Was the 1979 film, The Amityville Horror, based on a true story? The movie was directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starred James Brolin and Margot Kidder, and served as an adaptation of the 1977 novel of the same name by author Jay Anson.
The Amityville Horror has been considered as a must-see film within the genre. It focused on a young married couple, George and Kathy Lutz (Brolin and Kidder), as they move into a New York home with a sinister past. The previous owner, Ronald DeFeo Jr., murdered his entire family in the home. The couple decided to invite Father Delaney (Rod Steiger) to bless the home, especially because Kathy has her three children from her previous relationship. Father Delaney instantly felt malevolent spirits in the house, causing him to later lose faith and go mad. The Lutz family doesn’t fare too well as the supernatural forces affect them in various ways before driving them out of the house for good.
The Amityville Horror novel by Anson was based on the supernatural accounts by the Lutz family after moving to 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York in late December 1975. 13 months prior, the real Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed six members of his family in that house and was convicted of second-degree murder the following year. The Lutz family only lasted 28 days in the Amityville house and they shared many of their experiences with Anson through hours of tape-recorded recollections.
Some changes were made when the book served as the basis for The Amityville Horror movie. Many of the haunting recounts stayed the same but some were dramatized for a deeper horror effect. Personal names and details of the priests portrayed in the book and movie were changed for the privacy of the real-life counterparts. Anson was hired to write the screenplay for Rosenberg’s film and he stuck closer to the book. The script was later rejected and rewritten by Sandor Stern. The Amityville Horror film notably embellished the history of John Ketchum, a Satanic worshipper and a previous owner who believed the house was built on a burial ground.
Anson’s novel became a major hit once it hit bookshelves. Following the release of the movie, controversy about the true story started to ramp up. Many of the recollections in George and Kathy’s history at the house was criticized for being fabricated. Some of the priests didn’t have the same accounts as the Lutz family after they investigated the house. The neighbors and the police in town have also questioned some of the book’s details. This resulted in George and Kathy taking a lie detector test which they ultimately passed. The notion of the “true story” continued with the franchise and when it painted George in a bad light, he pursued a defamation case.
In the end, the Lutz family had their own memories of The Amityville Horror house despite other owners claiming that they never encountered anything out of the ordinary. The legacy of the infamous Amityville Horror house will continue to live on. Since the 1979 film, 23 films based on the location or the family have been released. Most recently was the limited theatrical release, The Amityville Murders, in October 2018. If one thing is clear, it’s that horror fans still have an interest in that mysterious house in Amityville, New York.
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