This TV movie tells this "true story" of the haunting of the Smurl family in Pennsylvania. Jeffrey DeMunn and Sally Kirkland essay Jack and Janet Smurl, who move into a duplex with Jack's parents and soon find themselves haunted. This aired on Fox during sweeps in May 1991 and did really well for them. It is notable in that it is one of the few ghost films I can think of that shows a man (DeMunn) get raped by a demon. It is also of interest in that it features the first screen depiction of ghost-hucksters Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Stephen Markle and Diana Baker, respectively). Of course, this is before James Wan morphed them into exorcist superheroes, so they just kinda show up for a few scenes and get spooked. Director Robert Mandel previously handled F/X (1986) and got the pilot duties for a little show called The X-Files after this. Kirkland also received a Golden Globe nomination for this.
Review of The Haunted
