At 3:15 AM on November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his entire family at their house at 412 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. He claimed that he was persuaded to kill them by voices he heard in the house, a chilling confession that casts a shadow over the property from the very start.
One year later, a married couple George Lutz and Kathy Lutz move into the same house along with Kathy's three children from a previous marriage, Billy, Michael, and Chelsea. The family soon begins experiencing paranormal events that unsettle the household and blur the line between the ordinary and the otherworldly. Chelsea claims she has befriended a girl named Jodie, a name that eerily echoes one of the murdered DeFeo children and hints at a deeper history attached to the residence.
When the couple hires a babysitter to look after the kids, Lisa arrives with the uneasy memory that she had previously worked at the DeFeos’ home. Lisa recounts the murders to Kathy and is shaken by Chelsea’s insistence that Jodie told her she is a bad babysitter. A test of nerve follows when Billy dares Lisa to enter the closet—the very closet where Jodie was killed. Inside, she encounters Jodie and, overwhelmed, goes into shock; paramedics later transport her to the hospital, where she shares the chilling experience of having seen Jodie.
As time passes, George’s behavior toward Kathy and the children grows increasingly abusive, and the disturbances in the house persist. One night, a dog named Harry barks from the boathouse, and, seemingly under a malevolent influence, George seizes an axe and murders the family dog, mistaking it for a demonic presence. The children search for Harry the next day, while Billy grows wary of George’s erratic actions and denies any knowledge of the dog’s fate.
Seeking protection, Kathy asks Father Callaway, a priest, to bless the home in hopes of banishing the troubling phenomena. The blessing proves to be anything but comforting—Father Callaway flees the house in the face of overwhelming events and uncanny forces. Delving into the house’s troubled past, Kathy learns that it once belonged to Reverend Jeremiah Ketcham, a cult preacher whose brutal treatment of Native Americans during his 17th-century “mission” in Amityville is said to fuel the haunting. In the basement, George encounters apparitions tied to Ketcham’s era, and a dimly lit room reveals Ketcham himself. The spectral figure turns, slits George’s throat with a knife, and replays the preacher’s own self-inflicted injury, washing George in blood and nearly driving him to possession.
Kathy concludes that George’s violent actions may stem from a spiritual possession. Following Father Callaway’s urgent guidance, she attempts to evacuate her children and lead them to safety, but the possessed George fights back, threatening to kill them. Kathy knocks him unconscious and ferries the family away from the residence by boat. In the aftermath, the family leaves the house within 28 days of arriving, never to return. Jodie is left standing in the now-deserted home, screaming in terror as the house seems to revert to its original, unwelcoming state. In a final, unsettling image, she is dragged downward beneath the floor by a pair of disembodied hands, leaving the audience with a lingering sense that the home’s dark history has not fully released its grip.
