History Film / TheAmityvilleHorror

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

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

''The Amityville Horror'' is a 1979 horror film based on a [[Literature/TheAmityvilleHorror novel by Jay Anson]]. It chronicles the ([[BasedOnAGreatBigLie supposedly true]]) events that befell the Lutz family, who moved into 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York 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 "Butch" [=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)
* ''The Amityville Haunting'' (2012; by Creator/TheAsylum)
* ''The Amityville Asylum'' (2013)
* ''Amityville'' (2015)

----
!! 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 [[CaptainErsatz ersatz Amityvilles]]. These objects include a clock, a mirror and most ridiculously, a lamp (See Amityville 4 for the last one).
* BasedOnAGreatBigLie:...''maybe''. But the [=DeFeo=] murders really happened though.
* 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]]).
* FliesEqualsEvil: A recurring theme throughout the books and movies, especially the first movie, ''Amityville 3-D'', and the remake.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Upper windows in the house are portrayed this way.
* HauntedHeadquarters
* HauntedHouse
* InfantImmortality: Averted and played straight numerous times.
* LovecraftCountry: Although it's Set in Long Island, New York.
* NegativeContinuity: The films. Due to legal issues[[note]]The real-life Lutz family technically owned the sequel rights to the first movie, as a condition of letting it be made[[/note]], none of them are technically allowed to be "real" sequels to the first movie. The filmmakers seem to have run with this and decided not to let any of the sequels have anything to do with each other, either.
** ''Amityville II: The Possession'' is based on the real-life [=DeFeo=] murders, which happened before the events depicted in the first film, but the family is renamed, the movie appears to take place in the 1980s, the layout of the house is different, and the murders happen quite differently than they did in the flashbacks shown in the original.
** ''Amityville 3-D'' includes an explicit disclaimer in the credits stating that it's not a sequel to either of the previous films. The house is slightly different again, especially the basement, and it refers to the [=DeFeos=] by their real name instead of the one used in the previous movie.
** ''Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes'' opens with a scene set in the infamous house, despite the fact that [[spoiler:it blew up at the end of ''Amityville 3-D''.]] Its layout is totally different than in any previous movie.
** ''The Amityville Curse'' is set in a different haunted house entirely that just happens to also be in Amityville.
** ''Amityville 1992: It's About Time'' refers to the iconic house being demolished, as opposed to [[spoiler:blowing itself up.]]
** ''Amityville: A New Generation'' decides that Amityville is now in upstate New York[[note]]It's on Long Island, which all the other films get right[[/note]], and completely re-imagines the [=DeFeo=] murders as something vaguely similar but quite different to suit its own story[[note]]One could possibly argue it's supposed to be a different event, but this still counts as it logically should have been mentioned in a previous film[[/note]].
** ''Amityville Dollhouse'' does not even include a single utterance of the word "Amityville," just a dollhouse that looks like the house from the first three films (for no apparent reason).
* NewHouseNewProblems: As noted in the description. Interestingly, the ''next'' owners after the Lutz reported absolutely no such problems with the house.
* 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 Movie]]
* AdultFear - There are various examples of this:
** A lot of the drama and even some of the horror in the movie centers around money problems: Kathy's brother loses $1500 in cash, George bounces a check and his business seems to be in trouble. Finally there's the very real concern that the house, aside from being evil, is an $80,000 investment that's going FromBadToWorse.
** The children are being terrorized by the house as much as the adults, and there's a growing possibility that George will hurt them himself.
** Then there's that most fearsome and adult of adult fears: in one scene, George can't get it up.
* TheAllegedCar - Father [=DeLaney=]'s car flies to pieces when he's on the way to visit the cursed house, almost killing him and Father Bolen.
* ArbitrarySkepticism - For men who have devoted their lives to God, the priests in this movie have an awfully hard time accepting the existence of Satan.
* ArcNumber - Bad things happen at 3:15 AM.
* AxCrazy - George is implied to become this over the course of the movie and he develops an overwhelming fondness for chopping firewood.
* BloodyHorror: A specific part of the wall in the Amityville House's basement starts dripping blood at night, and forming, a stream leading George to it. It's revealed later on that the basement used to have a morgue, and that people were also tortured there.
* 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.
* HellGate:
-->''"Find the well... it's the passage... to hell! COVER IT!"''
* NightmareFetishist - George's business partner's wife appears to be sexually excited by the bad vibes emanating from the house.
* TheStoic - Father Bolen invokes this pretty hard. That or he's half 2x4, on his mother's side.
* ThousandYardStare - George develops one of these. Or maybe he's just squinting to keep the [[AxCrazy splinters out of his eyes]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: What happened to that police officer that staked out the Lutz house, tried to talk to Delaney, then disappeared into thin air? What about the drunk with a six pack of beer that shows up at Kathy's door, then disappears a moment later without explanation? What happened to the 1,500 dollars from the wedding that disappeared? And what would a house do with 1,500 dollars anyway?

[[AC:Amityville II: The Possession]]
* AbusiveDad: Anthony Montelli is quick to use violence on his children and his wife even before moving to the house.
* AliensMadeThemDoIt: See BrotherSisterIncest below.
* AssholeVictim: [[AbusiveDad Anthony]] and Dolores, who TookALevelInJerkass by blaming Patricia for the Montelli family's latest misfortunes through her and Sonny's BrotherSisterIncest and slapping her in reaction upon confronting her.
* 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.
* ChildHater: Anthony seems to be this as he quickly blames and then abuses the kids for the house's hauntings rather then the demons.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Than the first film and the other installments that follows, given the family who moves in is one BigScrewedUpFamily who all gets slaughtered with the parents ending up as [[AssholeVictim Asshole Victims]] for being [[AbusiveParent Abusive Parents]], the disturbing, slightly unsubtle theme of BrotherSisterIncest and the film's DownerEnding where the priest who exorcises Sonny becomes a new victim of DemonicPossession. Also the film is not as campy and cheesy as the later films.
** The visual style of the film is also darker, as the first film focused mostly on brighter scenes that gave a sense of an eerie CrapsaccharineWorld-ish atmosphere and DaylightHorror akin to 1974's ''[[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]]'', while the second film in contrast has cooler lighting and mostly a gray look to reflect on the second installment's straight CrapsackWorld setting complete with its grim and dreadful nature and somewhat gothic feel. The two films' composer Lalo Schifrin's scoring also differentiate themselves from one another that despite the reuse of themes from the first movie, the second film's music arrangement was more grim, chilling and slightly somber with more prominent PsychoStrings in comparison to the first film's equally eerie, but a little more upbeat with less prominent PsychoStrings, Oscar-nominated music score.
* DecoyProtagonist: Patricia Montelli.
** Due to the BillingDisplacement of Burt Young being given second billing and his reputation as an Academy Award-nominated actor as well as some ads such as the SyFy channel's early previews for the television run of the film featuring prominent shots of Young or [[http://www.allmovie.com/movie/amityville-ii-the-possession-v2088/cast-crew allmovie.com's page profile of the film giving Young top billing]] that only worsens the confusion, some people at first before going to see the film thought Burt Young was going to have a major role as a {{Deuteragonist}} to investigate the hauntings at his family's home, instead Young's role was nothing pivotal and was a HateSink role of an AbusiveParent and an AssholeVictim.
* DemonicPossession: Sonny Montelli.
* EvilPhone: Father Adamsky gets calls from beyond the grave.
* ForegoneConclusion: If you've seen the first movie, or know about the real life murders that inspired the story, you'll know exactly what is going to happen by the end of act two.
* GoryDiscretionShot: We don't actually see Sonny shooting his brother and sisters.
* HearingVoices: Sonny hears voices through his earphones telling him to kill his family.
* HolierThanThou: Dolores, who is an overly religious woman, as she was offended by the demons covering the family crucifix and [[TookALevelInJerkass stoop to a new low]] by [[AbusiveParent being abusive as her husband by slapping Patricia]] for committing BrotherSisterIncest and out of blame for the family's haunted house misfortunes. This of course makes her much of a loathsome AssholeVictim as her husband.
* InfantImmortality: Averted, as demanded by the true story. Notably, however, the two youngest family members are killed offscreen, unlike their parents.
* {{Jerkass}}: Anthony and [[TookALevelInJerkass later]] Dolores.
* 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.
* {{Prequel}}: Debatable. It was marketed this way at first, but for legal reasons it had to be announced it had no actual connection to the first film, and in fact there are too many contradictions to count between the movies anyway. It's technically an unrelated film that just ''happens'' to be inspired by an earlier part of the same true story, use the same filming location and music, and have a "II" in the title for no reason.
* PresentDayPast: While the real events took place in 1974, the (1982) movie shows a ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' poster[[note]]''Rocky'' was released in 1976[[/note]], a Walkman[[note]]prototype built in 1978, available in the US in 1980[[/note]] and cars from the 80s. It's worth noting the year it's supposed to be is never stated in the movie itself, so one could argue it's actually transposing the story to the then-present day.
* RomanAClef: While based on the [=DeFeo=] family, all names were changed.
* SelfMadeOrphan: Sonny ends up killing his parents and siblings.
* SupernaturalProofFather: With all the supernatural occurrences happening and Anthony being possibly an atheist who's sacrilegious, Anthony instead blames it on his kids for being EnfantTerrible kinds and abuses them for it.
* TooDumbToLive: The Montelli siblings as well as Dolores who fallen victim to the possessed Sonny count.

[[AC:Amityville 3-D]]
* [[ThreeDMovie 3D Movie]]
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: The house is destroyed in the end, but instead spawns the [[{{Narm}} Garage Sale of Doom]].
* LighterAndSofter: The third film's PG rating is saying something.
* ThirdIs3D

[[AC:Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes]]
* BodySurf: The Evil can't transmigrate into people very well but it can hop into other inanimate forms, and TheStinger has it [[spoiler:leaving the broken lamp and possessing a housecat.]]
* HandInTheHole: The garbage disposal scene.
* LightIsNotGood: The [[{{Narm}} evil lamp]].
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: [[spoiler:Helen, the woman who buys the lamp, cuts her finger on it and starts to develop tetanus to the point where her pointer finger is swollen and discolored. She doesn't immediately go to the hospital, but runs it under water. What happens to her? As WebVideo/{{Phelous}} puts in his review:]]
-->'''Phelous''': [[spoiler: So she dies of [[FreudianSlip irony]], I mean Tetanus]]
* TheOneWith: This is the best known of the sequels, because it's the one with the EVIL LAMP.

[[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]]
* DemonicPossession: Jacob and [[spoiler: Lisa.]]
* [[spoiler:EverybodyLives]]: [[spoiler: The cursed clock brought from the original house causes a ResetButtonEnding to avoid getting destroyed in an explosion, only to be smashed by FinalGirl Andrea, who retained her memories of everything the clock caused, before it can do it again. It's also implied that Rusty and Iris actually remember everything as well, except for Jacob and Lisa, which could be attributed to their possession.]]
* FinalGirl: Andrea.
* GroundhogDayLoop: [[spoiler: It's implied this was the case before Andrea remembered everything at the end. When the film begins, Andrea has one of Jacob's measuring tools, which she claimed she had "For protection." She later tried to use the same tool to destroy the clock, and when it reset everything, she still had it. Only the potential loop is finally stopped because Andrea managed to destroy the clock this time.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Andrea tries to cause an explosion thanks to a leaking gas pipe, which would kill her and destroy the clock. But the clock ends up rewinding time back to when the movie began, so Andrea survives.]]
* ImMelting: Happens to Lisa's boyfriend, Andy.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler: Iris, after she avoided getting run over.]]
* 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.
** Andrea arms herself with one of Jacob's measuring tools. [[spoiler: And uses it at the end to make sure the clock is destroyed.]]
* InfantImmortality: When Rusty is turned into a child, Andrea demands that the clock let him go, and it complies.
* MissingMom: Andrea is not Rusty and Lisa's mom, but a friend of Jacob's. Their mother is never mentioned.
* OddFriendship: Rusty and Iris.
* ParentalSubstitute: Andrea begins acting as one to Rusty and Lisa, eventually going MamaBear for Rusty's sake when he gets turned into a small child.
* PlotRelevantAgeUp: Played straight and inverted. Rusty is turned into a child and Andrea is turned into an old woman during the finale, [[spoiler: before the rewind.]]
* TitleByNumber: Also known as ''Amityville 1992''.
* TitleDrop: Andrea's explanation for [[spoiler: smashing the clock]] at the end of the movie? "It's about time, that's what!"

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

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

[[AC:The Remake]]
* AdaptationalVillainy / HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The possessed George Lutz. The actual George was not pleased and tried to sue the filmmakers until his death.
* ArcWords: "Katch 'em. Kill 'em."
* CreepyChild: [[AmbiguouslyEvil Possible]] subversion with the ghost of Jodie [=DeFeo=].
* DarkerAndEdgier: Then the original movie, due to the remake's emphasis on the shock factor and [[JumpScare Jump Scares]] as well as the AdaptationalVillainy of the possessed George Lutz.
* MadnessMantra: ''"KATCH'EM AND KILL 'EM!"''
* MirrorScare: Admit it, the one in this film was pretty epic.
* UndeadChild: Jodie [=DeFeo=].

[[AC:The Amityville Haunting]]
* CoversAlwaysLie: The house doesn't look like the one on the cover. At all.
* FoundFootageFilms
* UndeadChild: John Matthew, the youngest of the [=DeFeo=] children.

[[AC:Unsorted]]
* AnimatedAdaptation: There was actually an animated 'documentary' made of the original ''Amityville Horror'' movie. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids They even showed it in public schools.]]
* 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.
** Also a bit of a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] in that the white guys aren't getting punished for being 'disprespectful' so much as for being dumb enough to build a house right atop Angry Demon Central.
* RoomFullOfCrazy: The hidden room under the house is different between films, but unpleasant and crazy anyhow.
* ScareChord

----

''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 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York only to move out 28 days later, claiming to have been terrorized by paranormal phenomena there.

** ''Amityville: A New Generation'' decides that Amityville is now in upstate New York[[note]]It's on Long Island, which all the other films get right[[/note]], and completely re-imagines the DeFeo murders as something vaguely similar but quite different to suit its own story[[note]]One could possibly argue it's supposed to be a different event, but this still counts as it logically should have been mentioned in a previous film[[/note]].

[[AC:The Novel]]
* ImaginaryFriend: Jodie the pig.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: The pig-like demonic creature called Jodie had red glowing eyes.

* UndeadChild: John Matthew, the youngest of the Defeo children.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Then the first film and the other installments that follows, given the family who moves in is one BigScrewedUpFamily who all gets slaughtered with the parents ending up as [[AssholeVictim Asshole Victims]] for being [[AbusiveParent Abusive Parents]], the disturbing, slightly unsubtle theme of BrotherSisterIncest and the film's DownerEnding where the priest who exorcises Sonny becomes a new victim of DemonicPossession. Also the film is not as campy and cheesy as the later films.

* IdiotPlot: The family in this movie need to seriously have an IQ test, as they '''NEVER''' catch on to the various horrors going on, and instead blame each other.

** The visual style of the film is also darker, as the first film focused mostly on brighter scenes that gave a sense of an eerie CrapsaccharineWorld-ish atmosphere and DaylightHorror akin to 1974's ''[[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]]'', while the second film in contrast has cooler lighting and mostly a gray look to reflect on the second installment's straight CrapsackWorld setting complete with its grim and dreadful nature and somewhat gothic feel. The two films' composer Lalo Schifrin's scoring also differentiate themselves from one another that despite the reuse of themes from the first movie, the second film's music arrangement was more grim, chilling and slightly somber with faster-paced PsychoStrings in comparison to the first film's equally eerie, but a little more upbeat with slower-paced PsychoStrings, Oscar-nominated music score.

** The visual style of the film is also darker, as the first film focused mostly on brighter scenes that gave a sense of an eerie CrapsaccharineWorld-ish atmosphere and DaylightHorror akin to 1974's ''[[TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]]'', while the second film in contrast has cooler lighting and mostly a gray look to reflect on the second installment's straight CrapsackWorld setting complete with its grim and dreadful nature and somewhat gothic feel. The two films' composer Lalo Schifrin's scoring also differentiate themselves from one another that despite the reuse of themes from the first movie, the second film's music arrangement was more grim, chilling and slightly somber in comparison to the first film's equally eerie, but a little more upbeat, Oscar-nominated music score.

** Due to the BillingDisplacement of Burt Young being given second billing and his reputation as an Academy Award-nominated actor as well as some ads such as the SyFy channel's early previews for the television run of the film featuring prominent shots of Young or allmovie.com's page profile of the film giving Young top billing that worsens the confusion, some people at first before going to see the film thought Burt Young was going to have a major role as a {{Deuteragonist}} to investigate the hauntings at his family's home, instead Young's role was nothing pivotal and was a HateSink role of an AbusiveParent and an AssholeVictim.

** Due to the BillingDisplacement of Burt Young being given second billing and his reputation as an Academy Award-nominated actor as well as some ads such as the SyFy channel's early previews for the television run of the film featuring prominent shots of Young, some people at first before going to see the film thought Burt Young was going to have a major role as a {{Deuteragonist}} to investigate the hauntings at his family's home, instead Young's role was nothing pivotal and was a HateSink role of an AbusiveParent and an AssholeVictim.

* TooDumbToLive: The Montelli siblings who fallen victim to the possessed Sonny count.

* AdaptationalVillainy / HistoricalVillainUpgrade: The possessed George Lutz. The actual George was not please and tries to sue the filmmakers until his death.

* EvilPhone: Father Daminsky gets calls from beyond the grave.

* TooDumbToLive: The Montelli siblings who fallen victim to the possessed Sonny counts.

* AssholeVictim: Anthony and Dolores, who TookALevelInJerkass by blaming Patricia for the family's latest misfortunes through her and Sonny's BrotherSisterIncest and slapping her in reaction upon confronting her.

* AbusiveDad: Anthony Montelli is quick to use violence on his children even before moving to the house.

* WhatAboutTheMouse: What happened to that police officer that staked out the Lutz house, tried to talk to Delaney, then disappeared into thin air? What about the drunk with a six pack of beer that shows up at Kathy's door, then disappears a moment later without explanation? What happened to the 1,500 dollars from the wedding that disappeared? And what would a house do with 1,500 dollars anyway?

** ''Amityville II: The Possession'' is based on the real-life DeFeo murders, which happened before the events depicted in the first film, but the family is renamed, the movie appears to take place in the 1980s, the layout of the house is different, and the murders happen quite differently than they did in the flashbacks shown in the original.
** ''Amityville 3-D'' includes an explicit disclaimer in the credits stating that it's not a sequel to either of the previous films. The house is slightly different again, especially the basement, and it refers to the DeFeos by their real name instead of the one used in the previous movie.

** ''Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes'' opens with a scene set in the infamous house, despite the fact that [[spoiler]]it blew up at the end of ''Amityville 3-D''.[[/spoiler] Its layout is totally different than in any previous movie.

** ''Amityville 1992: It's About Time'' refers to the iconic house being demolished, as opposed to [[spoiler]]blowing itself up.[[/spoiler]]

* FliesEqualsEvil

* {{Prequel}}: Debatable. It was marketed this way at first, but for legal reasons it had to be announced it had no actual connection to the first film, and in fact there are too many contradictions to count between the movies anyway; it's technically an unrelated film that just ''happens'' to be inspired by an earlier part of the same true story, use the same filming location and music, and have a "II" in the title for no reason.

* {{Prequel}}: To the original movie.
* PresentDayPast: While supposedly taking place in 1974, the (1982) movie shows a ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' poster[[note]]''Rocky'' was released in 1976[[/note]], a Walkman[[note]]prototype built in 1978, available in the US in 1980[[/note]] and cars from the 80s.

* ForegoneConclusion: If you've seen the first movie, or know about the real life murders that inspired the story, you'll know exactly what is going to happen.

* 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.

* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: The house is destroyed in the end, but instead spawns the Garage Sale of Doom.

* BodySurf: The Evil can't transmigrate into people very well but it can hop into other inanimate forms, and the stinger has it leaving the broken lamp and possessing a housecat.

* [[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.]]