The Amityville Horror (1979)
Added How We Rate
- Directed by
- Stuart Rosenberg
- Written by
- Sandor Stern, Jay Anson
- Produced by
- Elliot Geisinger, Ronald Saland, Samuel Z. Arkoff
Why it’s HorroRated
Brolin's slow slide from cheerful homeowner to haggard, axe-sharpening wreck makes it worth seeing, and Lalo Schifrin's lullaby score is pure creeping dread. The oozing walls, the swarm of flies and that basement have become haunted-house shorthand for a reason. It's also long, repetitive and more grim than frightening by the last act, and Steiger's scenery-chewing priest seems to belong in another movie. A landmark of seventies haunted-house horror, worth seeing once.
Synopsis
Long Island's most infamous address takes center stage in The Amityville Horror (1979), Stuart Rosenberg's adaptation of Jay Anson's 1977 bestseller about the Lutz family's claimed haunting. James Brolin and Margot Kidder play a young couple who buy the home where a family had been murdered a year earlier, Rod Steiger plays a priest who tries to bless it, and the story kicked off a franchise that Hollywood revisited with a 2005 remake.
Filed under
Where to watch The Amityville Horror (1979)
- Subscription
- Prime Video · AMC+ · MGM+ · AMC · Philo
- Rent or buy
- Prime Video · Apple TV · YouTube · Google Play · Fandango at Home
Streaming in the US changes often. Listings from JustWatch via TMDB, checked October 27, 2026.See every option
Quick facts
- Release date
- July 27, 1979
- Runtime
- 1 hour 58 mins
- Country
- United States of America
- Language
- English
- Content rating
- R
- Entry type
- Movie
Content notes
- Murder backstory
- Children in peril
Tags
If you liked this…
The Amityville Horror (2005)
2005 · Movie
The Conjuring 2
2016 · Movie
Poltergeist
1982 · Movie