5 Best Movies Based On The Amityville Murders (& 5 Worst)

Jay Anson released The Amityville Horror in 1977, which was based on the alleged paranormal experiences of the Lutz family after they moved into a house that had recently suffered a real-world tragedy when Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr. shot and killed his parents and four siblings after he claimed to have heard demonic voices from the house.

The book led to a hugely successful film adaptation that kicked off a surprising amount of movie sequels set in the possessed house (or sometimes not anywhere near it) that have further explored the unique family home on Ocean Avenue on Long Island. However, the name has been used for so many less than stellar films over the years that fans might have to settle for the best of the worst.

10 Best: The Amityville Murders (2018)

Daniel Farrands 2018 film The Amityville Murders explored the original mass murder of the Long Island house before the Lutz family moved in, though the film took a heavy supernatural approach to the real-world crime.

The film featured a demonic influence that manipulated the eldest DeFeo son to kill his family and included some factual accounts in the film, though largely failed to add much to previously established aspects of the story.

9 Worst: Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes (1989)

1989’s Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes was a made-for-TV movie that took place after the events of the original cinematic trilogy, Though it was only loosely connected to the events of the Amityville house in the form of a haunted item from within the house.

The Evil Escapes begins in the house as an exorcism seems to trap a demon within one of the DeFeo family’s odd-shaped lamps that were left in the Amityville house. That lamp is then sold at an estate sale and sent away to a new home in California that soon begins to experience paranormal events and even tragic murders that leads the family to battle their new haunted lamp.

8 Best: Amityville: It’s About Time (1992)

Haunted items from the Amityville house would continue to spread supernatural evil to other families and households for over two-dozen sequels and related films, though 1992’s Amityville: It’s About Time took a unique approach after an antique clock was discovered in the demolished Amityville house.

Once the clock is placed on the mantle of a new home, strange time-related events start to occur that threatened the entire household in a surprisingly enjoyable and occasionally comedic twist on the sometimes tired premise.

7 Worst: The Amityville Legacy (2016)

2016’s The Amityville Legacy (later re-released as Amityville Toybox) followed a cursed antique toy monkey from the DeFeo house in Amityville that is given to a new family in Nebraska as a gift, and while the film isn’t a direct sequel it follows in other entries haunted item footsteps.

The cursed monkey toy ends up possessing the father of the family leading to a number of violent incidents that even lead to a sequel that followed the cursed toy with 2017’s Amityville: Evil Never Dies (which was later re-released as Amityville Clownhouse).

6 Best: The Conjuring 2 (2016)

While the highly successful The Conjuring franchise didn’t devote a lot of time to the Amityville murders, though 2016’s The Conjuring 2 did feature a brief look at the DeFeo murders through one of Lorraine Warren’s psychic visions.

Warren stalks silently through the DeFeo house as she inhabits the body of the oldest son while he murdered his family one by one. The DeFeo murders were used to introduce the demonic nun as the evil influencer of DeFeo that would go on to torment the family in Enfield and later star in the 2018 spin-off The Nun.

5 Worst: Amityville: A New Generation (1993)

1993’s Amityville: A New Generation used the familiar haunted item from Amityville premise as a young man accepts a mirror as a gift that is soon revealed to be possessed, though it featured an interesting callback to the original DeFeo murders.

The mirror was possessed by his father Frank Bronner, who murdered his entire family with a shotgun in the Amityville house much like the original murders. The mirror soon became to possess and kill people in very forgettable ways, quickly becoming one of the worst of the franchise despite its use of the real murders.

4 Best: The Amityville Horror (1979/2005)

The most recognized film is without a doubt the original 1979 adaptation of Anson’s The Amityville Horror, which only featured a brief explanation of the DeFeo murders before jumping into the arrival of the Lutz family and the following paranormal events.

The 2005 remake of the same name introduced more of the DeFeo murders into the Lutz’ story, though it took a number of liberties. The remake altered the DeFeo family slightly to add new haunting elements for the Lutz family while also introducing the idea of a supernatural burial ground sitting below the house.

3 Worst: Amityville: The Awakening (2017)

One of the more recent films to explore the Amityville murders was 2017’s Amityville: The Awakening, though the modern meta-horror follows a family in the “real-world” who is even seen watching The Amityville Horror during the film.

Amityville: The Awakening briefly mentions the DeFeo murders that happened years earlier in the house, though it largely focuses on the demonic possession of the family’s comatose child and their reasons for moving to a house with such a dark history. The film was shelved after being filmed and forgotten shortly after release.

2 Best: Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

1982’s Amityville II: The Possession is a prequel to the original film that was based on Hanz Holzer’s Murder in Amityville which focused on the DeFeo murders themselves, though the film used a fictionalized version of the family named Montelli.

The film introduced a few uncomfortable and controversial elements that included an incestuous relationship and an unsanctioned demonic exorcism. Amityville II: The Possession isn’t necessarily the best film in a series full of bad ones, but it did showcase the original Amityville murders instead of the usual possessed house.

1 Worst: Amityville Dollhouse (1996)

While the Amityville house provided a number of haunted gifts over the years like the aforementioned lamps, toys, and mirrors, 1996’s Amityville Dollhouse truly pushed the limits of believability when a miniature model of the original house is randomly discovered in the shed of a family’s new home.

The family decides to use it as a dollhouse, though it quickly becomes lost alongside a number of supernatural elements that include giant animals, haunted voodoo dolls, and magical relatives that resulted in a true hot mess of a film.

About The Author

Scoot Allan
(193 Articles Published)

Entertainment reporter, writer, and all-around geek, Scoot Allan has written for print and online media sources like Geek Magazine, GeekExchange, GrizzlyBomb, WhatCulture, RoguePlanet.tv and the Urban 30 before joining CBR, ScreenRant, GameRant and The Gamer as a staff writer. He enjoys salad but prefers french fries.

More From Scoot Allan