Mannis, who created a story featuring Jewish Holocaust survivors and paranormal claims as part of his eBay item description. Mannis' story was the inspiration for the 2012 horror film The Possession.
The Amityville Terror is a 2016 American horror film directed by Michael Angelo, and written by Amanda Barton. It was released direct-to-video, and is the sixteenth film to be inspired by Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror. Nicole Tompkins stars as Hailey Jacobson, the daughter of a dysfunctional family that is terrorized by both evil spirits and malicious townspeople after moving into a haunted house in Amityville, New York.
Ezra is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language supernatural horror thriller film written and directed by Jay K. starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, Priya Anand, Tovino Thomas, Sujith Shankar, Vijayaraghavan and Sudev Nair in the leading roles. Principal photography began in late-June 2016. Major filming locations were Fort Cochin and Sri Lanka. The movie grossed ₹50 crore at the box-office. It was remade in Hindi in 2021 as Dybbuk. The film was inspired by hollywood horror film The Possession (2012).
12 'O' Clock is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language horror film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and starring Mithun Chakraborty, Flora Saini, Manav Kaul, Krishna Gautam and Makarand Deshpande. The film was first announced with the name Geher, but the following trailer revealed it had been renamed 12 'O' Clock on 3 July 2020. It was released in India on 8 January 2021.
Roohi is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language comedy horror film directed by Hardik Mehta and produced by Dinesh Vijan under the banner Maddock Films. The film is the second installment in Maddock Supernatural Universe, the first being Stree, and is followed by Bhediya. It tells the story of a ghost who abducts brides on their honeymoons. The film stars Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma. It was announced on 29 March 2019 and filming kicked off on 14 June 2019 in Agra. The film was set to release in June 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic in India interrupted production. The film was theatrically released in India on 11 March 2021. The film received negative reviews from the critics for its convoluted plot. Publications like The Indian Express named it as one of the worst Hindi films of 2021.
Dybbuk is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language supernatural horror film written and directed by Jay K, produced by T-Series and Panorama Studios. The film, starring Emraan Hashmi and Nikita Dutta in the lead role, is a remake of Jay's 2017 Malayalam film Ezra. The story of the film revolves around an antique box purchased by the female protagonist, after which the couple face paranormal activities. The principal photography began on 18 July 2019 in Mauritius. The film premiered on 29 October 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.
Witchtrap is a 1989 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Kevin S. Tenney and starring James W. Quinn, Kathleen Bailey, and Linnea Quigley. The film follows a team of parapsychologists who attempt to exorcise a haunted inn with the help of a device designed to lure in and trap evil spirits. Despite the film's title, its central villain is a male witch also known as a warlock. Witchtrap was released direct-to-video.
"The Dybbuk" is a 1960 television production of the Russian play The Dybbuk by Sholom Ansky, which was authored between 1913 and 1916 and is considered a Yiddish classic, with Cambridge University Press calling it "probably the most performed of any Yiddish play". It was directed by Sidney Lumet for The Play of the Week from an adaptation into English by Joseph Liss. The program, starring Carol Lawrence, aired on October 3, 1960.
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.
