‘The Deliverance’ True Story: What to Know About Latoya Ammons and the 200 Demons House

Like many “based on a true story” demonic possession movies before it, The Deliverance on Netflix leans heavily into the idea that this ghost story could be true—despite the fact that it’s almost definitely not true.

Directed by Lee Daniels, with a script by David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum, The Deliverance was inspired by a real woman, Latoya Ammons, who believed that her house and her family were being possessed by Satanic demons. Her story was sensationalized thanks to a viral 2014 feature in The Indy Star , and it was only a matter of time before this local ghost story became a Hollywood movie.

Andra Day stars as the Latoya Ammons character, who was renamed Ebony. Glenn Close stars as Ebony’s religious mother, while Anthony B. Jenkins, Demi Singleton, and Caleb McLaughlin stars as Eboy’s three children. Mo’Nique stars a social worker who comes to believe Ebony’s story, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor stars as the reverend brought in to perform an exorcism.

It’s a stacked cast with a strong director, so it’s a shame that The Deliverance felt the need to follow in the footsteps of The Conjuring by claiming the outlandish events of the movie are “a true story.” Quite a few details were changed for the film, and many are skeptical that the real Latoya Ammons story was ever true to begin with. Read on for a full breakdown of the so-called Deliverance true story.

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Deliverance’ on Netflix, Lee Daniels’ Conflicted Domestic Drama-Slash-Exorcism Thriller

The Deliverance was inspired by a “true story” of a woman named Latoya Ammons, who claimed her there was a demonic spirit that lived in her house that was possessing her and her three children, in Gary, Indiana in 2011. The Deliverance changed Latoya’s name to “Ebony” and moved the story to Pittsburgh. But many of the details in the film came from Ammons’ testimony. According to the movie’s credits, the real Latoya Ammons served as an associate producer on The Deliverance.

Latoya Ammons became a local Indiana celebrity in 2014, when The Indy Star wrote an over-6,000-word feature on her so-called experience with demonic possession. As the article details, Ammons moved into a rental home on Carolina Street in Gary, Indiana in November 2011, with her three children (ages 7, 9, and 12) and her mother, Rosa Campbell. (The real Rosa Campbell was a Black woman , and not a white woman, as she is in The Deliverance , where she’s played by Glenn Close.)

New Shows & Movies To Watch This Weekend: ‘The Deliverance’ on Netflix + More

For the first few months, according to Ammons and Campbell, they heard strange noises in the house and battled a “not normal” amount of houseflies. In March, mother and daughter claimed they witnessed Ammons’ 12-year-old daughter levitating above the bed. The daughters’ friends, who were over for a sleepover, refused to return to the house. Ammons and Campbell called around to many churches. Most dismissed them, but the two women finally found two “clairvoyants” who told them what they wanted to hear: Their house was plagued by “more than 200 demons.”

Ammons covered her house in religious iconography. But then, she claims, things got worse. She claimed her kids “eyes bulged, evil smiles crossed their faces, and their voices deepened,” and therefore must be possessed by demons, and not just kids being weird. She said her youngest boy “sat in a closet talking to a boy that no one else could see.”

The family went to visit their physician, Dr. Geoffrey Onyeukwu, who later shared his medical notes with The Star, where he had written, “delusions of ghost in home” and “hallucinations.” The Department of Child Services was called, police were called, and the two boys were taken to the hospital. The 7-year-old reportedly “screamed and thrashed” when he woke up in the hospital bed.

The DCS caseworker and a nurse took the 9-year-old boy into an examination room. The DCS report claimed the boy “walked backward up a wall to the ceiling. He then flipped over Campbell, landing on his feet.” The nurse, Willie Lee Walker, told The Star he had witnessed this. But The Star also noted that Walker “said he previously believed in demons and spirits.” Ammons children were temporarily taken into DCS custody.

CLICK HERE TO GET EMAILS FROM DECIDER

Gary police Capt. Charles Austin also described several strange occurrences while examining Ammons’ home, and told The Star he believed Ammons’ story of demons. But mental health professionals were less inclined to buy it. A clinical psychologist said that Ammons’ 7-year-son “tended to act possessed when he was challenged, redirected or asked questions he didn’t want to answer.” She wrote in her evaluation, “This appears to be an unfortunate and sad case of a child who has been induced into a delusional system perpetuated by his mother.”

Ammons eventually got her children back, but she was instructed by DCS to stop talking about demonic possession, and that she needed to utilize “alternate forms of discipline not directly related to religion and demon possession.”

On May 10, 2012, a priest—Rev. Michael Maginot—performed a minor exorcism on the house and on Ammons. A month later, he performed three major exorcisms on Ammons at his church. Ammons and her family left the house in Gary and moved to Indianapolis, where, apparently, they are no longer plagued by demons.

The Deliverance end credits mysteriously states that the house that inspired the film “remained vacant until it was bulldozed in 2016” and that “strange occurrences” still happen on the property.

It’s true that the “200 demons house” on Carolina Street in Gary, Indiana became something of a local ghost story. But the landlord of the property, Charles Reed, said he never had any problems with the house before or after the Ammons lived there. In fact, he had to ask police officers to stop driving by the house, because it was scaring the neighbors.

In 2016, a “ghost hunter” TV personality, Zak Bagans, had the house demolished as part of his 2018 documentary, Demon House , a film that the Los Angeles Times called “hooey.” But if you’re interested, you can stream Demon House on Amazon Prime . Bagans bought the house in 2014, shortly after the initial Indy Star feature was published.

So, yes, the claims made in The Deliverance end credits are technically true—but very misleading. Yes, the house “remained vacant until it was bulldozed in 2016.” But only because another fame-seeking ghost hunter bought the house, and had it bulldozed for the cameras. As for the claim that “strange occurrences still happen on the property to this day?” I, for one, would like to see a source.

For more entertainment news and streaming recommendations, visit decider.com