The Amityville Horror

George Lutz, his wife Kathy, and their three children move into a handsome Dutch colonial on Amityville's quiet coast, lured by a price that feels too good to be true. The house seems to keep to itself, with quiet corners that whisper and rooms that seem larger than they should, while neighbors warn of a dark past tied to previous occupants. At night the family experiences unsettling visions and instincts that pull them toward strange acts and dangerous impulses. The living spaces grow claustrophobic as fear and doubt replace trust, and each member wrestles with forces that test the bonds between husband, wife, and children. A simple relocation becomes a chilling test of nerve. The days grow tenser for them.

Directed by Andrew Douglas, this 2005 remake adapts Jay Anson's original book with a screenplay by Sandor Stern and Scott Kosar. Produced on a 19 million budget, it was released worldwide, reviving the Amityville haunted house story for a generation.

The film earned about 107,516,369 worldwide, a solid return for a mid budget horror remake. Its box office success helped cement the Amityville brand as a viable source for contemporary scares, drawing sizable audiences across global markets for fans everywhere.

The Amityville name remains a touchstone in horror cinema, shaping the late 2000s wave of haunted house remakes and prompting filmmakers to revisit the franchise with modern effects. The film helped popularize sharper CGI sequences and kept the mansion setting as a staple in pop culture discussions.

Critical response was mixed, with praise for atmosphere and the cast but critique of familiar jump scares and a conventional setup. It foregrounds family strain and how a dream home can reveal hidden tensions rather than true malice. The movie uses the house as a mirror for unresolved fears today.