For more than two years, Joe Lipsett has dissected Amityville Horror films to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions.

I have no recollection of . Canadian writer/director ’s film apparently played at Fright Fest in 2015 before getting a day and date theatrical/VOD release in October 2016, followed by a DVD release from Anchor Bay that December.

Reviews were middling (9% Rotten, albeit based on only 11 reviews) with most critics decrying the film’s reliance on ghostly figures and jump scares, lamenting its lack of scariness (an extremely subjective criticism) and protesting its “complicated” story.

So why is the film a topic of conversation for this editorial? Because The Unspoken is a secret Amityville prequel.

Okay, yes, it’s literally only revealed in the film’s closing scene when the film’s antagonists, single mom Jeanie () and her mute son Adrian ( in his film debut), pause in front of the Amityville sign. But it’s also part of a larger third act twist that reveals that Jeanie and Adrian are otherworldly beings with telekinetic abilities and that their kind are responsible for Earth’s haunted houses.

Depending on your appetite for dangling propositions, this revelation is either tantalizing or frustrating. Because Wilson essentially ends the film on this note, The Unspoken fails to unpack or explore the idea in any detail. It does, however, work reasonably well as an answer for both the events of the film and, more broadly speaking, every haunted house film, including all of those contained within the Amityville “franchise.”

In fact, The Unspoken actively incorporates most of the common haunted house tropes throughout its runtime (a fact that clearly contributed to accusations of boring familiarity by critics). Doors and cupboards open and close by themselves; there’s a recurring bit with a sentient marble that closely resembles moments from 2013’s The Conjuring; and folks have a nasty habit of being attacked by an unseen force.

The Unspoken begins in 1997 when a beat cop discovers a single living occupant at 166 Briar Street. The bloody woman flees in terror, but the hanged body of a priest with an upside-down crucifix carved into his forehead and the disappearance of the family hints at a demon and/or possession.

The film has two separate, but complementary narratives. One is a supernatural film about a financially desperate girl, Angela (), who gets a job as a babysitter for a traumatized boy and his mother when they move into the town’s haunted house. The other is a home invasion film about local teen drug dealer Luther (), who sneaks into the house with his friends Logan () and Rodney () in order to recover a stash of drugs hidden before Jeanie and Adrian moved in.

The stories intersect courtesy of Angela’s queer crush, Pandy (), who is dating Luther and may (or may not) be gaslighting Angela. Eventually all of the characters wind up in the house for a surprisingly violent climax that sees all of the intruders dispatched in clever (albeit too brief) moments of violence.

Naturally the creepy/powerful kid is another pervasive horror trope. The Unspoken has more in common with 2019’s creepy kid double bill, Eli and The Prodigy, than it does with The Omen, though.

The film’s other spiritual predecessor is, naturally, The Amityville Horror (1979 or 2005, take your pick). Not only is there a suggestion of satanic rituals, courtesy of the mutilated animals left around the house (offerings made by Luther and co.), but there several moments involving flies, the aforementioned dead priest, and locked closets that provide plenty of creepy moments.

The end of The Unspoken suggests that there’s a reason why these tropes are so familiar: these beings play on humanity’s imagination to explain away supernatural hauntings, which are actually just their youngsters learning to control their powers. That’s why places like Amityville exist: they can easily be written off as (ludicrous) fiction whenever these beings need to take up residence (again and again, over the years).

This explanation is a variant of the one put forth by The Last Amityville Movie (and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare before it). There’s a cyclical element to these events and stories; one that has a perfectly logical explanation. According to The Unspoken, the Amityville house (and by extension this entire “franchise”) is simply the result of these otherworldly controlled experiments.

Who would have thought that, after nearly sixty entries, the answer to the Amityville IP would be something other than money?! If we’re being honest, aliens are nearly as believable.

: Several reviews complained that Pandy and Angela’s relationship was undercooked (spoiler: Pandy dies second, so she’s not a huge presence in the film). While it’s true that the film would have benefitted from exploring their secret liaison more, Pandy is actually fascinating. It’s clear that she’s keeping the relationship from Luther (he’s surprised when he stumbles on the girls making-out) and her resulting gay panic reaction is either internalized homophobia and/or she’s afraid of him

At least one website listed the alternative title of this film as The Origin of the Amityville Terror which is…hilariously specific and more than a little ungainly. Rotten Tomatoes’ other option is a little better: The Haunting of Briar House, which evokes the A Haunting in Connecticut films and anticipates Mike Flanagan’s Netflix series.

Next time: And then there was one! There’s one final secret Amityville film left to explore: 2019’s The Dawn aka The Amityville Dawn.