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The Correct Order To Watch The Amityville Horror Movies

The Amityville Horror 1979 American International Pictures
By Witney Seibold/

On November 13, 1974, at 112 Ocean Ave. in Amityville, New York, a young man named Ronald DeFeo woke up in the middle of the night, took up a shotgun, and went from room to room in his home, systematically murdering six members of his family. DeFeo was apprehended by the police. At first, DeFeo claimed the murders were mob-related, but he later confessed to committing the crimes himself. He was sentenced to 25 years to life for his crimes. DeFeo died in prison in 2021. 

DeFeo's murders became notorious with the publication of Jay Anson's nonfiction book "The Amityville Horror" in 1977. After the killings, the Lutz family moved into 112 Ocean Ave., and they claimed to experience a panoply of paranormal phenomena. Flies mobbed the building, and the entire Lutz family reported hearing eerie voices. George Lutz, the family patriarch, claimed to be possessed by a demonic presence that was driving him to kill his family. The Lutzes called in a priest, who claimed to experience stigmata while blessing the property. 

The book was such a hit that director Stuart Rosenberg adapted it into a feature film in 1979. The film, too, was a hit, and the Amityville haunting made its way into popular paranormal lore. Even Ed and Lorraine Warren, the ghost hunters made famous by "The Conjuring" films, visited the house on Ocean Ave. to suss out the ghosts that might be living there. A follow-up book was written, and many movie sequels came out over the years. It wouldn't be until much later that the Lutzes would come forward and say that "The Amityville Horror" was a deliberate hoax on their part. 

That hasn't stopped Hollywood, however. Indeed, as of this writing, there are 60 movies based on the Amityville haunting. 

For God's sake, read below. 

The release order

The Amityville Horror 2005 MGM Distribution, Co.

The first eight movies below might be considered part of the original "master" continuity. The second film is a prequel to the first, telling a fictionalized version of the DeFeo murders, while the first and third describe the Lutz affair and its aftermath. The 2018 film "The Amityville Murders" was more or less a remake of "Amityville II: The Possession," and even saw the return of actress Diane Franklin from that film.

The fourth through the eighth chapters saw haunted objects from the Amityville house being distributed around the country, spreading mayhem. Lamps, mirrors, clocks, etc. In 2005, MGM remade the original movie during the widespread glut of horror remakes that dirtied up the decade.

After that, enterprising filmmakers realized that the name "Amityville" was in the public domain, and the notorious quarter-circle windows on the Ocean Ave. house couldn't be copywritten. By the late '10s, filmmakers began churning out "Amityville" films on what seemed like a bi-monthly basis. As such, there are many, many, many films based on "The Amityville Horror." 

They are:

  • "The Amityville Horror" (1979)
  • "Amityville II: The Possession" (1982)
  • "Amityville 3-D" (1983)
  • "Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes" (1989)
  • "The Amityville Curse" (1990)
  • "Amityville 1992: It's About Time" (1992)
  • "Amityville: A New Generation" (1993)
  • "Amityville Dollhouse" (1997)
  • "The Amityville Horror" (2005)
  • "The Amityville Haunting" (2011)
  • "My Amityville Horror" (2012)
  • "The Amityville Asylum" (2013)
  • "Amityville Death House" (2015)
  • "The Amityville Playhouse" (2015)
  • "Amityville: Vanishing Point" (2016)
  • "The Amityville Legacy" (2016)
  • "The Amityville Terror" (2016)
  • "Amityville Toybox" (2016)
  • "Amityville: No Escape" (2016)
  • "Amityville Exorcism" (2017)
  • "Amityville: Evil Never Dies" (2017)
  • "Amityville Prison" a.k.a. "Against the Night" (2017)
  • "Amityville: The Awakening" (2017)
  • "Amityville Clownhouse" (2017)
  • "Amityville: Mt. Misery Road" (2018)
  • "The Amityville Murders" (2019)

Hang on. We're not done. We still have 34 to go. 

The release order (cont.)

Amityville in Space Wild Eye Releasing

To continue apace:

  • "Amityville Island" (2020)
  • "Amityville Vibrator" (2020)
  • "Witches of Amityville Academy" (2020)
  • "The Amityville Harvest" (2020)
  • "An Amityville Poltergeist" (2020)
  • "The Amityville Moon" (2021)
  • "Amityville Cult" (2021)
  • "Amityville Cop" (2021)
  • "Amityville Vampire" (2021)
  • "Amityville Scarecrow" (2022)
  • "Amityville Scarecrow 2" (2022)
  • "Amityville Uprising" (2022)
  • "Amityville Gas Chamber" (2022)
  • "Amityville in Space" (2022)
  • "Amityville Hex" (2022)
  • "Amityville in the Hood" (2022)
  • "Amityville Karen" (2022)
  • "Amityville Christmas Vacation" (2022)
  • "Amityville Thanksgiving" (2022)
  • "Ghosts of Amityville" (2022)
  • "Amityville: The Resurgence" (2022)

Only five of the above films were theatrically released: the 1979 original, "The Possession," "3-D," the 2005 remake, "The Awakening," and "The Amityville Murders." Curiously, "The Awakening" took a metanarrative approach, as the characters in the movie watched the original 1979 film and read Anson's book. 

Despite the glut of Amityville movies, none of them have been terribly well-received. Even the 1979 original only has a 31% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The high-profile 2005 remake with Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George topped out at 24%. "The Awakening," starring Bella Thorne and Jennifer Jason Leigh, has the dubious honor of opening 60th at the box office with a three-day total of only $742. 

The release order (ad nauseum)

Amityville Bigfoot SRS

The rest of the "Amityville" movies were all released since January of 2023. Because they are coming out at such a rapid clip — most of them on streaming services like Tubi – this list may be dated in a week's time. As of this writing, however, the following films are available: 

  • "Amityville Death Toilet" (2023)
  • "Amityville Elevator" (2023)
  • "Amityville Emanuelle" (2023)
  • "The Amityville Curse" (2023)
  • "Amityville Shark House" (2023)
  • "Amityville Apocalypse" (2023)
  • "Amityville Ripper" (2023)
  • "Amityville: A Origin Story" (2023)
  • "Amityville Job Interview" (2023)
  • "The Last Amityville Movie" (2023)
  • "Amityville Ride-Share" (2023)
  • "Amityville Bigfoot" (2024)
  • "Amityville Apt." (2024)

"My Amityville Horror" and "Amityville: An Origin Story" are documentaries on the DeFeo murders and the Lutz hoax that followed.

Several of the Amityvilles are also clearly horror spoof movies; there is a vibrator and a death toilet in there. "Amityville Emanuelle" (a deliberate misspelling of "Emmanuelle") blends haunting conceits with the notorious softcore sex film series from the '60s and '70s.

As one might be able to determine from the titles, the bulk of the more recent "Amityville" films are cheap cash-ins, trying to equate the word "Amityville" with "haunted" or "ghostly." No one has seen every single one of the above movies, so I cannot say for sure if they all adhere to the details of Anson's book or the DeFeo murders. The above list doesn't even include the many "Amityville" based student shorts and unauthorized titles that one can dig up on IMDb. Some of those may not exist. 

The above list is the most authorized one might be able to determine.

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