The Amityville Murders (2018) User Reviews (39)

The Amityville Murders

[HorrorFan1984 · 5/10 · 11 April 2020]

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

doesn't add a thing and slow

[trashgang · 4/10 · 30 January 2019]

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

Déjà vu?

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 22 February 2019]

"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

Looked better in the previews

[joeplai · 3/10 · 5 April 2019]

Slow moving, full of little historical inaccuracies and lacked authenticity.

Acting was "meh", watching the mother try to smoke/not smoke that cigarette in the kitchen was painful. Modern doorknobs, electrical outlets and LED candles? I would think that if you were planning to make a retelling of something historic, you'd make sure sure that every effort to ensure authenticity in your sets. Isn't this kind of research what interns are for?

If your budget was the problem, you should have just told the story in the first-person in Butch's head and used stills of the actual DeFeo's when you needed them...

The Amityville Murders: I almost fell asleep

[Platypuschow · 3/10 · 17 November 2018]

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

Worst yet

[rogerstacy · 1/10 · 24 February 2019]

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...

True fiction

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 26 September 2020]

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.

Why in the hell

[anikkidiaz-147-317483 · 1/10 · 23 August 2020]

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.

Inaccuracy is scary

[Pnkprinses309 · 15 January 2020]

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.

based on true events

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 14 July 2019]

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.

The Amityville Murders: An accurate representation

[mrhalloween1 · 5/10 · 4 March 2019]

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.

Shockingly good!

[reywal99 · 8/10 · 11 March 2019]

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.

They even got one of kid's names wrong

[marysammons-42220 · 4/10 · 14 October 2019]

Not only do they have an actress many years older than Louise DeFeo playing the part but they got one of the kids names wrong. There was no Jody DeFeo. That's the name of the "friend" Missy Lutz had when the Lutzes lived there. The DeFeo kid was John. If you're going to do a movie about a true story it matters that the details are right.

Could have been so good...

[dobly58 · 2/10 · 19 June 2019]

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.

Scarily awful

[dickchenny · 1/10 · 9 August 2019]

This movie got under my skin the acting is bone chilling and it's just awful. The tone is non exist the movie is about as subtle as a flashing neon sign with techno music. I really don't see why there are any good reviews. One compliment I can give the movie is it's incredulous sound designs and sound effects from fart sound affect # 2 and the will-helm scream. The way the portray a real life tragedy is down right embarrassing they show the father beating his son almost to death and the almost kill his daughter and then his son tries to kill him and he just becomes nice to his son. They also tangle up some stupid missing money plot like anyone's supposed to care about that in a amittyville movie and just so many scenes are awful. Like the great scene when the girl plays madlibs and predicts the future which is a very nice touch but I do believe u owe Hitchcock for that little filmmaking trick. This movie was bad like worse then I was expecting bad and the worse part is definitely the end of the movie. The only creepy part of the case is how everyone was fast asleep and no one woke up when all the shootings happened sure it's unsuspensful but it's creepy and a movie that was more subtle and didn't straight up show the murderer have like demons and shadow people follow him around could have capitalized on this. Well instead in this version two people were awake and one person even walked all the way home. The dad gets whipped and dies in his bed face down and the girl runs away and then decides to hide face down in bed and gets shot. This movie is actually a joke I feel like this was a rough copy of the movie but the teacher wanted it in by the next day so he put a bunch of the soundeffects and visual effects in post. This movie is bad don't see it

BORING

[marcosturm · 4/10 · 21 March 2020]

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

Supernatural Causes?

[jayrh33 · 5/10 · 27 August 2019]

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

Get a new way of life, film creators.

[aqvye · 1/10 · 29 March 2021]

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

One of the better films about Amityville.

[halcyonbear · 8/10 · 7 April 2019]

There have been a handful of decent films on the subject of Amityville but also a few real straight-to-video stinkers. I personally think this is one of the best films to tackle the subject. I understand why it has gotten some low ratings. In a world where people want horror films to be full of jump scares and unsubtlety, this offering is very much understated...and is all the better for it. Suspense is slowly built up and then sustained and special effects are used sparingly. Amityville has become part of contemporary folklore. The debates about whether or not it was a hoax will continue undoubtedly. What the ending of this film does, with the use of crime scene photographs and family photographs, is remind us that at the centre of the legend is the undisputed fact that a family was murdered in the house on Ocean Drive, regardless of whether or not we believe the rest of the tale. It's a sad truth that is often lost among the folklore and is a sobering thought.

Well... But

[jamesearlcash-70151 · 4/10 · 14 October 2020]

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

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

More Amityville

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 14 February 2020]

This movie realizes how to get my heart. By casting Diane Franklin in the role of Louise DeFeo and having Burt Young show up in an early cameo, it makes a link to the scumtastic Amityville II: The Possession. A discussion of backmasked records and a Ouija-board aided trip to the Red Room to start the film? Well, it's already better than most of the non-connected Amityville films already.

It's written and directed by Daniel Farrands, who I have taken to task over movies like The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. Perhaps my Amityville standards have been lowered by a week of watching every single movie in the series one after the other after the other.

The relationship between Dawn and Butch DeFeo is still the central theme of this film, but unlike the aforementioned second film, the incest angle isn't hammered home quite so strongly. However, the brutal nature of the father, Ronnie (Paul Ben-Victor, who you'll recognize as a character actor from so many films), is really on center display here.

I will say that the DeFeo house is way nicer than it's ever appeared before. In previous films, it's been shown as being large, but always in such disrepair. Maybe if I knew that this home on Ocean Avenue was so nice, I'd understand why people stuck around when blood came running down the walls.

Another worst horror film! Too many boring talking and overuse scene! Barely a killing scene show to us! Avoid at all freaking cost!

[kwenchow · 1/10 · 6 January 2020]

This film start with a footage of the birthday celebration of a brother and sister(Butch and Dawn), and their grandfather give both of them a car as a present scene! As turnout, this film is about Butch allegedly murder his entire family by the manipulation of the ghost in his house, but instead he kill his entire family because the influence of his abusive father "Ronnie"! Entire film full of boring overuse scene! Such as, overuse of the casting spell scene, overuse of the watching news and movie on the TV scene, overuse of the close up facial expression scene, overuse of the door annoying at the background scene and overuse of the lightning sound scene! All the killing scene in the film never show to us, just hear the sound and the blood after the killing! Barely intense scene is, a bird hit itself at the door and died! At the end, Butch kill his entire family and capture by the police! Several years later, another family move into the house and eventually move out again because the house allegedly haunted by ghost! At the very end, a fly stick at the window of the house! That's it! Completely wasting time to watch!

Blurry

[baunacholi-86159 · 3/10 · 7 April 2022]

Movies with the background of true events do have a certain fascination. How much is real, creative freedom or hear say - well it's gets blurry. Obviously in the mystery genre even more...ultimately I missed suspense in this specific case. Nonetheless a tragic & sad story.

Ok Re-Telling, But Slow

[vengeance20 · 5/10 · 7 September 2021]

So another entry to cash in on the Amityville name comes in & reanacts that fateful night back in November 1974 where Ronald Defeo murdered his whole family with a high powered rifle as they slept. The film was ok at best & at worst slow & dull.

The film basically retells the story of Ronald "Butch" Defeo who murdered his whole on the night of the 13th November 1974 with a high powered rifle as they slept. The film also does some back story telling leading up to the deadly events of that night.

I found the film to be mostly slow, dull & lacking any kind of kick or interest. While it's interesting to see a reanactment of the killings & seeing a backstory before the said events, I felt that the only highlight was the end part of the film. The rest before it wasn't all that great, the pacing & execution I think had a great deal to do with it. Had those aspects been dealt with better, made more interesting or sped up, then I would've gave the film a higher rating. The 90 minute runtime wasn't justified in this case.

Overall, it's ok, but nothing to get excited about. We already know the story of the Defeo family & through different films in this franchise alone along with other films & documentaries, we've seen the killings being reanacted so the poor back story telling makea this film seem a bit pointless & more cash grab esque.

5/10.

Brings back the feel of the original and the first sequel.

[baumer · 9/10 · 16 February 2019]

The Amityville Murders feels and looks much more like the first two did back in day. Part of what made Amityville Horror 1 and 2 so effective is that they allowed the story to build before bashing you in the face with all of the horror. I personally thought part 2 was scarier than the original (the original is a very fine film) and the reason for that is Sonny's possession and subsequent killing spree was really effective.

The Amityville Murders has a lot of the same feel as the original sequel and it even benefits from a little wink to the audience as Burt Young and Diane Franklin share the screen again for the first time since Amityville 2. They even play father and daughter again. I enjoyed seeing Burt Young on screen again.

Diane Franklin gives a really good performance here as Louise Defeo, in fact, she is the only reason I saw this film in the first place, as there have been many Amityville films over the years. Thankfully she was not the only good performance in the movie. John Robinson and Chelsea Rickets are both terrific as the two teenage Defeo kids. They are both bullied by their father, a mean, nasty SOB, played wonderfully by Paul Ben-Victor. But we didn't watch the Amityville Murders for good performances. The question is, is it scary and does it deliver. And the answer to both of these questions is yes.

By now you should know the story this is based on. Butch becomes possessed by the house and the demons that reside there. They go into a bit of an explanation as to why the house may be bad but the background info is secondary to how it is carried out. There is one part of the movie that gave me chills and it's the reason for why everyone in the family was killed face down. I won't ruin this part, but suffice to say, it's very chilling.

I enjoyed Amityville Murders. It was effective and it was scary when it needed to be. The last half hour is the best part of the movie but the buildup is also very well done. And it's great to see Diane Franklin go back to one of her earliest films and revisit it. All in all, if you liked the first two, then I think you'll like this one as well.