'Amityville': The horror franchise that refuses to die
James Brolin as George Lutz and Margot Kidder as Kathy Lutz in 1979 film "The Amityville Horror" directed by Stuart Rosenberg. Credit: RGR Collection/Alamy Stock Photo
Question: When is a movie franchise not really a franchise?
Answer: when it’s the “Amityville” franchise.
Almost 50 years after the headline-grabbing DeFeo murders at 112 Ocean Ave. in Amityville, the movies they inspired have become one of the most prolific series in cinema history. James Bond, “Fast & Furious” and "Star Wars" pale next to “Amityville,” which boasts at least 40 titles — and possibly 60, according to one highly inclusive list on IMDb. What makes the “Amityville” movies so unusual, and so hard to officially quantify, is that pretty much anybody can make one.
Exterior view of the house at 122 Ocean Ave. in Amityville on Nov.14, 1974. Credit: Newsday/Stan Wolfson
The origins of the series were murky to begin with. Jay Anson's 1977 book, “The Amityville Horror,” purported to tell the true story of the Lutz family, who moved into the Dutch Colonial house in December 1975 where Ronald DeFeo, 23, had killed six members of his family 13 months earlier. Billing itself as “A True Story,” the book mixed fact-based history with ghost-story touches (oozing walls, disembodied voices) and became a runaway bestseller. The 1979 film adaptation, starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder, was an $86 million hit for American International Pictures.
Two sequels followed — and then came the deluge. Initially, the titles were relatively straightforward: “The Amityville Curse,” for example. Then came reaches like “Amityville Dollhouse” and “The Amityville Asylum.” More recently, it’s been a free-for-all: “An Amityville Poltergeist,” “Amityville Cop,” even “Amityville in Space.” Some went straight to video, others dwell in the bottomless depths of streaming and still others are devilishly difficult to find. (Good luck getting a copy of “Amityville Leprechaun.”)
How did such a lucrative property become fair game for anyone with a camera? Chalk it up to the intricacies of copyright and trademark law, says Rosemarie Tully, an entertainment lawyer in Huntington. There’s no way to copyright the details of the DeFeo murders, she explains, because they’re facts. While “The Amityville Horror” is a registered trademark belonging to MGM, she adds, that doesn’t preclude the use of “Amityville” elsewhere.
“And that’s a beautiful thing for a filmmaker,” Tully says. In the horror genre, “Everybody has something in their head when they see that word.”
Dennis M. Siry, Amityville’s mayor, seems to have had enough of the series. “My feeling is, I would rather not see anything else anywhere regarding the house in Amityville,” he wrote in an email responding to a request for comment. No such luck: Lionsgate is releasing a new entry, “Amityville: Where the Echo Lives,” on demand and digital Oct. 29.
Here are just a few of the Amityville titles you can find: (Click on the links to view the trailers for each of these.)
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979)
The one that started it all features James Brolin and Margot Kidder as George and Kathy Lutz, newlyweds who move with their three children into a dream house that becomes a nightmare. Critics scoffed, but the film has become a modern classic that still lands on “scariest movie” lists.
AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION (1982)
Rutanya Alda was scared to death in "Amityville II: The Possession" (1982). Credit: Orion Pictures Corp/Everett Collection
A prequel of sorts, with echoes of the DeFeo murders. Here, a dysfunctional family moves into 112 Ocean Ave — which is already haunted — and takes possession of teenage Sonny (Jack Magner). The abusive dad is played by Burt Young, of the “Rocky” movies.
AMITYVILLE 3-D (1983)
Hauupauge's Lori Loughlin, second from left, and Meg Ryan had early roles in the 1983 movie "Amityville 3-D." Credit: Getty Images
Also known as “Amityville III: The Demon.” Here, a skeptical journalist moves into the haunted house. The time capsule cast features ‘70s holdovers Tony Roberts and Candy Clark; youngsters Meg Ryan and Hauppauge's Lori Loughlin; and Tess Harper, whose turn in “Tender Mercies” (the same year!) would earn a Golden Globe nod.
AMITYVILLE HORROR: THE EVIL ESCAPES (1989)
Alternatively titled “Amityville 4,” this movie uses a conceit that would inspire many other filmmakers: Invent some object from the original house, then put it in the hands of new characters. Here, it’s an evil lamp. The real shocker in this made-for-TV production is its lead actress: Patty Duke, of “The Miracle Worker.”
AMITYVILLE: A NEW GENERATION (1993)
Now it’s an old mirror that finds its way to a young photographer. Few names in the youthful cast are recognizable, but you’ll spot some familiar faces in the supporting cast including David Naughton (“An American Werewolf in London”) and Richard Roundtree (“Shaft”).
AMITYVILLE DOLLHOUSE (1997)
Released on good old VHS, this title centers on a dollhouse replica of 112 Ocean Ave. (Why anyone would build such a thing — and give it to a child — is a question worth pondering.) "Hell has found a new home," screamed the trailer. “Dollhouse” seemed to temporarily exhaust the series, which went on hiatus for several years. You can watch it for free on Tubi.
THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (2005)
Ryan Reynolds starred as George Lutz in the 2005 remake of "The Amityville Horror." Credit: MGM/Everett Collection
Producer Michael Bay reboots the franchise with Dimension Films, the now-defunct “genre” imprint. Who’s that shirtless hunk playing George Lutz? Why, it’s Ryan Reynolds! The New York Times called him “effective.”
THE AMITYVILLE ASYLUM (2013)
A British production, in which the Dutch Colonial has been torn down and replaced by High Hopes Psychiatric Hospital. There, a new employee (Sophia Del Pizzo) discovers strange goings-on.
AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING (2017)
Cameron Monaghan, in bed, Jennifer Jason Leigh, center, and Bella Thorne in "Amityville: The Awakening" (2017). Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo
A single mother and her kids, including one who is brain dead, move into the big house and wrestle with the demons. Notable for a "meta" moment in which characters watch the original 1979 movie on television. Despite the star power of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bella Thorne and Mckenna Grace, “The Awakening” opened to a three-figure sum: $742. (It went on to make $8 million.)
AMITYVILLE: MT MISERY ROAD. (2018)
Chuck Morrongiello, a guitarist-turned-filmmaker from Old Bethpage, conflated two local legends for this homemade production. (Mt. Misery Rd., located in a wooded area of West Hills, has also generated its share of folk tales.) Morrongiello and his wife, Karolina, play ghost hunters who explore the area; they also wrote and directed. She served as editor.
AMITYVILLE IN THE HOOD (2021)
Connecting Compton, Calif., with Amityville, Long Island, this movie traces a strain of literally killer marijuana back to Ocean Ave. (As one character says in the film: “Oh, hell no!”) Directed by Dustin Ferguson, of “Amityville Clownhouse” and “Amityville Toybox.”
AMITYVILLE BIGFOOT (2024)
Well, it’s come to this: Eric Roberts stars in a film whose plot synopsis on IMDb reads: “Birdwatchers, activists, scientists, and a film crew unknowingly converge in Bigfoot's neck of the woods, where something even more sinister lurks.”
THAT OLD DUTCH COLONIAL
In the “Amityville” movies, actors come and go, rarely bothering to return for a sequel. But the real star of the show is the house.
The three-story Dutch Colonial on Ocean Avenue is one of the most recognizable houses in movie history. Its defining feature: a pair of quarter-circle windows that, lit from the inside, look eerily like jack-o’-lantern eyes. On a movie poster, those glowing windows — or their likeness — have become visual shorthand for the Amityville haunting.
The house was built in the mid-1920s for John and Catherine Moynihan and eventually passed to their daughter, according to the website AmityvilleMurders. John and Mary Riley bought it in 1960, then sold it to Ronald and Louise DeFeo in 1965 according to the website. In a sorrowful foreshadowing, Ronald posted a sign on the front lawn, giving the house a name: “High Hopes.”
There, in November 1974, the DeFeos’ son, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr., fatally shot his two parents and four younger siblings in their beds. In December of the following year — the same month DeFeo was sentenced to six counts of 25 years to life — George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house with their three children. But 28 days later, they were driven out by demonic forces, according to the 1977 bestseller “The Amityville Horror,” written by Jay Anson and purportedly based on the Lutzes’ story.
When Jim and Barbara Cromarty bought the house in April of 1977 for $55,000, they had no idea a book was in the works. As it became a runaway bestseller, and then a 1979 hit movie, the Cromartys endured curiosity-seekers, vandals and other nuisances. They changed the home’s address to discourage gawkers and filed a lawsuit against Anson, the Lutzes and the book’s publisher (it was settled in 1982). Still, the Cromartys stayed put until 1987, when they sold to Peter and Jeanne O’Neill.
Since then, the house has changed hands a few times. The jack-o’-lantern windows have been replaced by square ones. And the value of the house has fluctuated: According to public records, the house last sold in 2017 for $605,000, down from $950,000 in 2010. Zillow now estimates its worth at more than $1.1 million..
— RAFER GUZMAN
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