Some scary stories are worth retelling. If there's one horror franchise that proves this, it may just be Amityville. Since the debut of the original film in 1979, dozens of directors have taken up the grisly tale of the haunting that destroys a family.
Not every film in the franchise has been a masterpiece, but even those that have fallen short of technical perfection have something to offer, be it great casting, quippy dialog, or nightmarish special effects. Given Amityville's longevity thus far, it seems the series may be as implacable as the evil house itself and the killers that terrorize the families within.
10 Amityville: It's About Time
After the Amityville house is demolished, an architect retrieves an ornate clock from the ruins and takes it with him to California. Ignore the pun title. The film is better than it, even if it will never be one of the highest-grossing horror movies.
Stephen Macht, Shawn Weatherly, and Megan Ward all turn in stronger performances than one should reasonably expect from the sixth entry in a horror franchise, rounding out a script that would otherwise feel flat. The special effects are also strong for a direct-to-VHS title, helping keep the film's head above B-movie water.
9 Amityville: A New Generation
What helps certain sequels and horror adaptations succeed is the ability to deviate from the original recipe enough to keep things fresh. What keeps the Amityville franchise, in particular, is its ability to iterate and expand upon a simple haunted house tale. Amityville: A New Generation shifts the danger from the house itself to a cursed mirror that once resided within.
Lin Shaye, Terry O'Quinn, and David Naughton headline the film, and it's their performances that carry it. Decent camerawork and special effects do the rest. Amityville: A New Generation is a solid showing, even if its plot separates it somewhat from the franchise's main arc.
8 Amityville 3D
Richard Fleischer directs and Meg Ryan and Laurie Laughlin star in a film about a photographer who moves into the Amityville house to prove it isn't haunted. It's fitting that a film centered around photography should be the first to use what was for the series a revolutionary film technique: 3D.
There's something funny about horror films that employ 3D, and that's as true of Amityville 3D as any other. Debuting in 1983, it's a distinctly 80s film centered on a distinctly 80s technology. One can argue that's part of the charm.
7 Amityville Dollhouse
While the film might not be grisly enough to entice viewers that liked Halloween Kills, there's a lot to like about Amityville Dollhouse. Its premise is a spin on the original film and a departure from much of the franchise. The threat here isn't the Amityville house itself but rather a dollhouse replica which is the source of the haunting.
A little girl and her parents move into the infamous house on 112 Ocean Avenue, which is when the girl receives the dollhouse, instigating a series of terrifying supernatural occurrences. This plot tweak is enough to keep things fresh without turning its back on the series's heart.
6 Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes
One would think that in a series about a haunted house, the indispensable element would be the house. Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes proves that isn't the case. Priests conduct a less than stellar exorcism of the Amityville house, succeding only in transferring the haunting to a lamp, which is then sold at a yard sale and carted off to California.
This may not be the kind of plot that lands a movie on a Best of Shudder list, but at least the scenic shift is a refreshing change in keeping with the 80s nuttiness of the film. "Spooky lamp" is a pitch that should kill a movie, but Amityville Horror: The Evil Escapes survives its premise.
5 Amityville II: The Possession
People need to stop moving into the house in Amityville. That should go without saying, but since Amityville II: The Possession follows an almost identical plot to the first film, with a new family moving into the house and expecting idyllic bliss, it seems someone should warn the good people of Long Island lest terrible occurrences keep befalling them.
The expected haunting tropes are here--sinister messages and slamming doors--but they appear alongside tougher, real-world horrors that warrant trigger warnings. Amityville II: The Possession may be a divisive film, as sequels often are, but it's a successful one.
4 The Amityville Murders
Some detractors of The Amityville Murders argue that the film is too detached from the realities of the actual Amityville killings, revising or ignoring history to arrive at a gorier conclusion. The criticism is valid but misses the point of the film. After all, The Amityville Murders is not a documentary, it's a horror film.
Unlike other films in the series which use the DeFoe murders to justify the haunting and supernatural events, this one concentrates on the DeFoe murders themselves. When John Robinson performs this well as Ronald DeFoe Jr., the film doesn't need multiple villains or a supernatural twist.
3 Amityville: The Awakening
Amityville: The Awakening is an unexpected gem. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bella Thorne, and Cameron Monaghan are all well-cast. Monaghan in particular wrings a surprising amount of character from a role that is without dialog for most of the film.
The relationship between Thorne's character and her friends provides a welcome relief from the domestic drama unfolding elsewhere in the plot, and the film's horror is well-done. It might not terrify, but it certainly disturbs, with some strong body horror moments from Monaghan and an appropriately sinister finale. Amityville: The Awakening is a fun reinterpretation unafraid of some meta self-awareness.
2 The Amityville Horror (2005)
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2005's The Amityville Horror might not have the body horror of Amityville: The Awakening, but it has Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George and an A-list budget. These factors combine to elevate it above almost every other film in the series.
As a remake of the original film, The Amityville Horror (2005) doesn't break new ground in plot or characterization, but it doesn't need to thanks to the strong leading performances and solid cinematography. It's scary, graphic, and intense but never slips into pure exploitation, creating a film that is well-balanced and enjoyable overall.
1 The Amityville Horror (1979)
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Carried by strong performances by James Brolin and Margot Kidder, 1979's The Amityville Horror is a domestic nightmare masquerading as a supernatural one. The starring couple and their three children move into a new home, expecting familial bliss, only to be terrorized by the spirit that haunts the seemingly plain house.
Blood drips. A red room is discovered. Terrors escalate from the merely disconcerting to the outright terrible. It might not put Halloween and other early slashers to shame, but its use of violence is judicious enough to disarm. Almost everything great about the films found later in the series can be found here first.