Review
The Amityville Horror remains one of the most terrifying stories ever because of one small fact - it actually happened. 28 days after moving in, the Lutz family abandoned the residence, lucky to escape with their lives.
Most horror movies establish an atmosphere of normality, which they gradually rupture with spooky or creepy or stomach-churning images. The Amityville Horror--a remake of the 1979 movie about a possessed house that torments the family that moves into it--tosses normality out the window in the first five minutes, unleashing a nonstop barrage of unsettling camera angles, decaying wood and stained wallpaper, half-glimpsed shadows in motion, fast edits of grotesque ghosts, and dozens of other horror-movie devices.
Whether you like the movie will depend on whether you like feeling slightly nauseated and cut off from any semblance of reality--for many people, that's why they go to horror movies. Others won't be able to suspend disbelief that anyone but an actor would spend the time necessary to develop Ryan Reynold's insanely buff physique, prominently displayed as he runs around wearing nothing but a pair of loose-fitting pajama bottoms. In addition to Reynolds, the movie also features Philip Baker Hall and Melissa George. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com
Synopsis
The story began on 13th November 1974, when six members of the DeFeo family were killed. The parents, Ronald and Louise DeFeo, were shot in bed while they slept, along with their two sons and two daughters. The sole remaining family member, Ronald Jr. ("Butch"), was arrested for the crime, convicted, and sentenced to prison.
The following year, a new family, the Lutzes, moved into the house and said that shortly after they moved in, their six-bedroom house became a Hell house. It seemed that perhaps the demons that drove Butch to slaughter his family were not in his head but in the house.
An unseen force ripped doors from hinges and slammed cabinets closed, noxious green slime oozed from the ceilings, a biblical-scale swarm of insects attacked the family, and a demonic face with glowing red eyes peered into their house at night, leaving cloven-hoofed footprints in the morning snow. Locked windows and doors would open constantly by themselves. George Lutz would wake up every night at 3.15 am, the exact time that the DeFeo murders took place. A priest was called upon to bless the house, but was driven back with painful blisters on his hands, and was told by a demonic voice to "Get out!".
After 28 days the family fled the house, never to return. They left all of their possessions in the house which were never collected. They quickly went public and told of the horrors that that tormented them in the house.
Watch the Trailer
Read More:
Amityville HorrorAmityville Horror-The DeFeo Family
Amityville Horror-The DeFeo Family Background
Amityville Horror-The DeFeo Murders
Amityville Horror-Butch DeFeo's Trial
Amityville Horror-The Lutz Family
Amityville Horror-The Lutzes first few days
Amityville Horror-Poltegeist Activity
Amityville Horror-The Secret Room and the Ghostly Pig
Amityville Horror-The Lutzes Last Few Days in the House
The Amityville Horror, 1979 and 2005 MGM Entertainment
