User reviews

I have to admit, I was very skeptical entering what I believe is the 24th film surrounding the "true story" that took place on Amityville, Long Island in the 70's. This sequel takes us to yet another retelling of the DeFeo crimes which were done in Amityville II (1982).

We meet the DeFeo family who live in our infamous 112 Ocean Avenue Amityville house. During a birthday party, the teenagers take part in some sort of spirit awakening seance which appears to summon something evil. The man of the house Ronnie is an abusive father who beats his children and treats his wife terribly. Butch DeFeo is the oldest son of the family, which the evil Amityville spirit seems to target right away. We spend most of the film watching his decline as he becomes possessed. Eventually, it leads to the conclusion we all see coming.

A major issue with The Amityville Murders is that it isn't really all that scary, much like it's predecessors. We get the typical scares like eerie sounds in the house, doors and cupboards opening and closing on their own, creepy basement stuff, etc. There are some tense moments towards the end with Butch being completely taken over by the spirits, but again nothing we haven't seen done a hundred times before.

It was very nice to see Diane Franklin and Burt Young in this one. They were both in Amityville II: The Possession as father and daughter, and it brought a tear to my horror loving eye to see them reunited. Diane Franklin's role as the mother was a bit larger, and she played it beautifully. The rest were ok, including Chelsea Ricketts as the young teenage daughter Dawn and John Robinson as the possessed Butch DeFeo. His version of possessed teenage son Butch was much better than Jack Magner in Amityville II.

All in all, Amityville Murders is an average retelling of the Defeo murders which we saw told in 1982's Amityville II: The Possession. This film isn't actually all that bad and I enjoyed it more than the '82 sequel. My biggest issue with this film is that it is completely unnecessary. Did it add to anything I haven't already seen before in this series? Nope. It's worth a watch for horror completists, and is better than sequels like Amityville Curse and Amityville Asylum, but feels very average overall.

5/10

By now I guess everybody know the history of 112 Ocean Avenue. Based on true events so many flicks were made about the most famous possessed house that it wasn't neccesary to make another one.

the 1979 and 2005 version were okay, all other flicks in the franchise wer pure fiction and only made a business on the name Amityville.

So another if you like remake here that adds nothing to the story. Extremely slow, no scary parts, the ghost effects were laughable. The killings are really not the name horror worthly. Only the dream sequences of the death family is bloody.

The last 5 minutes are the best, footage from 1974 and a bit of history of the Lutz family moving in for only 28 days.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1,5/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

"The Amityville Murders" is one of those movies that gives the sensation of dejavu to the viewer. The story is well-known by fans of horror movies and does not show anything new and does not surprise. The acting is not bad but watching this film is waste of time. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Oh yay, another Amityville film! Because that's what 2018 needed *Sigh*.

Starring a couple of industry veterans and former cast members of previous Amityville movies this dull lifeless effort has done nothing to reinvigorate a stale franchise or turn this dreadful year for movies around.

Instead of covering the Lutz family as many of the previous have it tells the original story of the Defeo family building up to the tragedy that befell them. The trouble is alike the Lutz's we don't really know what happened and therefore a huge chunk of the movie is pure fiction and supernatural garbage.

Ronnie Defeo went from room to room shooting his family as they lay in bed. The mystery being how none of them heard the gunshots, how they were all shot in bed (Blood stains proved they hadn't been moved) and why neighbours also were oblivious to what took place. Yes it's a mystery, no I don't believe it was demonic forces!

The Amityville murders does have some good performances and it was fantastic to see Burt Young on screen in 2018, but it's so darn boring!

For huge fans of the Amityville legend only I'd say.

The Good:

Dead Island trailer theme (Weirdly)

Some good cast members

Good performances in places

The Bad:

Criminally boring

Just shouldn't exist

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Mothers are more concerned with their kids art style than their drug use

Changing the details in a true story makes perfect sense

Very poor prequel. Shabby retelling of a true horrific crime. An actual movie based on facts and not silly demonic themes would be welcome. I cant believe Dianne Franklin and Burt Young bothered with this project...

Amityville - I don't even know how many movies have been made under the name/story. I also think that even if I had read up on the true story, I wouldn't or couldn't tell what really was or happened, because I've seen a bunch of these movies and they all add a bit or maybe even take a bit away. That being said, this is an "origin" story. With all the sequels apart from the reboots, you gotta sell it somehow don't you? That was a rhetorical question of course.

Having said that, I was quite surprised by the very stellar cast this assembled. Now it may not be the best horror movie out there, but it sets a mood and it is quite consistent throughout. Tension is high and even if you know where this is going (though even unfamiliar people will guess the outcome), it really is nicely told. The madness takes form and you can see why certain things are happening. Which is all a testament to the performance of the dad ... but also the others that are involved. I'm surprised this got so poorly rated, but you can't please everyone of course.

The Amityville Murders: An accurate representation of what it was like growing up in the 70s. Abusive parents bullying & beating their children, and finally one of them snapped. I'm surprised this kind of thing wasn't more common back then. No demons, devils or haunted house or other supernatural entities necessary.

This isn't a bad addition to the series, but it's not "award winning" great either. The acting is good to mediocre, and the grandmother is by far the worst actor. The movie fills in a blank that's been left hanging for years bringing the series full circle. All in all, I'd say it's worth at least one viewing.

It's 1974, three weeks before the infamous murders. Ronnie DeFeo (Paul Ben-Victor) and Louise DeFeo (Diane Franklin) have five children; college-age Butch (John Robinson), Dawn (Chelsea Ricketts), Allison, Marc, and Jody. Butch and Dawn are calling upon the spirits in the red room. Ronnie has nefarious dealings and brutally beats his family. Butch has nightmarish visions and continues to deteriorate. Butch is sick and alone at home on Halloween. The house is ransacked and Ronnie's money is stolen from his safe.

This is based on true events. As always, one has to take it with a good helping of salt. It comes with the supernatural anyways so the pretense is pretty thin. At least, it's trying to fit the true story in and around the spirit world. The most compelling part may be the return of Diane Franklin. This really should be the story of Dawn. She's the 'normal' character and the story could be seen through her eyes. The supernatural part should be in question for the majority of the movie. The drama isn't there. As a horror, it could be much better. There is potential but it's concentrating on the wrong character.

Another cash grab at the fictional demon of amityville. Half of the things in this movie were fictional, or grossly inaccurate. The real Defeo had mental issues and did drugs, he didn't see demons. There's no such thing as hauntings or demons making people kill. This hurts the victims who died from the real tragic events. This movie isn't even entertaining as a fictional story... and the fake accents are painful.

I love horror movies. Don't even mind b movie. This was beyond. It looked like a high school art project. Not even worth a late night in.

I was expecting little to nothing from this entry. Am not a huge fan of the series. Thought the original and the Ryan Reynolds reboot had their respective merits. Figured I could passively watch this while multi-tasking. To my surprise it was very good. By no means on any of my "all times" list but far better than I could have reasonably expected. Don't know how accurate it is--and the people that would know are not talking--but, assuming it is, it's a good account of the events that led up to the original film. If you are interested in a slow-burn thriller--ostensibly based on real events--check this one out.

Eek. What could have been a subtle and grown-up piece resorted to over-blown CGI failures than in ghost films are generally a bad call. The acting was thetre workshop standard although the lovely and talented Diane Franklin "reprises" her attachment to Amityville franchise. This lacks depth and grit, and has the feel of a new young director that has been raised on some bad movies. Sorry but this is a watch once. Shot digitally and like many low budget films, it feels low budget. Digital has made films look like TV shows.

Couldn't stop looking at my smartphone. No acting talent and no interesting story. Just random mess.

Do they ever think of effects? Stop making real life murders into horror films such as this.

Was Paranoid Schizophrenia not known about in the early 70's?

The movie is mostly mediocre with some nice moments...

BUT Paul Ben-Victor's performance as grumpy abusive dad is delightful.

This film essentially begins a couple of weeks before a young man named "Ronald 'Butch' DeFeo Jr." (played by John Robinson) kills his parents and all four siblings with a rifle he claims was given to him by an evil entity within the house in Amityville, New York. Just prior to the killings, the film incorporates a number of scenes in which Butch DeFeo's father "Ronnie DeFeo Sr." (Paul Ben-Victor) physically abuses his son on a number of occasions. And it's primarily for this reason that Butch becomes heavily involved in drugs--which further hastens his mental and emotional decline into complete insanity. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film is basically a remake of the prequel known as "Amityville II-The Possession" produced back in 1982. Unlike that movie, however, this film doesn't quite have the same creepy atmosphere due to the primary focus being on drug abuse over that of an evil presence within the house. Having said that, while this film is definitely better than a number of others in this series, I don't consider it to be on the same level as the 1982 film, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.