Amityville Horror

This page features installments in the Amityville Horror film franchise and its various sequels and spin-offs.

The Amityville Horror is an American film franchise that is loosely based on alleged actual events that have later come to be regarded as a hoax. The Dutch Colonial residence located at 112 Ocean Avenue had been the home of the DeFeo family. Known for violence and dabbling in hallucinogenic drugs, DeFeo was arrested and insinuated that his family's deaths were the result of organized crime. But the mystery of 112 Ocean Avenue did not end with the deaths of the DeFeo family. In December, 1975, the empty home was purchased by George and Kathy Lutz, who remained at the home for only a few weeks. What seemed like an idyllic family environment spiraled into a realm of terror as George and Kathy would later weave a bizarre tale, citing numerous incidents of spectral hauntings. Their account of these events became the basis for the book The Amityville Horror by author Jay Anson, which was published in September, 1977. Anson's novel, plus first-hand accounts of the incidents were adapted into a film in 1979 by director Stuart Rosenberg called The Amityville Horror. This film yielded seven sequels throughout the 1980s and 1990s as well as a remake in 2005. The first two sequels were released theatrically, with the rest being released direct-to-video. Beginning in 2011, a resurgence in the IP emerged with a series of independent films inspired by the book and/or original film series. The first was The Amityville Haunting, released in 2011, which also capitalized on the found footage phenomenon. This gave way to a bevy of film projects, most of which had little to do with the original source material, and was simply being put into production to bank on the Amityville name.

Films

Books

Notes

Amityville II: The Possession, which seemingly takes place after the events of the first film is actually a restructured account of the original Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murders from 1974.
The opening sequence from The Conjuring 2 provides a loose account of when paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren visited the house at 112 Ocean Avenue in 1976. In the film, Lorraine Warren establishes a post-cognitive flash of the night that Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered his family.
As of April, 2024, there are 47 films that carry the name "Amityville" in their title.
There are more films that carry the name "Amityville" in its title than there are installments in the Godzilla film series.
There are more films that carry the name "Amityville" in its title than there are installments in the James Bond film series.