I didn’t find the original Amityville Horror all that memorable of a horror flick, but it had more than its fair share of iconic moments, what with the bleeding walls, fly attacks, and exterior look of the house. It was based on a book that was a supposedly true telling of events the Lutz family experienced after moving into a house on Long Island in the 1970s. The whole story has since been shown to be bunk, part of the Ed and Lorraine Warren hoax industry, but some real awful events did occur in the house prior to the Lutz’s arrival that were used as a precursor to what was supposed to have occurred with the Lutz family.
At around three in the morning on November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. entered the bedrooms of his sleeping relatives — his parents and four siblings — and killed them with a lever-action rifle. DeFeo claimed he did it because he was hearing voices. Six murders carried out in the middle of the night. That’s brutal stuff. To this day DeFeo remains in prison in upstate New York.
In 2005, another adaptation of the book was made. Since the original film spawned a number of sequels and became a horror franchise, this new film can be considered a reboot as much as a new adaptation. This telling comes from screenwriter Scott Kosar and director Andrew Douglas. It stars Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George as George and Kathy Lutz. The two need a bigger home for their family and can hardly believe the deal they got on the Dutch colonial house right on the water. Continue reading “October Horrorshow: The Amityville Horror (2005), or, Jump Scare: The Movie”