Deliberate mistake: In the beginning, the police chief says "The six members of the family were found last night, in bed, shot and killed." As he says this, look to the left of the screen. In the background, the real Amityville house (dark brown with white windows and trim) is shown instead of the house used in the rest of the film. That segment was from actual news footage of the murders from 1974; apparently, the director didn't want to recreate it.
The Amityville Horror (2005)
1 deliberate mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Andrew Douglas
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Chloe Grace Moretz, Melissa George, Jimmy Bennett, Jesse James
Character mistake: When Lisa is taken to the hospital, she tells Kathy that she saw the ghost of Jodie DeFeo. The name of both of the DeFeo's daughters wasn't Jodie. Their names were Dawn and Allison. Jodie was the name of a demonic pig that the Lutz's daughter Missy had befriended.
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Suggested correction: While this is true in the original novel, the writers chose to change it to the DeFeo's daughter's name in the movie. Creative license doesn't count as a mistake.
Father Callaway: Your house frightens me, Mrs. Lutz.
Trivia: During filming of the movie, strange supernatural occurrences happened on set. A lifeless body washed up on the shore by the lakeside movie set and actor Ryan Reynolds stated that many cast and crew began waking up at 3:15 a.m. This is the same time the Defeo murders occurred.
Question: Probably it's for dramatic impact, but it seemed strange that Ryan Reynolds' character would rush out to the boathouse on seeing the red balloon. It would have made more sense to check her room first, but he leaves (and even dives into the icy lake) without telling anyone. If it was out and out panic, wouldn't he wake his wife? Apart from as a plot device, any ideas why?
Answer: He sees the balloon, and instantly assumes his step-daughter is inside the boat house, and hence is in danger of slipping and drowning (or perhaps already in such a situation). He rushes straight out to get there as quickly as possible. Checking her room, or telling his wife would take up time, not to mention he is probably running on adrenaline.
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