Inside Amityville: The Story Behind My Amityville Horror

when I was not ten years old life totally enamored with the book by San Diego Marsh and I guess primarily because a true story when printed on the front cover if you remember with that black cover with the devil tail none of the Flies and all of it though I was just very obviously taken by the entire story the allegations of a kwangji obviously the mass murder that have been occurred at the house in 1974 at the hands of the oldest son all of these things under one roof very much intrigued me and in many ways a medieval kind of represents you know the Americas if not the world's most famous and infamous haunted house controversy so I you know over the subsequent years became very interested in almost an M&E though obsessive I guess um to the point that I was you know looking into records of the Historical Society taking trips to a medieval I had to take photographs and meet people who worked on the case and I actually subsequently became you know friends over the phone with people like Laura to do who was an investigative reporter and I actually induced assistants for Channel five news at the time of these occurrences that happen to the Lud's family and so yeah upon this I was just very driven with a story and very passionate about it I developed a website kind of what I would describe them a web archive called a medieval vials calm which is kind of a treasure trove of creative presentation of a lot of the documentation that surrounds the story and newspaper archive and things that collected through friends the people I've met online over the years and so yeah it was just a process of trying to create some where people could go and pull their own conclusions about what they believe happened in that house and there are so many different theories about what happened in that house it's very easy to say that what the Lutz's claim happen with all hopes and none of it ever happened but I really think that the truth of the matter lies somewhere between it being fabricated and it being an out truth before you made the film where did you feel that the truth actually lay on this haunting story I know you said somewhere in the middle but feel a bit more specific as to where you you kind of feel things had had been or were they they were sitting in reality before you talked with Daniel well for me obviously it was just a story before I met with Danny I had always just you know read it was all of what I had read and talked to I never actually spoken to any of the family members so my gut instinct was even before meeting Danny that there was some truth to it that obviously I don't think a family abandoned all of their worldly possessions and runs from this house and please clear across the country over nothing um while I do think that you know there were very many things that have been said about this house I don't believe everything has been set by the Lutz's by the media and a lot of the truth has become misconstrued about what actually they said and that's that's the actual you know shame of this entire case that it's been clouded and lost and so much misinformation over the years to develop a real well-rounded opinion about it honestly you have to dig through all the muck that surrounds the story and that includes the DeFeo case and the subsequent families who live there who said nothing ever happened to them strange and there's nothing to the story and you know this is all just the big hoax I just think that's too convenient of an answer I believe something definitely is genuine a paranormal nature did happen to love family however I do think that it's snowballed into something now that it never actually represented and it's just been so much said about it it's stitchy it's just it's now America's most famous haunted house sure and then you know in many ways there's been many hauntings that happened to other people in many ways that are more severe and and I think a little bit more I guess powerful in nature that in the Amityville case first on I think the mass murders enhanced that idea how did you begin communicating with Daniel so through amityville files I was contacted one day out of the clear blue sky by a friend of his in the Queens area who said he knew Danny and Danny was interested in talking publicly however he wanted to speak with somebody who knew the case and didn't want to have to educate somebody on all of the story that surrounds it have any of the other children because obviously there were there was other children in the house when this happened had any of them ever come forward with any pieces of information yes Christopher Cortino who is Dan's brother actually spoken publicly and various venues similar things that Janney actually claimed to me and in the film course that his stepfather George Lutz was involved in a call tablet inside the house and they believe triggered the haunting on the family now of course I don't want to speak for Christopher because that's not my job it's not my job to speak for anybody but myself of course but this is widely known in something that I was obviously familiar with one thing that Danny you know George passed away in 2006 you know to be making allegations about someone who now is gone was definitely a concern to a filmmakers just to be you know very careful to how to tread on that area sure Danny's story is wrapped up in the memory of the stepfather and what he feels the stepfather perpetrated on the family the talks of George being involved in the occult there was a first time I heard it was in your film I was unaware that the other brother had talked about that as well other than then then Danny talking about in your film and and the other brother having mentioned this over the years as well did George ever make any references to him being involved in the occult in his later years I know he was doing some interviews but I never heard my now yeah no and they interviewed at the Times actually the clip in my film about with Jordan Caviar's sitting on a Good Morning America shooting grass you know flat out were you interested in you believers in the occult and they both say no and that's in the film you know juxtaposed with Danny talking about to George being involved uh with satanic ritual and having booked for I know there had been a lot of stories towards the end of George's life when he was doing interviews and I don't know if you've heard this either uh where the people who were scheduled to interview George when he was granting some of those prior to him speaking to them strange things events would be happening to the folks that were going to be interviewing now they weren't tragic or anything like that but just kind of unexplained odd things accidents around individuals uh prior to - to that did you ever heard of anything of that nature I can't say that I have and for I wish that I would have had been able to speak with George not personally no I didn't have you know a good fortune many people did to speak with him but I certainly would have pursued to get his point of view in this project in many ways I feel I wish something of a first-person documentary nature like we did with Danny could have been done with George because that that was honestly what needed to be done sure would have been an entirely different film um but ya know I I haven't heard those stories I think a lot of year you know the paranormal at least from my opinion hauntings you know you can be very susceptible to a haunting if you believe in hauntings if you believe in evil then obviously it's going to be enhanced more George I know it's time claimed that he was under non-practicing Methodist when they moved into the Amityville house and neither George nor Cathy were overly religious at the time of course moving out of house they definitely became much more involved in the church so these allegations of George being involved in the occult and immuno satanic rituals this type of thing seems very obviously the anger toward the stepfather from from Danny I felt many of his statements were colored by his anger and you know obviously the need to put the blame on someone I you know I was always wondering what what that is of course that's my opinion I really wanted the film to speak for itself and for Danny to have a you know film aloud room to breathe a little bit that way for people to make up their own mind because my job as documentarian is to be objective with with the content sure and I really think our film because they were dealing with it you know a boy was 10 years old at the time we're dealing with someone who the memory of the event now is mixed with media interpretations of the occurrences by no fault of his own in my opinion and I think that it's unfortunate because what the film represents for me is kind of the fuzzy lie between reality and imagination and so that's unfortunate obviously like I said I would love to have talked to George Lutz but the story that I was able to capture and extract from somebody who was there obviously we never spoken publicly about this and and none of the kids have to this degree this is the first time this is this happened such a feature type of presentation you know it's a sad and tragic picture Danny Danny was a victim and I wanted to show the utmost respect for him to come forward and obviously you know we had many discussions you know it was the process of making the film I kind of had that you know befriend Danny and tell him you know this is you're sure you want to open this door because once you know if you're not identified as the individual kid now you certainly will be once this is out you know now as an adult so you know it's a difficult it's very difficult picture and there's been so much said about this case and and for someone who was an adolescent at the time to now try to move forward and rationalize something unexplainable to a car you know a public who's already mired in decades of misinformation you know as I said it's a very difficult picture it's not the easiest the prospect did anything odd occur throughout the making of this film whether it be you know something slight or something major did you have anything strange happen to you or any of your crew I can't say that I did um I know that when we were shooting at Lorraine Warren occult Museum and we had Danny and everyone that was I know some of the camera operators and things were a little unnerved because I think the stuff the surroundings and it was a kind a little bit of an uncomfortable shoot you know I think I would mainly attribute that to Danny's intensity um and how he dealt with that tire uh situation because by the you know it was there was difficult process of getting Danny to what to talk about this shoe at all honestly and he wanted to come forward it to connect with me but it wasn't like he was open and he was open for Danny and I appreciate that from temp but we were I'm I'm I still look at the film and I'm flabbergasted that we were able to get as much as we did on camera in the Canada in edible fashion um but no I can't say that anything of a paranormal nature occurred to me or my crew while we were shooting I thank God what were your first when you first got to sit down with Danny before the cameras came in when you actually had the tape recorder and you win and you met with him what were your first impressions of Danny I just a overly angry uh just person I mean he was my first meeting with him was a designer in Queens and I went there and his very first question he asked me was you know what is your religion I brought a digital recorder with me about a a collection of photographs from the March 6 1976 investigation and you could feel the years kind of coming off his chest he was sitting across from me to you know chain smoking cigarettes it was it was a powerful thing by this point we were in a you know it and we weren't in the diner we were somewhere you know we were in this place so fine but it was a private thing but it was you could definitely feel uh you know some of these photographs he had never seen before some photographs of his bedroom his toys on the shelf I then know the furniture they left the clothes you know and it was it was a obviously an emotional thing for him uh and I felt then that you know kind of my initial skepticism of this being something he was doing uh for attention or money or something kind of dwindle away at that point because I realized this was almost like a cathartic census settling a score with himself that he needed to I guess for lack of a better phrase you know exercise that beam so it's passed that was the process of what that was all about when you brought the photos to him obviously one of the most infamous photos of the case is is the ghost boy photo did you ever get his opinion on on that photograph in particular unfortunately not on camera I do have it on audio cassette and he did talk about how he believes that it's it's credible that he believes that it was something uh my own opinion actually we've done quite a bit uh friends like um done some research on this over the years uh there's quite a bit of debate on that picture I mean it does represent a fellow who was actually brought in assistant to the warrant named Paul Bart - was in the house at the time and there's a lot of speculation whether that was actually him because you look closely you can see that he whatever figure is peering around the corner uh is wearing it looks appears to be a plaid like a flannel shirt uh and have I it appears to be eyeglasses that you know when you look at it from just looking at photograph not a clothes look like luminescent eyes sure um so what's more likely here I don't know but this this camera was on a timer was a camera on the second floor I set up a Jean Campbell who was hired by the warrants to be there that night and yeah there was just so many different photographs being taken at the time and so that was just one that was found by George's secretary I think uh around after the book came out initially in the late seventies because it certainly is one of the most eerie whether it's real or not ghost photographs that have have ever been published Loretha do actually told me that you know I won't go as far as obviously I want to before she you know she told me that she feel you know she does she knows there were no children in the house you know um she doesn't know who that is or what what that is and I guess I get the sense from her that she believes that it actually was a some sort of you know Specter in the house if you look at photographs of one of the children it has a striking resemblance to them really which is pretty chilling as well yeah or have there been all I know it from the research that I've done is that that is the only photo that that seemed to show anything paranormal or relatively paranormal is there any other photo evidence or anything of that nature that has ever come out that that showed anything odd nothing from the time and others about 3000 photographs of reflections on windows of athletes or people driving up and taking pictures that that you know some of those are very very odd obviously but I wouldn't say that there's any there's certainly no proof you know concrete proof very well actually I'm missing over one thing that actually is briefly mentioned the film but never really a similarly pinpointed there's the infamous Moosehead photograph that was taken uh again by Jean Campbell at the house during the investigation and it's a photo of Lorraine Warren who his time was holding a an icon as Padre Pio you know Saint Pio is a saint at the time and she had received this icon before going into the house and had this with her during the investigation and you know I know that George and Lorraine and others believe there's actually a formation of Padre Pio space which is quite striking it looks very much very similar to photographs of you know the side of Padre Pio space in the moose head itself real um there's different pictures yeah that represents actually look like a face but I think again I I hate to be a pessimist but for me it looks it looks very much like it could just be information in the actual boots head but it's one of those things or definitely is no concrete proof or evidence for any of it that's been captured on camera other than those two intriguing photograph in the film that you made it towards the end you asked Daniel about taking a lie-detector test and he obviously seems almost offended by the question I'm sure it's something he's been asked many times in the past to why do you think it was that that he reacted the way he did well I could answer that way I think he took it as an assault on his credibility um he had sat there for eight hours and I allowed him without confrontation without me pushing any you know any buttons and and me asking question about a lie-detector test was not me trying to you know was not a I guess you'd say a gotcha question short or something like that it was really a valid question I actually pressed the statement with uh you know in 1979 George and Kathy your parents took lie-detector tests and passed with flying colors and this is true you know they were asked questions like did you levitate did you see yourself as an old hag in terms of for Kathy and yes yes and they again passed with flying colors so I think was a valid question your parents did this which you'd be willing to do this um and he took it again as an assault on his credibility from the standpoint of it sat there for eight hours poured his heart out essentially to me and in front of you know three other camera operators who whom he didn't know at all and you know it was an intense I mean he's clearly visibly shaken in the film and quite disturbed by the entire topic and so you know wasn't my intention to get such a - it was such a reaction out of him however I do think I did include it in the film at the end because I think that it keeps the question of whether this was the fabrication or whether this was the truth right on the line because at the end of the day that's all we're left with the truth is unattainable in this case there were only five people in that house who can corroborate their stories and George and Kathy are now passed over of course we have their story I have documented in so many different you know formats venues that have been you know over the years and this is the first time Danny is coming forward Christopher's talked about it I know I know his sister wishes to remain pot privately you know I think everybody respects that understand that she was very very young at the time so I don't know I mean it's it's unfortunate so I think the state of the case today is in many ways Danny represents the living embodiment of everything that's been wrong with a story in a lot of ways because of the memories that he were met you know I talked about well the film goes into heavily the idea that his memories are skewed by media versions of the events and that's unfortunate however I do believe so many of the things he talks about are genuine and that he does remember these things but also we're talking about a child's perception on something spend you know over 35 years ago now sure and so it's it's a very very difficult picture and obviously a sad and tragic portrait of someone who's been you know psychologically damaged by something that he essentially was indoctrinated into at a very early age was you know that that's the real Amityville Horror for me was there anything that Daniel told you that made your opinion of the truth about the Amityville Horror sway one way or the other I would say that the the the light has been shined on the family dynamics of the story um really you know gave me pause for thought because in so many ways Danny's story is mixed he's almost haunted by his stepfather George I mean a lot of his claims with the supernatural or mixed or interlaced with uh his statements about the stepfather and which kind of for me it's it's you know I mean I I don't want to say the same is true for Christopher because I we haven't heard his entire story but in a lot of ways you know making statements about George perpetrating the haunting or instigating the haunting on the family I guess said a lot about that perception of how they view that time in their life you know for me you know his their natural father was removed for the picture and replaced by someone who was an ex-marine and obviously by all accounts I was able to talk to you a very domineering personality and so uh without trying to make allegations or someone that I never met which is you know that is the problem here everyone was kind of unnerved by him I was even Lorraine Warren Andrew and speaks in the film about him yeah I was kind of put off by it so it's you know it's a difficult topic to step forward into in that area especially since but you know since it's such a contentious it's already such a contentious controversy since the film has been completed and is now out have you been in contact at all with Danny and have you gotten his feedback on on the film yeah actually yes well I think it just a couple days ago when the film actually finally was released theatrically and done he called me to congratulate me and thanked me for helping him get his story told and that obviously by the highest praise I get as a filmmaker to ever receive shoe especially when it's such a sensitive topic about someone you know the films about him and it hasn't been an easy process because Danny put an extraordinary extraordinary amount of trust in me which I greatly respect and obviously appreciate so you know yes he's seen the film he's happy to have gotten this off his chest again I keep saying but I thought I don't want to speak for him but hopefully at some point he'll be willing to step out and talk about it publicly again I know he told me when we started this project he was not interested in having you know thousands of press interviews and this type of thing that he wanted to tell this one time and and be done with it and that's basically what were left is right now and so he and I are very cordial level what do you personally want people to take away from this film I want people to remember that you know it's easy to call the story a hoax and that this was all you know some sham created by the Lutz's for money however I don't think someone who goes through this and you look at Danny and you look at his reaction you don't end up that way over nothing there was there was definitely something that happened to these people that that was earth-shattering and completely has shaken up their lives and the idea that some was living in the shadow of something for the rest of their lives something that kind of transcends Amityville it talks about anybody trying to explain or rationalize the unexplained to the public and I think that's kind of a I don't know a topic that really hasn't really been given serious consideration before so I really wanted to do something new with a case it really has been mistreated in the media for so many years and I wanted to do it respectfully but also you know we have to tell a story at the same time but I think it does all those things and I'm hopefully will be people's eyes to the reality of these events Oh

Channel: Real Ghost Stories Online

Views: 216,349

Keywords: The Amityville Horror (Book), the amityville horror, amityville, my amityville horror, Scenes, George Lutz, Daniel Lutz, Danny Lutz, Kathy Lutz, Ocean Avenue, haunted house, jay anson, documentary, Ghost, Scary, Ghosts, Haunted, Caught, Real, real sotry, Spirit, Spirits, Halloween, Lorraine Warren, real ghost story, new york, famous ghost story, evidence, defeo, murders, evil spirits, evil, tony brueski, eric walter, interview, video, haunting

Id: jRYMChwId7U

Length: 25min 40sec (1540 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 22 2013