The Amityville franchise has seen a wealth of sequels, spinoffs, and remakes, but in what order do the canon films go? The horror franchise was launched in 1979 with the release of The Amityville Horror, drawing its inspiration from the supposed true haunting of the Lutz family as chronicled in the book of the same name by Jay Anson. The original film was such a smash hit that it immediately garnered sequels, and the Amityville story grew increasingly outlandish with each installment. Though many of the claims made in the book have been debunked, the actual true crime case of the DeFeo family murders has continued to spark imaginations.
While the actual canon of The Amityville Horror is extremely tenuous, there are nearly a dozen films that can claim a connection to the source material in some way or another. Conversely, there is also a seemingly unending flood of unofficial Amityville films that use the recognizable name to draw in potential customers solely because the story and its setting are in the public domain. Though there is some dispute as to which Amityville movies are considered franchise canon, the actual films in the series draw their ideas from a piece of the original story, and there is a proper order for these 11 installments.
The Amityville Horror (1979)
Based on the Jay Anson book of the same name, The Amityville Horror follows the Lutz family as they experience terrifying supernatural events after moving into a home that was once the site of a grisly series of murders. Though the film received middling reviews from critics at the time, The Amityville Horror was a box office smash (via Box Office Mojo) and its reputation quickly grew as a new horror classic. The 1979 outing was a mostly accurate adaptation of Anson's book and was therefore the closest the films came to telling the supposed true story of The Amityville Horror.
Amityville II: The Possession (1982)
While the order of the Amityville movies is somewhat unimportant to the individual installments, Amityville II: The Possession is actually a prequel to the original film. The Montelli family moves into a new home and soon is targeted by demonic forces that possess Sonny, the eldest child. Amityville II significantly picked up the pace from the original, and praise was given to its special effects and use of tension. The film is an adaptation of Murder in Amityville by parapsychologist Hans Holzer and is loosely based on the real-life DeFeo family murders which inspired the entire Amityville hysteria in the first place.
Amityville 3-D (1983)
Though a series of legal battles prevented it from being marketed as a direct sequel to the previous two Amityville movies, Amityville 3-D is still canon in a roundabout way. In the film, a skeptical reporter moves into the infamous house in Amityville in order to debunk the supernatural story, but he soon learns the tales were all too true. The classic movie theater gimmick of 3-D was used to spice up the otherwise forgettable sequel, and its loose connection to the order of the Amityville films made Amityville 3-D an unnecessary cash grab.
Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes (1989)
Following the destruction of the Amityville house at the end of Amityville 3-D, the chronological order of the Amityville films becomes muddled, and Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes does not pick up where the third left off. Its story follows a woman who purchases a possessed lamp from the Amityville house and brings it with her as she moves to California. Amityville 4 is based on the fictional novel by John G. Jones, which originally chronicled the Lutz family's move across the country. Resoundingly lambasted for its silly premise and lack of scares, Amityville 4 was the first non-theatrical Amityville installment, as it aired as an NBC TV movie.
The Amityville Curse (1990)
Hans Holzer's novel of the same name served as inspiration for The Amityville Curse, though the movie's place in the order of the Amityville franchise is unknown other than that it was the fifth film to be released. Set once again in the town of Amityville, it follows a couple who moves into a house that is haunted by an evil spirit linked to murder. Continuing the Amityville Horror possessed objects trend, The Amityville Curse lacks the same power as its predecessors. Besides that, many unanswered questions plague the story, and it's unclear whether the film was supposed to take place at the original Amityville house.
Amityville: It's About Time (1992)
Like the fourth film, Amityville: It's About Time is based on John G. Jones's novel Amityville: The Evil Escapes and tells the story of an architect who brings home a possessed clock from the Amityville house. The straight-to-video film offers little in the way of scares, and its low budget keeps it from being anything but lackluster. Its place in the order of the Amityville movies is just as unsure as its predecessors, and its connection to the Lutz family and their harrowing alleged ghost story is pushed further than ever before.
Amityville: A New Generation (1993)
Though The Amityville Horror's true horror story could barely be called true, the mythos of the Amityville films was stretched to their limit in this straight-to-video installment. Amityville: A New Generation concerns a man who is the son of a murderer from Amityville who is gifted with a possessed mirror from the notorious Amityville house. Though Amityville: A New Generation has a loose connection to the franchise, it does feature some interesting monster effects, and its big city setting was something new, unlike the deluge of haunted house stories that had come before.
Amityville Dollhouse (1996)
Coming as the final film in the original Amityville series before it was rebooted, Amityville Dollhouse sees a family discover a dollhouse replica of the notorious Amityville home and are soon attacked by the demonic forces that live within. While previous films in the Amityville series had some sort of connection to the source material or were based on a book, Amityville Dollhouse is one of the few canon films to have no basis in the original story whatsoever. As such, the movie fails to live up to even its straight-to-video predecessors, and its razor-thin plot adds nothing to the larger mythology of the Amityville franchise.
The Amityville Horror (2005)
After nearly a decade without an Amityville film, the 2005 remake reset the order of the beleaguered horror franchise. Like the film that inspired it, The Amityville Horror was not very well received by critics; it was generally panned as being somewhat dull. Nevertheless, It did add new fictional wrinkles to the ghost story that hadn't been told before, and it tried to be a horror movie first, and a "true story" second. It grossed an impressive $100 million (via Box Office Mojo), but it failed to relaunch the Amityville franchise as had been intended.
Amityville: The Awakening (2017)
Amityville: The Awakening is one of four movies to come out the same year bearing the name, but it's the only one to be a canonical part of the series. The film follows a teen living in the legendary Amityville house who begins to suspect that her brother is a vessel for demonic evil. Dimension Films and Blumhouse co-produced the film, and it put a brilliant spin on its story by establishing that the previous Amityville movies were all fiction. Though it's far from a horror classic, The Awakening makes frequent references to the original DeFeo case and firmly established itself in the order of the Amityville movies.
The Amityville Murders (2018)
The Amityville Murders is a direct prequel to the first movie. Set in 1974, the movie chronicles the last days of the DeFeo family before they are brutally murdered by Ronald DeFeo Jr., who claimed voices told him to kill. Unlike Amityville II: The Possession, which took the same story to verbose heights, the relatively straightforward and factual approach to The Amityville Murders make it unique, but somewhat boring. It draws on Hanz Holzer's book Murder in Amityville and is perhaps the most canonical Amityville movie behind the original.