Amityville. If you believe it or not, there is something about that story. Hollywood wouldn't keep making movies about it if we weren't still interested. To be honest, the original movie is all you need to see. The sequels and remake are just pale imitations. This documentary makes an excellent companion to the film. My Amityville Horror is Daniel Lutz's chance to tell his side of the infamous story after all these years. He was one of the children in the family that the book, movie, etc. is all based on...and now he will set the story straight.
So why now? Well a big part is probably the fairly recent death of his stepfather, George Lutz, the apparently tyrannical figure of the family for years. The other reason, which is discussed more in the film, is that Daniel feels his own children should get to hear their father's "true" story, in his own words. Yeah, I put quotes there. You have to with this kind of story.
Ok. Wait. You know the story of the Amityville house, right? Well, just in case, here's a quick synopsis: A family moves into what seems like their dream house on Long Island. Its a big, beautiful property with a pool and a boat house right on the water. But why is it so cheap? Apparently a few years before, a teenage son killed 6 members of his family in their sleep in this house. In a matter of a few hours after the family moves in, they start to realize that this house just ain't right. A series of escalating paranormal events eventually drive the family out in the middle of the night less than a month later.
So the family that fled in the night was the Lutzes: Kathy, George and their three kids. We know the story because the news got out fast and the house became just as famous as the family. Almost immediately there were skeptics and paranormal experts weighing in. For years though the only family members we heard from were the parents. There was a best selling book and a series of movies that kept the story alive.
Daniel's story is dark, visceral and heartfelt. You can see how this has been tearing him apart from the inside out since that month his family spent in Amityville. What you really get from Daniel is the back story of what their lives were like before they moved to Long Island. Granted these stories are all strictly told from his perspective, but the raw emotion on display makes you want to believe him. It feels like we are watching him physically open the decades old wounds as he walks us through his experiences.
What makes this doc so special is that the filmmakers don't stop with Daniel. They have also assembled many of the other familiar faces of this case that are still alive. After their story went public, the Lutzes invited a group of journalists and experts to spend a night in the house and record their findings. The filmmakers found many of these people and asked them to remember that night. On top of this, we also see therapists and psychologists to react to Daniel's story.
If you are an Amityville fan, you will learn a lot of details that fill in the gaps about how the rest of the family was affected. There are even a few revelations from Daniel that put many things in a totally different light. Without ruining everything, I will say that George was no candidate for Father of the Year and at ten years old Daniel felt he needed to protect his mother from him.
One last note is that everything is assembled and displayed to us in a beautifully dark and poetic manner. The men and women behind the camera not only deeply cared about the subject matter, but also in creating an artfully told story. There is no final judgement. We are still let to make up our own minds. Was the house haunted? Did the Lutzes really fear for their lives or was it all an elaborate scam to get out of a bad real estate deal? Is Daniel's truth reality or are his memories tainted by years of anger mixed with the information in the media? I don't know the answers, but it's fascinating to watch. I highly recommend My Amityville Horror for any fan of horror film mythos and unexplained supernatural phenomenon.
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