In a world where true crime adaptations and pop-cultural forays into the occult abound, The Amityville Horror remains a singular phenomenon. The original book, by Jay Anson, recounted the experiences of a family who moved into a Long Island home where Ronald DeFeo Jr. had killed several members of his family in 1974. The book, in turn, inspired a 1979 horror film (starring James Brolin) and its 2005 remake (starring Ryan Reynolds), along with a host of sequels and other related (and unrelated) projects.
Though set on Long Island, the producers of the 1979 film opted to film the project elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area — in this case, in New Jersey. And now, the house in Toms River (a town you may also know from its frequent presence in the Little League World Series) where Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger unearthed suburban horrors has just sold for a tidy $1.46 million.
An article at NJ.com has more details about the house — and the sale. The spacious home (all 3,866 square feet of it) is situated along the river that gives the town its name. It features both an in-ground pool and a spa, as well as an outdoor kitchen.
It also sounds like the house won’t give its new owners unsettling memories of the 70s version of the film, assuming they’ve seen it — that production involved modifying the house’s exterior to make it better resemble the real-life version of the Amityville home.
Still, it’s a piece of horror film history — albeit without the haunted baggage associated with the home it played on film.
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