The Amityville Horror

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The Amityville Horror

R

1979

1h 57m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

33%

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48 Reviews

52%

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50,000+ Ratings

Chiller about a family who is terrorized by supernatural forces when they move into a new house in New York State 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 exorcize the evil spirits.

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Critics Consensus

Dull and disappointing, the best that can be said for The Amityville Horror is that it set a low bar for its many sequels and remakes.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Mar 20, 2019

[The Amityville Horror] begins with the promising premise of a haunted house in the suburbs (poltergeists in the barbecue pit?) and quickly degenerates into a display of pretentious camera angles.

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K.C. Summers

Washington Post

Mar 20, 2019

The Amityville Horror is a horror. What is supposed to be the true story of a young couple driven from their dream house by demons turns out to be nothing more than a rip-off, and a tedious one at that.

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

Jun 26, 2017

Its pacing is off, there are too many go-nowhere subplots, & it seems just to come to a clunking halt at the end [but] the film's lack of commitment to any single reading of its narrative architecture is precisely what makes it so uncanny.

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Jan 28, 2026

6/10

Ignore the silly attempts at faking a true story, and Amityville is an effective and oftentimes scary haunted house thriller.

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Sep 11, 2025

4/5

Some components feel dated all these decades later, but commanding lead performances and an effective embrace of the spookiest parts of the story still make it frightening.

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Bryce Hanson

Horror Movie Talk

Jul 25, 2025

5/10

The movie ends up being an example of the pitfall of having a lot of plot, and no story. The characters seem one dimensional, and the ending feels unsatisfying.

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Melissa L

@Agent99 8 hrs ago

This was supposed to be a "scary" movie. I read the book. I read, too, about the fact that this is not really based on a "true story", because it was established this story was not true. The movie wasn't scary. I found it amusing.

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Teddy B

@RT90521672 Oct 12, 2026

It really tries to be the 'Exorcist' of haunted-house movies: slow, atmospheric, chilling, psychologically dense. Only one of those applies to the 'Amityville Horror'. The film isn't interested in...anything, really. It just sort of sits there and shuts up, and is pretty depressing to be around. It doesn't flourish with the intelligent chaos of 'Poltergeist', or simmer with the subtle terror of 'The Haunting'---it just exists and fades away, leaving less than the memory of a lasting impact. The performances are middling, the scares fall flat, the cinematography is just pleasant enough to be forgettable...what else can you really say? Lois Lane flits around in a ridiculous schoolgirl outfit in some scenes, and James Brolin broods, even if nothing sad is ever happening to him, and sometimes even dares himself to act, so I guess that's something...

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 15, 2026

The Amityville Horror = a *2.5* star Movie!

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B P

@Bradster69 Sep 3, 2026

Not Bad, but Not My Favorite

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Jody C

@JodyCazz Aug 4, 2026

A well enough written story with plenty of hidden themes mixed in. However it adds up to be just another dull haunted house movie on cursed land more or less. This came after the exorcist and still managed to learn nothing scary from it. At least it tries to give some sort of homage to the real incident I suppose. Scare Factor: 1/10.

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Eugene A.

@Asqarman May 16, 2026

Great movie, best soundtrack

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Stuart Rosenberg

Director

James Brolin

George Lutz

Margot Kidder

Kathy Lutz

Rod Steiger

Father Delaney

Don Stroud

Father Bolen

Natasha Ryan

Amy

The Amityville Horror: Official Clip - Flies Attack Father Delaney

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Synopsis

Chiller about a family who is terrorized by supernatural forces when they move into a new house in New York State 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 exorcize the evil spirits.

Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Producer: Ronald Saland, Elliot Geisinger
Screenwriter: Sandor Stern
Distributor: American International Pictures
Production Co: American International Pictures (AIP)
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 27, 1979, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 31, 2017
Runtime: 1h 57m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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