The Amityville Terror
Sixteenth film inspired by The Amityville Horror.
The 2016 American horror film *The Amityville Terror*, directed by Michael Angelo and written by Amanda Barton, went straight to video. It marks the sixteenth movie based on Jay Anson’s 1977 novel *The Amityville Horror*. Nicole Tompkins plays Hailey Jacobson, a teenager whose family—dysfunctional from the start—relocates to a haunted house in Amityville, New York, where they face attacks from both supernatural forces and hostile locals.
The Jacobson family consists of parents Jessica and Todd, their daughter Hailey, and Todd’s troubled sister Shae. Shae buys the house through property manager Delilah McAllister, unaware of its dark history. Hailey soon befriends a local teen named Brett and is bullied by classmates Theresa, Sally, and Claire. While bathing, Shae hallucinates that her flesh is burning, and her behavior grows increasingly erratic. Brett tells Hailey about a boy named Jimmy Oberest, who once lived in the house and drowned his baby sister in acid before killing his parents.
Todd’s boss, mechanic Mike Arkos, visits because he dated Shae in college. He finds Shae holding a scalpel behind Jessica. Mike begs Delilah to spare Shae, but she refuses. Later, Todd accidentally starts a fire at the auto shop, killing Mike. Meanwhile, Jessica works in the garden, repeatedly cutting herself and covering her body in blood. Todd goes to a bar, where Delilah tries to seduce him. When he returns home, his wife appears to seduce him, but she is actually Shae in disguise.
Hailey meets Brett’s psychic friend Jenny Chan, who reluctantly agrees to cleanse the house. During the ritual, Jenny is supernaturally thrown from an upstairs window. Hailey finds Shae painting with a scalpel from a bag belonging to Dr. Willis R. Cranston, who disappeared in 2004. Hailey tracks down his brother David, who says Willis bought the house from Delilah. Hailey breaks into Delilah’s home and discovers a file cabinet full of folders on families who rented the Amityville property and vanished. Delilah catches her, but Hailey escapes to the police station and calls her father, telling him to leave with Jessica and Shae. She also calls Brett, who reveals that Jimmy Oberest and his family practiced black magic in the house, opening a portal to Hell. Delilah is Jimmy’s sister, who was absent during the murders. Hailey sees two men carrying Jenny’s body and follows them to a makeshift gr
- title
- The Amityville Terror
- year
- 2016
- director
- Michael Angelo
- writer
- Amanda Barton
- starring
- Nicole Tompkins
- release
- Video on demand on August 2, 2016; DVD on October 4, 2016
- based_on
- Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror
Lore & Background
The plot follows the Jacobson family—Jessica, Todd, their teenage daughter Hailey, and Todd's troubled sister Shae—who move into a haunted house in Amityville, New York. Shae has unknowingly purchased the house from property manager Delilah McAllister. Hailey befriends local teen Brett and is bullied by classmates Theresa, Sally, and Claire. Shae experiences hallucinations of burning flesh and grows stranger, while Hailey learns from Brett about a boy named Jimmy Oberest who drowned his baby sister in acid and killed his parents. Todd's boss Mike Arkos, who once dated Shae, visits and finds her holding a scalpel behind Jessica; he later dies in a fire at the auto shop. Jessica cuts herself in the garden, covering herself in blood. Delilah attempts to seduce Todd at a bar, and Todd is later seduced at home by Shae in a supernatural disguise. Hailey enlists Brett's psychic friend Jenny Chan to cleanse the house, but Jenny is thrown out an upstairs window. Hailey discovers that Dr. Willis R. Cranston, who disappeared in 2004, bought the house from Delilah. Breaking into Delilah's home, Hailey finds files on families who rented the property and disappeared. Delilah is revealed to be Jimmy Oberest's sister. The townspeople, led by Theresa, feed the house to appease an evil spirit. Theresa decapitates Brett, and Hailey kills Theresa. Returning home, Hailey finds her parents butchered and fights Shae, killing her with an arrow. In the epilogue, Delilah shows the house to the Douglas family, seen killed in the prologue.
Reader's Guide
The Amityville Terror is notable as the sixteenth film adaptation inspired by Jay Anson's 1977 novel, continuing the long-running franchise's tradition of direct-to-video releases. Released by Uncork'd Entertainment in 2016, the film received largely negative reviews, with critics describing it as generic and forgettable. Tex Hula of Ain't It Cool News ranked it tenth out of twenty-one Amityville films he reviewed, noting it had more gore, sex, and nudity than any other entry but was bland and boring. Brandon Long of PopHorror called it a generic knockoff, praising only a few brutal death scenes and Aunt Shae's deteriorating sanity. Kieran Fisher of Scream magazine deemed it the epitome of generic and forgettable, recommending it only to diehard franchise fans. The film's significance lies in its status as one of many low-budget, direct-to-video entries that expanded the Amityville mythos, though it failed to distinguish itself critically.
Did You Know?
- The film was released direct-to-video on August 2, 2016, and on DVD on October 4, 2016.
- It is the sixteenth film to be inspired by Jay Anson's 1977 novel The Amityville Horror.
- The character Delilah McAllister is revealed to be the sister of Jimmy Oberest, the boy who drowned his baby sister in acid and killed his parents.
- Tex Hula ranked it the tenth best out of twenty-one Amityville films he reviewed for Ain't It Cool News.
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