The Amityville Horror is NOT based on a true story.

Some horrors just won't die, and The Amityville Horror is a case in point. The tale of a reportedly demon-infested house in Amityville, New York, became a best-selling novel in 1977 and a hit horror film starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder in 1979. Several inferior movie sequels followed in its wake (including a 3-D version), and 15 April 2005 saw the debut of a remake, this one starring Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George.

I had a debate yesterday with a realy stupid guy insisting that this flick was inspired by true events.
Its really funny how easy people bite on marketting taglines nowdays.

When the original book came out, the author insisted it was based on real events. Then, when the original movie arrived, the producers also insisted it was based on real events and promoted it that way. It wasn't until a few years later that "The Amityville Horror Conspiracy" argued that none of the story was true.

Turns out that at least a part of the Amityville story was true. People were actually murdered in the house, and people lived in the house after the murders. But no evidence of ghosts and such have ever been documented. It appears to have been pure fabrication.

John

Fabrication or not, the book scared the crap out of me when I read it as a kid. Maybe none of it's true, but it was certainly effective. Just believing that it might be true was freaky enough for me to stay awake a few nights.

Bottom line is, if it is meant to be scary and it does the job effectively, then does it really matter if it's true or not? Nevertheless, I never found the first film as effective as the book, but I am curious to see what the movie makers have done with the new remake version.

Tim