History Main / TheAmityvilleHorror

[[redirect:Film/TheAmityvilleHorror]]

[[quoteright:275:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BLIT0008.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:275:The house as it really looked like.]]

->'''''[-GET OUT-]'''''

''TheAmityvilleHorror'' is a 1979 horror film based on a novel by Jay Ansen. It chronicles the ([[BasedOnAGreatBigLie supposedly true]]) events that befell the Lutz family, who moved into a house in Amityville, only to move out 28 days later, claiming to have been terrorized by paranormal phenomena there.

They discover that the house was the scene of a multiple murder, when the previous owner, Ronald [=DeFeo=], Jr., had shot and killed six members of his family on November 13, 1974. During their stay in the house, the Lutzes start to experience various phenomena that tell them that whatever malevolent force drove [=DeFeo=] to such violence might still be there...

It was followed by [[CashCowFranchise a series of sequels and a remake]]:
* ''Amityville II: The Possession'' (1982)
* ''Amityville 3-D'' (1983)
* ''Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes'' (1989)
* ''The Amityville Curse'' (1990)
* ''Amityville: It's About Time'' (1992)
* ''Amityville: A New Generation'' (1993)
* ''Amityville Dollhouse'' (1996)
* ''The Amityville Horror'' (2005 remake)
* ''Amityville Haunting'' (2012)

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!! This movie series contains examples of:

[[AC:General]]
* ArtifactsOfDoom: Following the third movie, the house is no longer actually featured as the main setting. Rather, its evil is passed on through certain objects that wind up in new homes, turning them in ersatz Amityvilles. These objects include a lamp, a clock, and a mirror.
* BasedOnAGreatBigLie
* ConsummateLiar: If you believe the whole story is a lie, then the Lutzes are this trope. They took a polygraph, and passed (though it must be noted that polygraphs are [[HollywoodScience less reliable than people think]]).
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Upper windows in the house are portrayed this way.
* HauntedHeadquarters
* HauntedHouse
* InfantImmortality: Averted and played straight numerous times.
* LovecraftCountry
* NewHouseNewProblems: As noted in the description.
* NumberedSequels
* {{Premiseville}}
* SupernaturalProofFather
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Defeo's lawyer claimed it was a hoax. The films and books are ''very'' different from what the Lutz family claimed happened as well.

[[AC:The Novel]]
* [=~Everything's Messier With Pigs~=]: Jodie, the phantom black pig with red eyes.
* ImaginaryFriend: Jodie the pig.

[[AC:The Movie]]
* CatScare: George Lutz, lost in thought, is playing with one his cigarettes when suddenly a cat pops up in his window and scares the hell out of him.
* EvilIsDeathlyCold: Inverted. George feels cold everywhere, except in the evil basement of doom.
* GetOut:
-->'''House: GEEEEEEET OOOOOOUUUUUUT....'''
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Pig!Jodie, complete with PsychoStrings.

[[AC:Amityville II: The Possession]]
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Montelli family was immensely f-ed up, even ''before'' they move in.
* BrotherSisterIncest: Sonny Montelli is influenced by the evil in the house to seduce and have sex with his sister.
* DemonicPossession: Sonny Montelli.
* EvilPhone: Father Daminsky gets calls from beyond the grave.
* LightningReveal: Flash of lightning reveals Sonny aiming his gun on his little brother.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: When Father Adamsky says to Father Tom, "It was her that night, trying to reach me," his voice has a bit of this in it.

[[AC:Amityville 3-D]]
* [[ThreeDMovie 3D Movie]]
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: The house is destroyed in the end, but instead spawns the Garage Sale of Doom.
* FliesEqualsEvil

[[AC:Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes]]
* HandInTheHole: The garbage disposal scene.

[[AC:The Amityville Curse]]
* InNameOnly: It only takes place in Amityville, and is set in a completely different haunted house which has nothing to do with the titular home at all.

[[AC:Amityville: It's About Time]]
* [[spoiler:EverybodyLives]]: [[spoiler: The cursed clock brought from the original house causes a ResetButtonEnding to avoid getting destroyed in an explosion, only to be destroyed by the FinalGirl, who retained her memories of everything the clock caused before it can do it again.]]
* ImMelting: Happens to Lisa's boyfriend, Andy.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Rusty winds up killing [[spoiler: his sister, Lisa]] in self-defense after the house possesses her. He sticks a stereo jack in her mouth, then turns the stereo on and electrocutes her.
* OddFriendship: Rusty and Iris.
* TitleByNumber: Also known as ''Amityville 1992''.

[[AC:Amityville: A New Generation]]
* MagicMirror: Actually, it's more a cursed mirror.

[[AC:Amityville Dollhouse]]
* CreepyDoll
* TheDollEpisode

[[AC:The Remake]]
* ArcWords: "Katch 'em. Kill 'em."
* CreepyChild: Possible subversion with the ghost of Jodie [=DeFeo=].
* MadnessMantra: ''"KATCH'EM AND KILL 'EM!"''
* MirrorScare: Admit it, the one in this film was [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel pretty epic]].
* UndeadChild: Jodie [=DeFeo=].

[[AC:Unsorted]]
* AnimatedAdaptation: There was actually an animated 'documentary' made of the original ''Amityville Horror'' movie.
* IndianBurialGround: According to the the crazy psychic lady, the Indians dumped their crazy people on this land to die and that the bodies are still there, effectively making it an IndianBurialGround, even though they didn't bury the bodies.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: The hidden room under the house is different between films, but unpleasant and crazy anyhow.
* ScareChord
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* ''Amityville: The Legacy 3D'' (upcoming)
* ''The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes'' (upcoming)

They discover that the house was the scene of a multiple murder, when the previous owner, Ronald [=DeFeo=], Jr., had shot and killed six members of his family. During their stay in the house, the Lutzes start to experience various phenomena that tell them that whatever malevolent force drove [=DeFeo=] to such violence might still be there...

* RoomFullOfCrazy

* [[ThreeDMovie 3D Movie]]: The [[ThirdIs3D third one]].

* ArcWords: In the remake; "Katch 'em. Kill 'em."
* ArtifactsOfDoom: Following the third movie, the house is no longer actually featured as the main setting. Rather, its evil is passed on through certain objects that wind up in new homes, turning them in ersatz Amityvilles. These objects include a lamp, a clock, and a mirror.
* BasedOnAGreatBigLie
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Montelli family was immensely f-ed up, even ''before'' they move in.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: The house is destroyed in the third movie, but instead spawns the Garage Sale of Doom.
* BrotherSisterIncest: Sonny Montelli is influenced by the evil in the house to seduce and have sex with his sister.
* CatScare: George Lutz in the original film, lost in thought, is playing with one his cigarettes when suddenly a cat pops up in his window and scares the hell out of him.
* ConsummateLiar: If you believe the whole story is a lie, then the Lutzes are this trope. They took a polygraph, and passed (though it must be noted that polygraphs are [[HollywoodScience less reliable than people think]]).
* CreepyChild: Possible subversion in the remake with the ghost of Jodie [=DeFeo=].
* CreepyDoll: This is a given in ''Amityville Dollhouse'', although the source of the evil is the dollhouse itself and not the dolls that came with it.
* DemonicPossession: Sonny Montelli in the second movie.
* TheDollEpisode: ''Amityville Dollhouse''.
* EverybodyLives: [[spoiler: ''Amityville: It's About Time''. The cursed clock brought from the original house causes a ResetButtonEnding to avoid getting destroyed in an explosion, only to be destroyed by the FinalGirl, who retained her memories of everything the clock caused before it can do it again.]]
* [=~Everything's Messier With Pigs~=]: Jodie, the phantom black pig with red eyes.
* EvilIsDeathlyCold: Inverted. George feels cold everywhere, except in the evil basement of doom.
* EvilPhone: Father Daminsky gets calls from beyond the grave in the second movie.
* GetOut:
-->'''House: GEEEEEEET OOOOOOUUUUUUT....'''
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Pig!Jodie, complete with PsychoStrings.
** Upper windows in the house are portrayed this way.
* HandInTheHole: The garbage disposal scene from the fourth movie.
* HauntedHeadquarters
* HauntedHouse
* ImaginaryFriend: Jodie the pig.
* ImMelting: Happens in ''Amityville 1992'' to Lisa's boyfriend, Andy.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Rusty in ''Amityville 1992'' winds up killing [[spoiler: his sister, Lisa]] in self-defense after the house possesses her. He sticks a stereo jack in her mouth, then turns the stereo on and electrocutes her.

* InfantImmortality: Averted and played straight numerous times.
* InNameOnly: ''The Amityville Curse'' only takes place in Amityville, and is set in a completely different haunted house which has nothing to do with the titular home at all.
* LightningReveal: Flash of lightning reveals Sonny aiming his gun on his little brother in the second movie.
* LovecraftCountry
* MadnessMantra: ''"KATCH'EM AND KILL 'EM!"''
* MagicMirror: Actually, it's more a cursed mirror, in ''Amityville: A New Generation''.
* MirrorScare: Admit it, the one in the remake was [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel pretty epic]].
* NewHouseNewProblems: As noted in the description.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: When Father Adamsky says to Father Tom, "It was her that night, trying to reach me," his voice has a bit of this in it.
* NumberedSequels
* OddFriendship: Rusty and Iris in ''Amityville: It's About Time''.
* {{Premiseville}}

* SupernaturalProofFather
* TitleByNumber: Sixth film is also know as ''Amityville 1992''.
* UndeadChild: Jodie [=DeFeo=] in the remake.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Defeo's lawyer claimed it was a hoax. The films and books are ''very'' different from what the Lutz family claimed happened as well.