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Bad guys are great. There's nothing quite like a malevolent presence that implacably wishes evil on everyone in town. A guy with a sneer and a moustache and an upset stomach. A guy totally unlike the evil entity in "The Amityville Horror."

The horror in this movie, alas, isn't a bad guy at all. Doesn't have a shape or a face or a personality. May not even be a guy. Is a presence that causes the worst sorts of things to happen. Who upsets the dog and causes the doors to bang open and makes the house too cold all the time and, in short, makes things just like Chicago.

The presence persecutes a family played by James Brolin  and Margot Kidder  and a bunch of kids, who have to scream and quake on a regular basis for 28 days in the book and for 21 days, if I counted correctly, in the movie. They play a couple named George and Kathy Lutz, whose experiences inspired a bestselling book named, of course, "The Amityville Horror," and who moved out of their house and left their furniture behind and moved to San Diego, fulfilling all of our dreams.

Is the story based on fact? I have no way of knowing. I've met George Lutz; I had a couple of beers with him in the Los Angeles Airport, and he seemed to be a likable and a totally believable person. He told me, soberly and earnestly, of the terrible things that happened to him and his family in that haunted house on Ocean Boulevard on Long Island, out there where people move in every expectation of learning Craig Claiborne's "New York Times Cook Book" by heart.

Was he telling the truth? Did green slime really squirt from the keyholes? Did a a redeyed pig really glare through the windows? Did a ghostly marching band really parade through the living room? Maybe so; we've all made bad real estate investments. But the question isn't so much whether those terrible things really happened as whether (please forgive me for my lack of reverence) they've been made into an entertaining movie.

They have not. They've been made into a dreary and terminally depressing series of glum things that happen to the residents of the Ocean Boulevard house. Nobody who has had to live under a roof and amidst four walls and pay the rent could possibly find such things amusing.

The stairs collapse? There are thousands of flies in the sewing room? There's a pig with glowing red eyes staring in through the windows? The problem with these folks is that they've moved to Long Island. There are lots of neighborhoods in Chicago in which they woulda made a good investment.

But am I growing facetious? Not really. In order to be a horror movie, a horror movie needs a real Horror. The creature in " Alien " was truly gruesome. The case of possession in " The Exorcist " was profoundly frightening.

The problem with "The Amityville Horror" is that, in a very real sense, there's nothing there. We watch two hours of people being frightened and dismayed, and we ask ourselves... what for? If it's real, let it have happened to them. Too bad, Lutzes! If it's made up, make it more entertaining. If they can't make up their minds... why should we?

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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The Amityville Horror (1979)

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Film review: the amityville horror (1979).

Jay Alan 04/19/2017 Uncategorized

This 1979 chiller is based on the reportedly true story of George Lutz (James Brolin) and his wife, Kathleen (Margot Kidder), who move into their Long Island dream house with their children. But the Lutz’s lives turn into a hellish nightmare as the legacy of a murder committed on the premises gradually affects the family. Even the priest they call in, Father Delaney (Rod Steiger), cannot exorcise the demonic presence from the home.

Screenplay by: Sandor Stern Directed by: Stuart Rosenberg Starring: James Brolin, Rod Steiger and Margot Kidder Based on the novel by: Jay Anson

Hell-o, homebodies of Horror. It is with great pleasure that I give you all the review of the second film that got me into the Horror Genre when I was three years old. The second “doorway” into my realm of lifelong Horror addiction (the first was The Town That Dreaded Sundown, review coming soon)… The Amityville Horror. A timeless classic that lives within the hearts (and if you’re Horror fans, your homes) of many. A re-make was just released a few years ago (of course) that fails in comparison to this paramount of a Horror monument. A little background on the story…

The actual home that the film is based off of is known as the “most haunted house in America” and “the most frightening house in America.” Another home was originally on the property, built in seventeen eighty two. It was moved off of the land and the infamous house that is in its place now was built in nineteen twenty eight. Many speculate as to if the Lutzes were telling the truth, or making the whole thing up as a publicity hoax. They claim that the house taunted them and a priest that they invited into the home to cleanse it of the evil. Twenty eight days after moving in, George and Kathy Lutz, their children and the family dog fled the home and was said to never returned again. Some say in fact, this is not true. Some say they actually did return a few months later to gather some of their belongings. The house now has a new appearance and address, with trees covering the front. The “evil eye” windows have been changed to square ones.

Nevertheless (after some advice from investigators, a priest and a lawyer), they sold the story to an editor that did not want to show his name as an Author, but handled the writing anyway. His name was Jay Anson and he later wrote the book, The Amityville Horror, in which this film was based. The book and film are said to be extremely over exaggerated and far from the truth of what really happened in the home. The Lutz also ran into trouble from a few different sides for their story. Their personal lives were affected as well. Actual residents of the home have said the scariest thing about the home has been the many wandering and curious trespassers onto their property. The movie was the highest grossing independent film for eight consecutive tears until it was knocked from its throne..

The film is awesome and still stands today as one of the best ghost stories and Horror films ever made. A creepy atmosphere, dark throughout and the acting is for the most part, superb. Margot Kidder (of the original Black Christmas) does a fantastic job as Kathy Lutz. James Brolin (who got his start in acting from truck commercials) does an awesome job as George as well. He goes from loving father… to almost evil bastard. The children, for their age, also act their parts very well.

This film has remained one of my favorites as practically a baby. It has not left my collection every since. He sequels are also included. Of course, none of the sequels live up to the original, based after the book. In my opinion, this is the monster of haunted house films. One that in the Horror genre… cannot and must not be ignored. Some of the current residents of Amityville, Long Island would beg to differ and are not too keen on (and some are not kind to) the continuous, year after year stream of curious visitors to this legendary home.

The Amityville Horror is filled with haunts and disturbing imagery that were original for its time. Which such gags as the bleeding walls, the herd of flies that swarmed the priest in the sewing room, the crumbling holy statue in the eyes of the Priest… and of course, there’s the now infamous verbal command of the home… “GET… OUT!” The house is alive, and it’s pissed. The score is creepy and soothing at the same time. It sets the tone to let the hauntings begin. The sounds of drums are also used in a fright inducing manner, as they subtly play form the living room as the Lutzes sleep.

On the set of filming, it is said that the crew made up different ghost stories to tell the press. The media ate it up with a silver spoon. There were psychics called to the home after the Lutzes fled to investigate the occurrences. Some say nothing happened, others beg to differ. One reporter (that spent the night in the home) said that the true fright came from viewing the film in the theater with the pot smoking crowd.

There are some of the actual story that the movie did not tell in the right light. I am a stickler for the truth in true stories. “The red room,” as it was called, was known as “the gateway to Hell” in the film. In actuality, it was a play room built by the family that lived in the home before the Lutzes. The family that is mentioned at the very beginning of the film. Also, the bartender said that George reminded him of the kid that lived there before him. He was arrested sitting in that same spot. That is also untrue. He was arrested at the prison as he was kept for protective custody. Which brings me to the story of the prequel. The proven true history of the house. The story that many called the real Amityville Horror… The original has spawned many sequels (and the re-make). The Amityville Horror II: The Possession, The Amityville Horror 3-D, The Amityville Dollhouse and The Amityville Curse… also based off of a novel by Hanz Holzer, a Paranormal Investigator that also spent the night in the home). Part two: The Possession is still very over exaggerated, but gets closer to the truth of the home than any other sequel (with the exception of the demonic possession and the way the family was murdered)… The Defeo family (or as known in The Possession, The Montelli family)…

In November of nineteen seventy four, the prior owner of the home’s eldest son, Ronald “Butch” Defeo Jr.., killed his entire family as they slept in their beds (in the sequel, the killing did not quite go the way as it truthfully did). He was sent into the station for police protection after telling authorities that a hit man killed his family. From there, he has never left. He had several other stories of how his family was murdered that night. It happened in a very different way than explained in the original and its sequel. Some even say his eldest sister helped, but that has not been proven with solidarity and the possibility was thrown out in court, due to his original confession (… a first of many) A prequel to this film about what truly happened in this now infamous house needs to be made (112 Ocean Avenue for bid now at www.abbotmanagement.com ).

All in all, The Amityville Horror is a movie that actually, you should have already seen. If you have not, shame on you ( not two thousand and five re-make, which changed the story line and even the address of the house… I’m talking about the original). The frights of the home have held up after many years and will never cease to exist. This film should be in the dvd (or video) library of every Horror fan. Maybe it will be the “doorway” into your childrens’ lifelong dimension of Horror as well. I give this film, The Amityville Horror, FOUR IMMORTAL HORNS UP.

The Amityville Horror (1979)

Tags Amityville Horror James Brolin Jay Anson Margot Kidder Rod Steiger Sandor Stern Stuart Rosenberg The Amityville Horror

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The Amityville Horror Review

15 Apr 2005

Amityville Horror, The

Some films should never be remade - the resulting retreads are often so inferior they forever tarnish the original. The Amityville horror, happily, isn't one of those films. The 1979 first stab, though hugely successful, squandered a strong, and allegedly true, story with hokey jumps and dialogue. This remake still ends up losing its nerve and resorting to predictable shocks and loud noises but stands as marginally superior to its predecessor.

The haunted house horror is one of the hardest to make consistently scary, since there's no actual monster to be vanquished and if one is concocted, it'll only end up ruining the third act with tiresome rather than terrorsome CGI. A rattled chandelier or creaking floorboard can maintain a sense of creeping terror if a director uses them confidently, allowing the audience to play with its own fears of what may be lurking in darkened corners. But after an hour of well maintained shivers, making the most of the titular residence's murky expanses with the Lutz family huddled in dimly lit rooms, director Andrew Douglas evaporates the scares by visualising everything that was previously only suggested and substituting slow build for rapid demolition.

Still Reynolds and George are interesting choices for the leads. Initially they seem far too young to play the mother and stepfather of a 12-year-old child, but are in fact of a similar age to the real-life Lutzes. Reynolds proves particularly unsettling, beginning the film in his familiar cocksure joker mode, before slowly breaking down into paranoid sociopath as the house takes a grip on him (madness helpfully signposted by bloodshot contact lenses, for those audience members who find axe wielding and shouting too ambiguous). George is given little to do, though, other than harangue the worst exorcist ever (Philip Baker Hall), but in the final stages gives good shriek.

If Amityville could keep its tongue from occasionally creeping into its cheek it would be more effective, but feels the Scream-a-like need to constantly reference other horror movies. Nods to the Exorcist, Halloween and a virtual headbang at The Shining may be sly and post-modern, but reminding audiences of classics of the genre rather draws attention to the movie's own shortcomings.

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• DVD & Streaming

The Amityville Horror

Content caution.

In Theaters

• Ryan Reynolds as George Lutz; Melissa George as Kathy Lutz; Jesse James as Billy Lutz; Jimmy Bennett as Michael Lutz; Chloë Grace Moretz as Chelsea Lutz; Rachel Nichols as Lisa; Philip Baker Hall as Father Callaway

Home Release Date

• Andrew Douglas

Distributor

Movie review.

In 1974, Ronald Defeo Jr. shot to death his parents and four siblings in their Amityville, N.Y., house. Afterward, he claimed that voices had told him to commit the murders. About a year later, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house and quickly moved out again in a few weeks.

That much of this story seems to be fact.

Seeing an opportunity in the public’s fascination with the grisly murders, Jay Anson’s 1977 book embellished the Lutzes’ story to create the now infamous haunted house saga. That spawned a 1979 film and a handful of sequels. And now, to quote another ’70s horror franchise, “It’s baa-aack.”

In this remake, George Lutz has just married the widowed Kathy, joining her family of two sons and a daughter. Although it will stretch them financially, George and Kathy buy the house in Amityville, priced low due to the murders. Almost immediately, they start noticing strange things—doors and windows that seem to open by themselves, disturbing visions and little Chelsea’s “imaginary” friend Jodie.

Worse, formerly nice-guy George starts getting harsh with Kathy and the kids. He’s sick all the time. And he spends a lot of his day in the creepy basement. When her daughter is endangered and things go badly for the Catholic priest who comes to bless the house, Kathy knows they have to “get out!” But George won’t let them.

Positive Elements

Evil is portrayed as genuinely evil. (No balance is presented, though. I’ll discuss that more in the “Conclusion.”) Kathy refuses to give up on her husband, even while he’s under an extremely negative influence. Kathy puts her children’s safety above her own. And I guess you couldsay that haunted house movies might spur the economy by motivating spooked homebuyers to lean toward new construction instead of buyingexisting homes with “a history.”

Spiritual Elements

Dark evil. Possessions. Occult images. Preternatural phenomena. Kathy goes to a local Catholic priest for help. But when he comes to bless the house, the holy water sizzles on whatever it touches, a door closes inverting a doorknob with a cross on it and he is attacked by a swarm of flies. He flees in terror.

Eventually, we learn that the property was used in the 1600s by a Reverend Ketchum as a mission for Indians, whom he secretly imprisoned, tortured and killed. The priest explains that Ketchum slit his own throat in the basement to ensure that his spirit would never leave. George apparently becomes possessed by Ketchum’s spirit.

When asked what he prayed for before bed, little Michael tells his mom he can’t say or his wish won’t come true. Billy, 12, says praying doesn’t work because he prayed for his dad not to die. Mom replies that some things happen for reasons we can’t understand. Later, when Chelsea says Jodie was going to “show me Daddy,” her mom tells her that Daddy is in heaven with the angels.

Sexual Content

George and Kathy are seen in bed together fooling around (fully clothed). Later, they’re shown having sex (with some movement). Kathy is partially nude, seen topless briefly from the side and longer from the back.

A teenage babysitter wears a small, cleavage-revealing halter top. While lying on Billy’s bed, she asks the tweenager if he “Frenches,” explaining it is kissing with tongues. He says no.

Violent Content

The movie opens with a depiction of the original crime, made more disturbing by the fact it actually happened. Blood gushes and splatters as we watch Ronald Defeo Jr. shoot five of his family members in their beds as they sleep. He finds his youngest sister (maybe 6 years old) hiding in her closet, tells her he loves her, and we hear the fatal shot. The crime scenes, including shots of Jodie’s dead body, are flashed onscreen throughout the film.

George sees glimpses of Jodie hanging dead in a noose. Chelsea (who is about Jodie’s age) interacts with the girl’s ghost, whose ashen, veiny face has a prominent bullet hole in the forehead. George dreams that he sees himself shooting the boys in their beds with a shotgun. Blood flows from the walls, and a gruesome, bleeding face appears next to Michael’s in a jump cut. Jodie is seen held struggling to the ceiling by disembodied arms. Later, Jodie torments the babysitter by locking her in a closet, appearing to her and forcing her to put her finger in the bullet hole in her head. The sitter has a mental breakdown.

Little Chelsea is led by Jodie to the high top of the house’s roof, forcing George and Kathy to risk their own lives to save her as she jumps. Confused by a vision, George kills a dog with an axe, with bloody results. Later, George forces a terrified Billy to hold logs as he splits them with the same axe.

George is grabbed by disembodied arms in the bathtub, pulling him down. He has visions of Rev. Ketchum’s torture chambers, including images of men with backs splayed open on an altar, lips stapled shut, etc. George eventually “sees” Ketchum slit his own throat, spurting large amounts of blood all over George’s body. Fully possessed, George attacks the family, trying to kill his wife with the propeller of a speed boat, by choking her, and eventually by swinging an axe at her and at Billy. (In his mind, he sees himself hit her with the axe.) Billy and Kathy both hit George with blunt objects. George falls from a roof. Toward the end of the movie, we’re “treated” to a speed-cut montage of all the most gruesome, bloody images in the film.

Crude or Profane Language

Harsh language includes close to 10 uses each of the f-word and “d–n” (including multiple uses of “g–d–n”). Also heard fewer than five times each: the s-word and “p—ed off.” A little girl is rebuked by her mom for repeating the word “a–hole.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

George and Kathy drink wine with dinner at a restaurant. The babysitter smokes from a bong.

The original book and film of The Amityville Horror undoubtedly benefited from the idea that it was a firsthand account of an actual haunting. After all, the crime was real, the Lutzes are real people, and they did move in and out of the house in a matter of days. Just facts enough to give the story some credibility—25 years ago.

Since then, the supernatural aspects of the tale have been thoroughly debunked as hoax and discredited by key players. Even the investigations of so-called “paranormal researchers” failed to turn up anything tantalizing. George Lutz, at least, seems to be sticking to the original story, but without much support. Knowing this, writer Scott Kosar and director Andrew Douglas must have decided that they’d need lots more blood, scary images and violence to attract a new audience.

And they do pile it on. So much so that their Amityville becomes little more than a series of artificially scary supernatural and bloody moments. Why build suspense when you can just show another gruesome special effect? Admittedly, some of those moments are effective at inducing fear, but it’s all eventually numbing, especially since we know exactly where the story is headed from the start.

More disturbing is the way Kosar and Douglas put children in harm’s way for entertainment purposes. In re-creating the original killings, four children are murdered with a shotgun, one as she pleads for her life. It might be one thing if the film was wrestling with the gravity of that kind of violence in some way. But as a boilerplate horrorfest, Amityville trivializes those real-world deaths. And it turns one of the murdered children into a supernatural killer herself. The Lutzes’ kids are threatened repeatedly as well, to give the audience more thrills.

As is often the case with modern horror films, the positive side of the supernatural world offers little hope of help. Michael’s childlike faith in God is portrayed as superstition, and Billy’s faith remains lost after the death of his dad. The priest’s faith and God are shown as completely ineffectual against the dark power of the house, while the demented Rev. Ketchum remains undefeated in his evil spiritual power 400 years after his own death.

The Lutzes’ story may have been proven false, but the real danger of spiritual evil is not in moving around the furniture in the middle of the night. Satan’s greatest weapon remains deceiving people about the true character of God. Any film that waters down respect for God’s power over evil (along with respect for human life) “just for fun” can’t hurt those efforts.

Christopher Lyon

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The Amityville Horror Reviews

…immediately forgettable and disposable stuff, without even the hook of sticking to the original details of the supposedly true story…

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 8, 2023

The Amityville Remake is a serviceable mid-tier entry in the 2000s remake craze...It’s not terrible, but aside from the lingering body shots of Reynolds running around in low-waisted pyjamas in the rain, it’s not particularly memorable either.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 28, 2023

While I'll concede that the film has its moments stylistically, it is still a rather pointless journey into an already tiresome genre.

Full Review | Nov 18, 2019

Assumes for all of its thankfully brief 89 minutes that its audience is stupid and easily-bored, and proceeds to fling nonsense at us without pause.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 19, 2017

I would implore anyone who ever wrote it off as a soulless remake to dig a little deeper with a rewatch, because you might just be surprised at how great of a modern horror movie it truly is.

Full Review | Apr 13, 2017

A remake of the 1979 film, The Amityville Horror tries for a clasic sense of creeping suspense, but is sadly inept.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Dec 28, 2010

A really bad remake, for a bad movie...

Full Review | Apr 29, 2009

This is a slightly better-than-expected remake of the 1979 film of the same name.

Full Review | Mar 10, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Less frightening than just unpleasant.

Full Review | Original Score: F | Jul 23, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Jul 14, 2007

Against the odds, the remake rivals the original for sheer mediocrity.

Full Review | Mar 1, 2007

the original wasn't really that great, nor did it have a substantial cult following to justify a remake. So, unusual as it may be, this remake is a much, much better film.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 10, 2006

The best thing I can say about Andrew Douglas's remake of The Amityville Horror is that it gave me a reason to track down the original film.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 1, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 1, 2006

The movie's only aspiration is to be a jacked-up re-jiggering of a name-brand horror 'classic.' It sets out to be not just schlock, but pre-chewed schlock.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Feb 7, 2006

...this Amityville Horror feels less like a film and more like a "greatest hits" compilation of scenes from better movies.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 26, 2006

The Amityville Horror is just another decidedly bland, but mildly entertaining, horror film churned out in the rush to cash in on the reemergence of horror in Hollywood.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 6, 2005

... The Amityville Horror is the best horror movie of the year so far. Faint praise, to be sure, but at least it's R-rated.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Douglas logra varios momentos de tensión en los que, si se va al cine con la suficiente intención de disfrutar la película, llega a generar uno que otro buen susto.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 28, 2005

Movie Review

The amityville horror (1979).

• Review by Stefan Birgir Stefans
• Published on April 7, 2021

In 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his family in their home in Long Island, New York. A year later, George and Kathleen Lutz bought their house. Even at the reduced price—it was a murder house—they couldn’t afford it and quickly ran into financial issues. At some point, they met up with DeFeo’s lawyer who just got a book deal. The book needed to be juicy, and he needed something as a defense, since his client brutally murdered his parents and his four younger siblings—the youngest was nine years old. He offered the newlyweds a part of the book deal, money they really needed, and together they made up a story about the house being haunted. America was itching for good ghost stories. The Exorcist (1973) had been a massive hit, and a dramatic real-life tale could be worth gold. In the end, the lawyer and the Lutzes parted ways, there were lawsuits about who owned the story, and if it was true or not. The Warrens, from The Conjuring (2013) , were even involved at some point.

Or, you know, the house was really haunted and everything the Lutzes told Jay Anson (the author of the book this movie is based on) was one 100% true, flies and all.

Anyways, the book was a hit and this film a giant one—it was the highest grossing independent film until 1990! It influenced pop-culture and it started a film series that makes you really question what constitutes a “film series.” According to IMDb it has eight sequels, Wikipedia says it has sixteen and TMDB tops it with twenty-two sequels. This discrepancy is because the famous word Amityville is not the house, but the neighborhood, and therefore can’t be copyrighted or trademarked. Anyone can make a ghost film titled Amityville Something and it depends on who you ask if it’s a sequel or not. You could also make a “Escape from Elm Street,” but unlike ghosts, Freddy is copyrighted.

The film itself is something I really enjoy. It stars the original Lois Lane, Margot Kidder, as Kathy Lutz and James Brolin (father of Josh, husband of Streisand) as George. Both actors are immensely likeable and charming, but they both make you feel like that behind a thin veil, something could go off. We don’t need to talk about the reality of that for Kidder, but she is great in this part. She goes from being sexy as heck at the start of it, then slowly her sanity unravels as the evil presence in the house takes hold of George. Brolin is an actor I love, and he shines here. He can go from someone you trust instantly just because of his smile, to a madman, and then back again to a friendly face in a minute.

Most people know the story of The Amityville Horror , if not from watching the film or reading the book, then from cultural osmosis, since it has been parodied and copied so often. A family moves into a new house. Evil lurks there. Rod Steiger tries to bless it but is covered by flies and told to “get out” by the demonic forces. The husband goes insane. Spooky shit happens repeatedly, and in the end, the family escapes, never to return.

It’s a great story that has inspired many ghost hauntings, and it’s also inspired by what came before it but mixes it up. In The Exorcist , the Catholic Church wasn’t against the exorcism taking place, they just thought Father Karras wasn’t experienced enough. Here, the mayor from Jaws makes a cameo as the mayor from Jaws as a senior member of the church who says nothing unusual is happening and the church isn’t going to intervene. It does have the older-young priests dynamic from The Exorcist , and even has a detective hanging around that doesn’t seem to be needed by the plot. Unlike one would think, though, George going mad on his family with an axe is not Amityville copying The Shining (1980) . The Shining came out a year later, and Jack didn’t have an axe in the Stephen King novel (he had a croquet mallet).

The Amityville Horror is a well-made and entertaining 1970s ghost film that has some genuinely scary and immensely memorable moments, topped with great acting from its cast. It definitely is in my list of top ten haunted houses flicks, and I’ve seen a lot of haunted house flicks.

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The Amityville Horror

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Let’s t with the good news: The house looks great, especially at night with a storm rattling its windows. Or is that noise coming from ghosts moaning inside? Everyone loves a haunted-house movie. That’s why the first Amityville Horror , in 1979, was a hit despite being boring, stupid and excruciatingly overacted (the scariest element was Rod Steiger hamming it up as a priest). The remake, also called The Amityville Horror , as if the earlier movie never existed, isn’t much better. Except for jacked-up special effects, it’s the same old story based on Jay Anson’s allegedly factual best seller about a Long Island family who move into a Dutch colonial in Amityville, only to learn their dream house has a history. Just a year earlier, in 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot his parents and four siblings in their beds, claiming the house made him do it. No wonder George Lutz (Ryan Reynolds) got a deal on the place. Undeterred, George, his wife, Kathy (Melissa George), and her three kids by a previous marriage (hubby died) move in. “There are no bad houses, just bad people,” says George. Has this dude never seen a horror flick? Then he ts seeing things. Feeling cold, he chops wood, which requires an ax, which is not a good tool to have handy if your stepkids really irritate you. First-time director Andrew Douglas crams in every ghost cliche, from demonic faces to dripping blood. This house springs so many FX shocks it plays like a theme-park ride. Result? It’s not scary, just busy. For the real thing, watch Psycho to see where Norman Bates shacks up with his mom. Or The Shining , which shows how a deserted hotel can freak out Jack Nicholson. Or The Haunting , the 1963 film of Shirley Jackson’s story about a house you can feel in your bones. Or The Innocents , the 1961 screen take on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw , with a mansion that gives off menacing erotic vibes. What all those films have in common is precisely what the new Amityville Horror lacks: They know it’s what you don’t see in a haunted house that fries your nerves to a frazzle.

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The Amityville Horror (2005)

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The amityville horror (2005), common sense media reviewers.

Intensely violent and scary -- and a poor remake.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

No positive messages.

There are no real role models.

Graphic violence. A young man shoots his sleeping

Sex scene between a married couple where a naked b

Very strong language. Repeated uses of "f--k."

Adults drink at a restaurant.

Parents need to know that The Amityville Horror contains a first sequence where a young man shoots his sleeping family in their beds; a mild drinking scene at a restaurant; a sex scene between married couple George and Kathy (her nude back is shown); repeated scenes of George turning increasingly mean,…

Positive Messages

Positive role models, violence & scariness.

Graphic violence. A young man shoots his sleeping family in their beds. Repeated scenes of George turning increasingly mean, violent, and scary-looking; an axe-attack on the family dog; and a last sequence where he chases Kathy and her three kids with a shotgun and axe.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sex scene between a married couple where a naked back is shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Amityville Horror contains a first sequence where a young man shoots his sleeping family in their beds; a mild drinking scene at a restaurant; a sex scene between married couple George and Kathy (her nude back is shown); repeated scenes of George turning increasingly mean, violent, and scary-looking; an axe attack on the family dog; and a final sequence where he chases Kathy and her three kids with a shotgun and axe. Scary effects -- stormy nights, stalker cameras, and jump-editing -- create a chilling atmosphere. George and Kathy use strong language (repeated uses of "f--k"). To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (8)
• Kids say (31)

Based on 8 parent reviews

What's the Story?

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR begins with a prologue about the first bloody murders. Cut to one year later, when George ( Ryan Reynolds ) and wife Kathy ( Melissa George ) move in with her kids Billy (Jesse James), Michael (Jimmy Bennett), and Chelsea ( Chloë Grace Moretz ). As soon as they move in, menacing voices tell George to kill his family. Chelsea communes with the ghost of the dead daughter, who talks her into a dangerous rooftop climb. Complaining that the house is always cold, George moves into the basement to be near the furnace. He starts yelling at the children and punishing them excessively. George's personality changes are evident, but he returns to his old, pleasant self whenever he leaves the house. Kathy calls in a priest (Philip Baker Hall) with holy water, but he flees in fear, leaving her to cope with the demons and her raging husband.

Is It Any Good?

Though Ryan Reynolds turns in a convincingly ominous performance, edged with dark humor, this remake is erratic and intensely violent, especially against children. The updated scary effects -- stormy nights, stalker cameras, and jump scares -- create a chilling atmosphere that surpasses the original film's notorious cheesiness.

But nonsensical plot holes overwhelm any scene-by-scene effectiveness in The Amityville Horror , as the characters make frequent bad decisions (leaving the children alone in the house, or with a babysitter they don't know), and fall victim to shoddy transitions between scenes. It's also unrealistic (and annoying) that Kathy puts up with George's growing viciousness at home, considering he's as nice as can be when he's away from the house.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about haunted houses like the one in The Amityville Horror. How do these stories address fears of relocating, old houses, and seemingly inexplicable mass murders? How does this version reinforce the children's concern about accepting a new father and feeling disloyal to the dead father?

Families might also discuss the movie's representations of troubling extended family relationships (stepfather who turns abusive and then murderous), ineffective religious agents (a priest is frightened by the house and abandons the family), and the mother's confusion at her husband's erratic behavior (afraid of him herself, she allows him to threaten her children).

What is the appeal of horror movies? How does this one compare to others you have seen?

Movie Details

• In theaters : April 15, 2005
• On DVD or streaming : October 4, 2005
• Cast : Jesse James , Melissa George , Ryan Reynolds
• Director : Andrew Douglas
• Studio : MGM/UA
• Genre : Horror
• Run time : 100 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence and terror, sexuality, language and brief drug use
• Last updated : June 19, 2023

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Reader's Digest

40 Movies Based on True Stories You Won’t Be Able to Stop Thinking About

Posted: December 21, 2023 | Last updated: December 21, 2023

The most compelling movies based on true stories

There's a reason there have been so many incredible movies based on true stories: It's because the truth is more fascinating than fiction a lot of the time. What also helps our appreciation is just knowing that these stories actually happened, so we're able to relate to the characters on a much deeper level. We feel what they feel, and we see the world from their perspective, and that’s not just true for the best dramas .

Movies based on true stories have the potential to run the emotional gamut. They can be hilarious , heart-wrenchingly sad or outright terrifying —or even all three at the same time! But the best ones are thought-provoking and will stick with you for days after you've left the theater or closed your laptop. We've put together a list of films that will please every kind of movie watcher, including biopics, epic romances , war stories and historical dramas. We based our picks on blockbusters, award winners, critical darlings, classics and cinematic game-changers. No matter what you’re in the mood for, you’ll find it on this list.

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Released: 1997

Rated: PG-13

Memorable quote: "A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets."

Twenty-five years after its release, our hearts still go on for James Cameron's Academy Award–winning romantic drama. Set against the tragic 1912 sinking of the grand ocean liner, Titanic tells the tale of Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet), who defied their onboard class restrictions (she was a wealthy first-class passenger, he was a starving artist from steerage) and fell hopelessly in love.

While Jack and Rose were fictional characters, the deaths of 1,500-plus passengers and crew on the Titanic were not. Between Cameron's stunning visuals, including a CGI recreation of the ship's sinking, and one of the best movie soundtracks of all time, audiences will never let go of Titanic.

12 Years a Slave

Released: 2013

Memorable quote: "I don't want to survive. I want to live."

It is nearly impossible for a movie based on a true story to avoid taking any creative license, but 12 Years a Slave comes very close. One of the most harrowing kidnapping movies, Steve McQueen's Oscar-winning film recounts the incredible journey of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free Black man tricked and sold into slavery in 1841, and his eventual rescue more than a decade later. The film is also one of the best book-to-movie adaptation s because it doesn't shy away from the brutality detailed in Northup's memoir, specifically the horrific whipping of Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o). Although 12 Years a Slave has a "happy ending," with Northup reuniting with his family, the film is still one of the saddest movies based on real-life events.

Released: 2012

Memorable quote: "This is what I do. I get people out. And I've never left anyone behind."

Despite being a gripping spy thriller based on the very real extrication of six American diplomats from Iran in 1980 by CIA operative Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck, who also directed the movie), this film took a lot of creative license. So much so that Arg o is actually one of the most historically inaccurate movies ever made. We don't want to include any spoilers here, but there's a big, climactic sequence on the tarmac at one point in the movie ... and it never happened. But never let the facts get in the way of a good story, right?

Hidden Figures

Released: 2016

Memorable quote: "On any given day, I analyze the velometer levels for air displacement, friction and velocity. And compute over 10,000 calculations by cosine, square root and lately analytic geometry by hand."

Biopics about the Space Race usually focus on the White, male astronauts privileged enough to set foot in a spaceship, but what about the people who got them to the moon and back safely? Hidden Figures tells the story of three brilliant Black female mathematicians working for NASA in the early 1960s: Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe).

Even though they were subjected to racist laws at every turn—like Katherine having to run across the Langley Research Center campus just to use a segregated bathroom, or Mary not being allowed to take night classes at an all-White school to become an engineer—these women persevered. And in the process, they changed the trajectory of the American space program. Hidden Figures should be added to any Black history movies must-watch list.

Released: 2018

Memorable quote: "We are alone. No matter what they tell you, we women are always alone."

One of the most critically acclaimed movies based on true stories on Netflix, Roma is a semi-autobiographical tale of writer-director Alfonso Cuarón's childhood. The film follows Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), the beloved Mixteca live-in maid for a wealthy Mexico City family in the early 1970s. Cleo must delicately walk the murky line between employee and family member—especially when she faces an unplanned pregnancy.

Aside from being one of the best Hispanic movies , Roma is also a gorgeously shot film. Cuarón opts for black-and-white instead of bright, garish '70s colors, and he manages to find the beauty in the mundane, like the opening shots of water cascading over the concrete as Cleo washes the driveway.

Schindler's List

Released: 1993

Memorable quote: "There will be generations because of what you did."

Thirty years after premiering in theaters—and winning seven Academy Awards—Steven Spielberg's masterpiece about the horrors of the Holocaust remains not only one of the best '90s movies but also the best movie based on a true story. Schindler's List recounts the story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a German businessman who saved more than 1,000 European Jews from Nazi slaughter during World War II by employing them in his factories. Although Spielberg does take creative license by having his protagonist appear more directly involved with the rescue missions than he actually was (apparently Schindler didn't help draw up the life-saving list, the way he did alongside Ben Kingsley's Itzhak Stern in the movie), there is no denying the instrumental role Schindler played in his Jewish employees' survival.

Bonnie and Clyde

Released: 1967

Memorable quote: "I'm Miss Bonnie Parker, and this here's Mr. Clyde Barrow. We rob banks."

Bonnie and Clyde is one of those great movies that got rotten reviews when it was released. But this 1967 film's portrayal of Depression-era criminals Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) and Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) does warrant a deeper examination more than 50 years later. Director Arthur Penn's decision to graphically recreate Bonnie and Clyde's historically accurate deaths by gun ambush was a Hollywood game-changer: Soon afterward, films began including similarly violent sequences, such as Sonny Corleone's and Tony Montana's bullet-riddled murders in The Godfather and Scarface , respectively.

Released: 2006

Memorable quote: "If you imagine I'm going to drop everything and come down to London before I attend to my grandchildren who've just lost their mother, then you're mistaken."

The Queen isn't just one of the best royal movies —it's one of the best movies period , thanks to Helen Mirren's Oscar-winning work as Queen Elizabeth II. Who could forget that moment when the queen, alone in the Scottish Highlands, finally unleashes tears after days of pent-up grief, only to notice a beautiful stag approaching? This film may be the closest the general public will ever get to understanding what was happening within the royal family in the aftermath of Princess Diana's untimely death in 1997.

And even then, we can never know for sure: The Q ueen was written by Peter Morgan, who also created the juicy Netflix series The Crown . Both the movie and the TV series are classified as "historical fiction," because it is impossible for Morgan to know exactly what was discussed behind the royal family's notoriously closed doors.

A League of Their Own

Released: 1992

Memorable quote: "There's no crying in baseball!"

During World War II, with most American men off fighting for their country, Major League Baseball was on the brink of failure. To keep the national pastime alive—and to boost morale—the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was born. Nearly 50 years after the AAGPBL's inception, A League of Their Own finally told the story of this groundbreaking sports decision and quickly joined the roster of classic family movies , courtesy of performances by Hollywood A-listers including Geena Davis, Tom Hanks and Madonna.

Although all the characters in the film were fictional—and the plot was restricted to the White, heterosexual experience— A League of Thei r Own still had a major impact on movie-going audiences. In 2022, Prime Video released a reimagined series based on the movie, but this time around, A League of Their Own not only included Black and LGBTQ+ characters, their stories were central to the narrative.

Dallas Buyers Club

Memorable quote: "AIDS … I got AIDS. Won't you come in, join the party."

Dallas Buyers Club is based on the true story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a Texas man diagnosed with AIDS in the mid-1980s. Woodroof, as in the movie, spearheaded a drug distribution service—called the Dallas Buyers Club—that provided unapproved AIDS treatments to patients unable to afford AZT, the commonly prescribed drug to AIDS patients at the time.

McConaughey earned a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as the (initially) homophobic Woodroof. The film does take creative license, however, with the character of Rayon (Jared Leto), a fellow AIDS patient. Leto received the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal, even though the transgender Rayon was a fictional creation meant to showcase Woodroof's developing tolerance for the LGBTQ+ community .

Released: 2011

Memorable quote: "When your enemy's making mistakes, don't interrupt him. Let him keep going. Say, 'Thank you.'"

Although the basic structure of M oneyball allows the baseball film entry into the hallowed genre of movies based on true stories, it doesn't quite stick to actual events. Yes, this Oscar-nominated movie is about how Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) used analytics to build a winning team. But the truth behind the team's success wasn't so simple: Many critics suggest the film—written by Aaron Sorkin, who also wrote The West Wing , one of the best TV shows of all time—left gaping holes in the narrative as a way to maintain its "Cinderella story." Also, Jonah Hill's character, Peter Brand, the economics whiz who introduces the idea of using analytics to Beane, is fictional, even though he's heavily based on Beane's real-life colleague, Paul DePodesta.

A Beautiful Mind

Released: 2001

Memorable quote: "I am only here tonight because of you. You are the only reason I am. You are all my reasons."

A Beautiful Mind is a fascinating biopic about the life of Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash Jr. (Russell Crowe). The film correctly presents Nash as a gifted mathematician who spent most of his life battling mental illness, but unfortunately, A Beautif ul Mind is one of the more historically inaccurate movies out there. In addition to poorly portraying Nash's paranoid delusions, the film ignores the nuances of Nash's complicated relationship with his wife, Alicia Larde (Jennifer Connelly). Although Nash married Larde in 1957, they divorced three years later. After several decades of living together platonically, the couple remarried in 2001. A Beautiful Mi nd portrays the Nash marriage as an uninterrupted love story.

All the President's Men

Released: 1976

Memorable quote: "Get out your notebook, there's more. Your lives are in danger."

The quintessential cinematic account of the Watergate scandal, All the President's Men is based on the book of the same name by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman). The film documents the eventual downfall of President Richard Nixon, starting from the 1972 break-in at the Watergate complex, followed by Woodward and Bernstein's meticulous reporting of the corruption within the Nixon administration, which then led to Nixon's resignation. While Woodward and Bernstein are rightfully credited as the faces of the Washington Post 's Watergate coverage, the film ignores the tireless behind-the-scenes work of their colleagues, who helped bring this story to light.

Released: 2014

Memorable quote: "Our lives are not fully lived if we're not willing to die for those we love, for what we believe."

Ava DuVernay's critically acclaimed drama about the historic 1965 voting-rights march led by Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo), from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, is a Black-history-movies viewing requirement. Specifically, because, other than a few exaggerations for dramatic effect, Selma is a historically accurate film. For example, DuVernay doesn't avoid depicting the brutal attacks the marchers received at the hands of Alabama state troopers that Bloody Sunday. There's even a haunting line from John Lewis (Stephan James), while crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge: In response to being asked if he can swim, the future Georgia congressman says there weren't any pools open to Black people where he grew up. That line of dialogue came directly from Lewis's memoir.

Erin Brockovich

Released: 2000

Memorable quote: "So before you come back here with another [lame] offer, I want you to think real hard about what your spine is worth, Mr. Walker. Or what you might expect someone to pay you for your uterus, Ms. Sanchez. Then you take out your calculator and you multiply that number by 100. Anything less than that is a waste of our time."

Julia Roberts won an Oscar for her portrayal of environmental crusader Erin Brockovich in this beloved biopic . The film presents Erin as an undereducated yet super-savvy mom who talks her way into a legal-clerk job, where she quickly discovers that a major energy corporation is knowingly contaminating the groundwater in a small California town. Before long, Erin is leading a class-action suit against Pacific Gas and Electric, without so much as a law degree. According to the real Erin Brockovich, the film depicting her life is, in her words, 98% accurate: While Roberts's Erin was a former Miss Wichita, Brockovich herself never held a beauty-queen title from Kansas. She was, in actuality, a former Miss Pacific Coast.

Almost Famous

Memorable quote: "If you think Mick Jagger will still be out there trying to be a rock star at age 50, then you are sadly, sadly mistaken."

Boasting an excellent soundtrack and some very memorable movie quotes , Almost Famous is a semi-autobiographical film based on writer-director Cameron Crowe's very real experiences as a teenage reporter for Rolling Stone in the 1970s. While Crowe did indeed cover acts like the Eagles, Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers Band, he made most of his main characters fictional for the sake of a linear narrative. This included his 15-year-old alter ego, William Miller (Patrick Fugit); Kate Hudson's ethereal groupie, Penny Lane; and the rock band at the center of the movie's story, Stillwater. But the most memorable, nonfabricated character from the movie has to be Philip Seymour Hoffman's music critic, Lester Bangs, who serves as William's sardonic tour guide through the debauched world of rock 'n' roll.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Released: 2020

Memorable quote: "They don't care nothin' about me. All they want is my voice. Well, I done learned that. And they gonna treat me the way I wanna be treated, no matter how much it hurt them."

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is more dramatization than direct reenactment, but it's a stellar addition to Netflix's selection of movies based on true stories nonetheless. The film is an adaptation of August Wilson's 1982 play of the same name, which depicts a fractious 1927 recording session by famed blues singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis). Although the plot is entirely fictional, Rainey herself is not, and the themes in the film resonate just as much today as they did in the 1920s: Rainey, a Black woman, is constantly fighting for control over her career from her White male producer and manager. The same can be said for Rainey's trumpeter, Levee (Chadwick Boseman, in his final role). Levee is a fabricated character, but he too is pushing for his own musical ideas to be heard, only for the White men in charge to dismiss him outright.

Released: 1990

Memorable quote: "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster."

Martin Scorsese's Italian American mafia masterpiece is everything a gangster movie should be: A little drama here, a little humor there ("How am I funny?"), one incredible three-minute-long tracking shot inside the Copacabana and several unforgettable performances from the likes of Robert De Niro, Lorraine Bracco and the late Ray Liotta. Goodfellas follows the story of mobster Henry Hill (Liotta), who started his life of crime at an early age before eventually becoming an FBI informant.

As with most movies based on true stories, some creative license was taken with Goodfellas . In real life, Hill had one daughter and one son, while in the film he had two daughters, but Hill himself called the film 95% accurate.

Catch Me If You Can

Released: 2002

Memorable quote: "I never went to medical school. I'm not a lawyer, or a Harvard graduate, or a Lutheran. Brenda, I ran away from home a year and a half ago when I was 16."

Only Leonardo DiCaprio could make running from the law look sexy and sophisticated, whether it was posing as a Pan Am co-pilot, a kindly doctor or a shrewd lawyer. DiCaprio played con artist Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can , a man who started passing bad checks as a teenager, eventually crisscrossing the United States and the world before he was apprehended in France at age 21.

While Abagnale and his crimes are real, the film may have taken even greater liberties than previously thought. It was always known that Tom Hanks's dogged FBI agent, Carl Hanratty, was an invented character, but a book published in 2021 suggests that most of Abagnale's story was fabricated after all: Public records prove that Abagnale was in prison during the time he was supposedly globe-trotting as an airline pilot. For a more accurate retelling of events, check out these riveting  true-crime documentaries that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The Theory of Everything

Memorable quote: "There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope."

This biopic , about theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) and his tumultuous relationship with his first wife, Jane (Felicity Jones), was deemed "broadly true" by Hawking himself. Hawking, as depicted in the movie, suffered from a degenerative motor neuron disease that robbed him of his ability to speak and, for all intents and purposes, move his body. The scene where Jane and Hawking are trying to communicate through a spelling board, shortly after Hawking has lost his voice, is a heartbreaking one. The Theory of Everything doesn't avoid the difficulties in the Hawkings' 30-year marriage, which ended in divorce in 1995, but in reality, things weren't always as gentle and loving between the couple as the movie would have us believe.

Released: 2021

Memorable quote: "The Irish were born for leaving. Otherwise, the rest of the world would have no pubs."

Kenneth Branagh's critically acclaimed film Belfast is one of the newer movies out there based on a true story. While the characters and narrative are fictional, the movie is still a semi-autobiographical tale: The film's protagonist, Buddy (Jude Hill), is a 9-year-old boy living among the sectarian violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1969. This setting, and the subsequent decision by Buddy's father to move the family to England, very closely mirrors Branagh's early childhood. There are so many reasons Belfast belongs on any list of the best Irish movies , but if we had to pick one, it would have to be that joyful performance of "Everlasting Love" by Buddy's Ma and Pa (Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe).

The Social Network

Released: 2010

Memorable quote: "You really don't need a forensics team to get to the bottom of this. If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook."

The Social Network documents the rise of social media juggernaut Facebook. Jesse Eisenberg is pitch-perfect as the obnoxiously arrogant Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, who, in the movie, ostensibly invents Facebook as a way to meet women after being dumped by a (fabricated) girlfriend. While this makes for a captivating narrative, it's not accurate, as Zuckerberg was already dating now-wife Priscilla Chan before Facebook even existed. The film also takes liberties with Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), portraying Zuckerberg's friend as a victim unfairly removed from the company. The truth was a bit more complicated, as Saverin ran unauthorized ads on Facebook ... for a rival company. None of this is mentioned in The Social Network .

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Memorable quote: "I'm a 51-year-old who likes cats better than people."

Sometimes, movies based on true stories really can be stranger than fiction. Especially in the case of Can You Ever Forgive Me?  which stars Melissa McCarthy as charming curmudgeon Lee Israel, a writer who has fallen on hard times. When Lee is unable to secure an advance on her forthcoming book about Funny Girl inspiration Fanny Brice, she resorts to forging letters from deceased celebrities (including Brice)—and actually makes money through this scheme. That is, until the FBI catches on, sentencing Lee to house arrest and probation. For the most part, the film is pretty accurate, with details like Lee needing money to treat her sick cat stemming from the truth.

The King's Speech

Memorable quote: "I have a right to be heard! I have a voice!"

This inspirational story of how King George VI (Colin Firth)—the late Queen Elizabeth II's father—overcame a debilitating stutter just in time to lead the United Kingdom in the Second World War was a critical darling and an Oscar winner. (And hey, when else would you get to hear a monarch repeatedly drop an F-bomb?) The movie's main focus is the relationship between the king and his speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), the latter of whom draws out his royal client's deep-seated traumas as a form of healing.

The King's Speech , however, like many films based on the royals, uses historical details as a basic structure but takes several creative liberties for the sake of a moving story. It's suggested His Majesty and Logue didn't start working together until around 1936 and that they clashed with each other initially. In reality, Logue and the future king had known each other since 1926, and they got along almost instantly.

The Pianist

Memorable quote: "If I'm going to die, I prefer to die in my own home. I'm staying put."

The Pianist is based on the autobiography of the same name by a Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor and musician named Wladyslaw Szpilman. In the film, Szpilman is portrayed by Adrien Brody, who gives an indelible, Oscar-winning performance of a man who is determined to survive the Nazi-sanctioned killings of his people. There are many gut-wrenching scenes in this movie, but the standout is one of the few hopeful ones: A starving, disheveled Szpilman is discovered by a German officer, and instead of being arrested, Szpilman is invited to play the piano (Chopin's "Ballade in G Minor"), offering both men a brief respite from their mutual despair.

Released: 1989

Memorable quote: "You can march like the White man, you can talk like him. You can sing his songs, you can even wear his suits. But, you ain't never gonna be nothing to him, than an ugly [ ... ] chimp in a blue suit."

War movies based on true stories are some of the most iconic ever made, and that includes Glory , a tribute to one of the first Black regiments in the Civil War, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. While most of the characters in the film are fictional—Matthew Broderick's character, Col. Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the 54th regiment, is one of the few real-life figures portrayed— Glory 's impact on audiences is a powerful one: Denzel Washington earned his first Academy Award for his performance as Private Silas Trip, a formerly enslaved man who, in an evocative scene, is publicly whipped for procuring basic necessities for his fellow soldiers.

The Irishman

Released: 2019

Memorable quote: "You always charge a guy with a gun! With a knife, you run away."

Considering The Irishman is a gangster movie directed by Martin Scorsese and stars both Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, both of whom portray actual mobsters (Frank Sheeran and Jimmy Hoffa, respectively), the entertainment factor is a given. The film's pedigree makes it easy to assume The Irishman is highly accurate as well. But as it turns out, even Scorsese admits that in the case of The Irishman, a compelling story was more important than, well, facts. The movie is based on I Heard You Paint Houses, a 2004 book written by former homicide detective Charles Brandt. But many of Frank Sheeran's claims in the book about his involvement in Jimmy Hoffa's death have been refuted by investigative reporters and FBI agents.

Released: 1995

Memorable quote: "Houston, we have a problem."

Apollo 13 is one of those feel-good, patriotic movies , and not just because Tom Hanks is the star. In April 1970, the Apollo 13 lunar mission—helmed by astronauts Jim Lovell (Hanks), Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton)—is unexpectedly aborted when an onboard explosion occurs. The shuttle begins losing oxygen rapidly as well as its electrical supply, forcing the astronauts into a race against time to return to Earth safely.

While the film received significant praise for its accuracy depicting historical events, its most famous line, delivered by the incomparable Hanks, was the result of considerable creative license: Jim Lovell never said, "Houston, we have a problem." It was actually Jack Swigert, who gave the SOS to Mission Control, who said, "OK, Houston, we've had a problem here."

Memorable quote: "This city, this whole country, is a strip club. You've got people tossing the money, and people doing the dance."

Hustlers is one of those movies based on true stories that seems like it was completely made up, when in actuality, the film is far more accurate than you might think. Adapted from Jessica Pressler's 2015 New York magazine article "The Hustlers at Scores," Hus tlers is about several New York City strippers who, in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, scam the unrepentant wealthy men behind the financial crisis.

The names of the film's main characters are fictional, but the backstories of Destiny (Constance Wu) and Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) closely resemble those of the real-life women profiled in Pressler's article. There were some changes made in the movie, however, to make Destiny and Ramona more sympathetic: Nothing in Pressler's article suggested that Destiny was hustling to support her grandmother or that Ramona was doing so to provide for her children.

Zero Dark Thirty

Memorable quote: "I'm going to smoke everyone involved in this op, and then I'm going to kill bin Laden."

Zero Dark Thirty is a riveting dramatization of the manhunt and military raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The film stars Jessica Chastain as Maya, a CIA analyst instrumental in tracking down the terrorist behind 9/11 at his Pakistan compound. For privacy reasons, the characters in Zero Dark Thirty , including Maya, are fictional, even though many are based on actual CIA operatives and military personnel directly involved in the bin Laden mission. Chastain's performance as the tenacious Maya, as well as director Kathryn Bigelow's tense recreation of the Navy SEALs' infiltration of bin Laden's compound, puts Zero Dark Thirty on most lists of the best dramatic movies of the 2000s.

BlacKkKlansman

Memorable quote: "God bless White America."

Back in the 1970s, Ron Stallworth, the first Black officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department, achieved the impossible: He infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan through a series of phone calls and a White colleague who served as Stallworth's in-person proxy. BlacKkKlansman , director Spike Lee's adaptation of Stallworth's memoir , is a relatively truthful take on this story, though Lee claims at the start of the film that not everything is 100% accurate. While real-life figures like Stallworth (John David Washington) and Klan Grand Wizard David Duke (Topher Grace) appear, the biggest creative license in the movie is demonstrated through Adam Driver's character, Detective Philip "Flip" Zimmerman. Zimmerman is a fictional stand-in for Stallworth's inside man, as this person's identity was kept concealed even in the original memoir.

The Imitation Game

Memorable quote: "Do you know why people like violence? It is because it feels good. Humans find violence deeply satisfying. But remove the satisfaction, and the act becomes … hollow."

This biopic about English cryptographer Alan Turing is equal parts enthralling and devastating, because it's as much about Turing's incredible achievements as his tragic personal life. Benedict Cumberbatch embodies the brilliant mathematician who decrypted the German military code machine Enigma during World War II. (Turing's work in code-breaking is believed to have accelerated the Allied victory.) But Cumberbatch leaves an unforgettable impression on audiences in the way he tackles Turing's lifelong misery as a gay man living in a country where homosexuality was a crime. In the film's final heartbreaking scene, Cumberbatch's Turing is a shell of his former self. The real Turing took his own life in 1954, as homosexuality wouldn't be legalized in the U.K. until 1967.

The Blind Side

Released: 2009

Memorable quote: "You threaten my son, you threaten me. You so much as cross into downtown, you will be sorry. I'm in a prayer group with the D.A., I'm a member of the NRA, and I am always packing."

You don't have to be a sports fan to fall in love with The Blind Side , or even an avid watcher of sports movies based on true stories. Because at its core, The Blind Side isn't really about football. It's about how family comes in all different forms. The film that won Sandra Bullock a Best Actress Oscar is the poignant tale of NFL star Michael Oher, a poverty-stricken Memphis teenager taken in by the wealthy Touhy family. Bullock plays no-nonsense matriarch Leigh Ann Touhy, who showers Michael with equal doses of love and motivation, helping him to achieve his full potential on the football field and beyond. We adore Leigh Ann because, as she demonstrates during a pressure cooker of a game, she'll go full mama bear on anyone who dares trash-talk her adopted son.

Released: 2015

Memorable quote: "If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one."

The mark of a great, accurate movie about journalism is when there is no 11th-hour plot twist—and the facts arise from painstaking reporting, not invented shock value. That's what makes Spotlight such a stellar film. It picked up a Best Picture Oscar for its unglamorous dramatization of The Boston Globe 's 2001 investigation into the Catholic Church's widespread and systemic pattern of sexual abuse. Led by an all-star cast, including Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo and Stanley Tucci, Spotlight takes few liberties with the narrative. The film directly portrays the real-life clergy, lawyers and Globe reporters involved with the case instead of replacing these main players with composite characters.

The Amityville Horror

Released: 1979

Memorable quote: “I’m coming apart! Oh, mother of God, I’m coming apart!”

Horror movies are creepy enough, but knowing that The Amityville Horror is based on a true story majorly ups the fright factor. In 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six of his family members in their Amityville, New York, home. About a year later, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the DeFeo house with their three young children. The Amityville Horror depicts the paranormal activity the Lutzes allegedly experienced during their brief stay in the house. From the moment they move in, George (James Brolin) and Kathy (Margot Kidder) are made to feel unwelcome by the house’s malevolent spirits, whether it’s a swarm of flies besieging a kindly priest (Rod Steiger) or streams of blood dripping down the walls. Although there’s never been any solid proof of the Lutz family’s claims, that doesn’t stop The Amityville Horror from being a chilling good time.

Released: 2003

Memorable quote: "I'm not a bad person. I'm a real good person."

Charlize Theron is nearly unrecognizable as Aileen Wuornos in Monster , but that kind of deep commitment to the character earned the actress a well-deserved Academy Award for her performance. Theron portrays the real-life Florida sex worker who murdered seven of her male clients between 1989 and 1990 before being executed in 2002. One of the best serial killer movies based on true stories, Monster doesn't turn Wuornos into an antihero, acknowledging that she was neglected and sexually abused by her family members, and grew up without any kind of stability. There is one invented scene, however, that may have caused audiences to unnecessarily sympathize with Wuornos: The film suggests that after a brutal rape by one of her clients, Wuornos embarked on her killing spree.

Memorable quote: "The horse is too small, the jockey too big, the trainer too old, and I'm too dumb to know the difference."

Seabiscuit is one of those book-to-movie adaptations that will warm your heart for days after watching. The film, based on Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand, stars Jeff Bridges, Tobey Maguire and Chris Cooper as the ragtag team behind an unlikely Depression-era champion racehorse. While Seabiscuit 's inspirational story is a true one—no one ever expected such a small horse to become such a big winner—the movie does take liberties to increase the dramatic tension in some spots. Most notably, the decision to portray jockey Red Pollard (Maguire) getting injured immediately before a major race. In reality, Pollard's injury occurred months beforehand.

Memorable quote: "Hi, Mom, it's me. I'm on the plane that's been hijacked. I'm just calling to tell you that I love you, and goodbye."

When terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial flights on 9/11, one plane failed to hit its intended target: United Airlines Flight 93. Instead of striking the Capitol building or the White House (the exact Washington, D.C., location remains unknown), the plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing everyone onboard. United 93 attempts to piece together the events that led to the heroic, in-flight struggle that ultimately diverted the plane away from Washington.

Although the film uses the 9/11 Commission Report as source material, director Paul Greengrass invented many of the plot details to create a cohesive narrative befitting most Hollywood action movies . Since there were no survivors from United 93, the climactic scene depicting the passengers' fight to retake the plane had to be left to the filmmakers' imagination. But that decision made the scene no less powerful.

Hotel Rwanda

Released: 2004

Memorable quote: "There will be no rescue, no intervention for us. We can only save ourselves."

There's no shortage of drama in war movies based on true stories, which is why Hotel Rwanda remains such an engrossing film nearly 20 years after its release. The movie dramatizes how hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) used his connections to shelter more than 1,000 refugees during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which took place in the middle of an ongoing civil war in the African nation.

Cheadle gives a moving performance as Rusesabagina, portraying him as a compassionate individual working tirelessly to save his family and neighbors. According to several sources, however, this saintlike depiction may have been a Hollywood invention. Some survivors claimed Rusesabagina engaged in extortion, and in recent years, he was convicted of terrorism by the Rwandan government.

The Wolf of Wall Street

Memorable quote: "I will not die sober!"

When you combine Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio and a so-crazy-it-has-to-be-true story, the result is The Wolf of Wall Street , a movie that takes a deep dive into the decadent, drug-fueled world of uber-wealthy finance bros. The film follows Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio), a young, eager stockbroker entranced by the promise of endless wealth, and how he eventually resorted to corruption and fraud.

Since it's based on Belfort's memoir of the same name, The Wolf of Wall Street doesn't take much creative license. This is a polite way of saying that the unrestrained drug use, numerous sex workers and countless criminal activities featured in the film weren't invented. Even an insane scene in which Belfort's yacht capsizes in a storm and sinks actually happened. It's worth noting, however, that Jonah Hill's Quaaludes-addicted character, Donnie Azoff, is fictional—though he's loosely based on Belfort's real-life partner-in-crime, Danny Porush. If you're a movie buff or just want to save a few bucks while watching the best films around, check out this list of the best free streaming services .

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