‘The Deliverance’: The True Story Behind The Netflix Film, Explained

Lee Daniels‘ horror film, The Deliverance, is now on Netflix, starring Andra Day, Glenn Close, Caleb McLaughlin, Omar Epps, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Glenn Close.

The long-awaited film, originally titled Demon House, has been in development for years and initially had Octavia Spencer set for the role now played by Mo’Nique. It is actually based on a true story.

Who is The Deliverance based on?

The story is based on Latoya Ammons from Gary, Indiana, who in 2011 claimed her children were being possessed by demons.

Relativity Media initially acquired the rights to Ammons’ story, but after the company went bankrupt, producer Tucker Tooley regained them.

Ammons, a mother of three, reported witnessing terrifying events, including her children walking up walls, levitating, and speaking in strange voices.

What happened in the real-life house from The Deliverance?

She claimed her seven-year-old son was found talking to an invisible boy in a closet, and that a “malevolent spirit” threw him from a bathroom. When she asked her son what he and the invisible boy were talking about, Ammons claimed that he told her the unseen presence was describing what it felt like to be killed. Her 12-year-old daughter also needed stitches after an attack.

Two psychics later told Ammons that over 200 demons haunted the house. A 2012 report on paranormal activity backed some of Ammons’ claims, with psychologists stating they saw her nine-year-old speak in “different voices” and walk “up the wall backwards.”

After visiting the house and interviewing Ammons, the local police chief admitted he became a “believer,” according to the Indianapolis Star. Documents filed to the by the Department of Children Services detailed further strange events at the house, which were said to have been witnessed by medical experts and people outside the family.

Naturally, as you’d expect in this kind of situation, there were skeptics.

Is the house from The Deliverance still standing?

Like in the movie, the family eventually moved out of the house and the home demolished.

In 2014, Zak Bagans from Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures filmed an episode at the so-called “Demon House” in Gary. He was the one who had the house destroyed.

“Something was inside that house that had the ability to do things that I have never seen before — things that others carrying the highest forms of credibility couldn’t explain either,” he told the Indianapolis Star. “There was something there that was very dark yet highly intelligent and powerful.”