Countdown to Halloween: “The Amityville Horror” 1979 and 2005 remake

For my final Countdown to Halloween review slate, I wanted to check out a scary haunted house flick. So, I ultimately decided to check out the 1979 chilling film “The Amityville Horror” and its 2005 remake.

The 1979 chilling story is about a family who are terrorized by supernatural forces when they move into a new house in New York which was the scene of a recent mass killing and the home of an 18th century satanist.

When swarms of flies appear from nowhere and the pipes and walls begin to ooze slime and blood, they call on a local priest to exorcise the evil spirits.

“The Amityville Horror” (1979) delivers some frightening moments scattered throughout that helps build a creepy atmosphere. This film’s purported basis in real events ended up being a massive draw during its initial theatrical run, which makes the supernatural scares more effective for some viewers.

This chilling feature also delivers some truly memorable moments, including a very infamous scene where we see Father Delaney is trying to bless the house and a booming, disembodied voice yells “Get out!” There’s also quite a few moments where we see the walls of the house bleed, which looks really awesome (not gonna lie).

The infamous Amityville story has been controversial due to the fact that there have been numerous claims that either most of the story or all of it have been fabricated. This film and its book is based on the real life murders of the DeFeo family that occurred on November 13, 1974.

The 1979 film was commercially successful, despite being critically panned. It capitalized on public fascination surrounding the alleged true haunting, becoming a major cultural phenomenon. The film’s enduring legacy is primarily in popular culture, driven by its eerie atmosphere, the iconic “evil eye” window in the house and the public’s fascination with the paranormal.

MPA: Rated R   (runtime 117 min)

The plot of the 2005 remake is basically the same as the 1979 classic: the Lutz family

moves into a house where a mass killing occurred, and they’re terrorized by supernatural events. However, there are differences in how the story is told, including a faster pace and more direct horror in the remake, while there’s a more psychological focus in the original.

The 2005 remake also delivers some genuinely decent scares and effective jump scares. Its more direct and visceral approach to the terror really helps build the tension and probably helps keep the viewer entertained with the scares.

“The Amityville Horror” remake does have a few memorable moments, such as when we see George Lutz slowly becoming mad (fueled by the house’s evil influence) and the scene where the young babysitter has a disturbing encounter with a ghost.

Despite its poor critical reception (like the original), this remake was a financial hit, indicating a strong audience interest. Over the years, many viewers have found the remake to be an entertaining and creepy “popcorn horror” flick with a few good scares, even if it's flawed at times.

MPA: Rated R for violence, disturbing images, language, brief sexuality and drug use  (runtime 90 minutes)

You can currently stream both the 1979 original and its 2005 remake on HBO Max!

• Honey was rubbed on Rod Steiger's head to draw the flies to him.

• Because the movie was made on a relatively modest budget, James Brolin took less money up front but with a promise of 10% of the gross sales after its release. After the movie became an unexpected blockbuster (at that time it was in the top ten of all time), he eventually received about $17 million. If adjusted for inflation that would be equivalent to a little over $63.5 million in 2021 dollars.

• At the time of its release the film was one of the highest grossing independent films of all time and American International Pictures' biggest hit.

• Even though James Brolin became friendly with George Lutz and his children, he was highly doubtful of their story.

• Like James Brolin, star Margot Kidder also went on record saying she didn't believe the Amityville story either.

• In 1979, attorney William Weber (Ronald DeFeo's defense attorney) filed a lawsuit against George Lutz and Kathy Lutz, charging them with fraud and breach of contract. He alleged that they reneged on an agreement to collaborate with Weber on the book (and subsequent movie). In an interview with the Associated Press, Weber admitted that he and the Lutzes had concocted the horror story scam "...over many bottles of wine."

• For years rumors have circulated that the movie was to be filmed in the actual house in Amityville, NY, but the production team was too frightened to film inside the house. The reality is the town of Amityville denied American International Pictures permission to film any scenes whatsoever in Amityville in an attempt to distance themselves from any publicity. Therefore, AIP found a two-story Dutch-Colonial home in Toms River, NJ, in which to film the exteriors. A third-floor facade was added, along with the crescent moon windows on both sides of the house. Almost all interior scenes were filmed at MGM studios in Culver City, CA. A few interior scenes were filmed inside the actual Toms River house, including the scene when George returns from the boathouse in the middle of the night, then walks onto the sun porch to light a cigarette. In that scene you can see there's no wallpaper and no door in the living room, whereas on the soundstage the living room has wallpaper and a door near the bookshelf.

• Harrison Ford was in consideration for the role of George Lutz after the unexpected success of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Burt Reynolds, James Caan, and Christopher Reeve were also considered for the role.

• This film's success spawned two theatrically released sequels: Amityville II: The Possession (1982), an official sequel/prequel; Amityville 3-D (1983), an unofficial sequel; and five direct-to-video low-budget sequels released from 1989-96. A remake of the original film, The Amityville Horror (2005), was also based on the book written by Jay Anson. The film Amityville: The Awakening (2017), however, is not a traditional sequel, but a 'meta film', taking place in a fictional "real world" where the original 1979 film, its prequel and the 2005 remake all exist.

• To protect the identities of the real life Lutz children, their names were changed for this film.

• The true story behind the movie has a special relationship with two modern horror films, The Conjuring (2013) and Annabelle (2014). Ed Warren and Lorraine Warren, were also involved with the investigation of the real house, and served as Demonology Advisors for Amityville II: The Possession (1982). Oddly enough, Amy's doll is a Raggedy Ann, which is what the real Annabelle is.

• Ryan Reynolds chose not to become close with his on-screen children. He was not mean or rude to them, just very distant. So distant in fact that the children often confided to those on the set that "Ryan doesn't like us!" Reynolds said that he did not want to "fall in love" with the kids. He did this so that when George Lutz started changing, he would have no trouble easing into the verbal and physical abuse.

• MGM claimed the remake was based on new information uncovered during research of the original events, but George Lutz later claimed nobody ever spoke to him or his family about the project. When he initially heard it was underway, his attorney contacted the studio to find out what they had in the planning stages and to express Lutz's belief they didn't have the right to proceed without his input. Three letters were sent and none was acknowledged. In June 2004, the studio filed a motion for declaratory relief in federal court, insisting they had the right to do a remake, and Lutz countersued, citing violations of the original contract that had continued through the years following the release of the first movie. The case remained unresolved when Lutz died on May 8, 2006.

• For the closet scene with the babysitter, the production crew had originally ordered in a rubber door. After shooting the scene a few times, they decided it didn't look right, and they ultimately decided on using a real wooden door, so actress Rachel Nichols had to bang her hands on the door for two days straight while filming the scene.

• This movie was not screened for the critics.

• This was the last picture Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) released as an independent company. On April 8, 2005, the studio was acquired by several companies, including Sony (for a brief period), in the middle of the promotion for this movie. Several other movies, including Into the Blue (2005) and The Pink Panther (2006), were already produced and set for release by MGM at the time of the buyout, and were later released by Sony Pictures.