Famously Haunted: Amityville

If you have seen one of the main films (the 1979 version or the 2005 version) and/or read the "biographical" novel from 1970s this might interest you. It does bring together some elements that can't be found from what would be considered original sources. For example there are new personal accounts from real neighbors and alleged psychics who have a direct connection to the actual house.

On the other hand, it keeps flashing the same photos on the screen over and over again, and has tacky details like the interviews with Ric Osuna - a weirdly misogynistic and fan boi-ish biographer who chose to blame one of the victims, the oldest sister Dawn, for Ronnie's murders. Everyone knows his version(s) are completely fanciful lies, not least of all because Dawn was found in bed just like all of the other family members; there's no evidence of this musical bodies fiction where Ronnie agreed to kill the parents but killed Dawn because she allegedly assassinated the children.

The history of this topic is pretty gross, all things considered. There are dozens of low-budget schlocky flicks that mock the very real tragedy that happened in 1974, which in my opinion is disturbing enough on its own.

Not much new here. The Tik-Tok stuff was very out of place and detracted from the overall vibe of the story. There are other Amityville docs available that are more interesting.

I have to say, most things like this tend to lean heavily in one direction or the other, but this was a well-balanced presentation. The "experts" were level-headed and respected the beliefs of others, acknowledging areas where they could be wrong or interpreting things differently. I could live without the effort to reel in the TikTok crowd, but maybe that's just me showing my age. As the meme says, I watch TikToks as IG reels two weeks later like a grownup... Otherwise, I rather enjoyed it.

I think it's important to acknowledge and consider new voices in the paranormal and true crime fields as they are the future. I am grateful for Famously Haunted: Amityville doing just that. They balanced the introduction of new folks with voices that were keystones in establishing this case many years prior. It does a pretty good job being fair and weighing both angles rather than taking one side and sensationalizing it for views. Although it doesn't contain new information it does weigh both sides fairly and is respectful to those whose opinions differ. It also dissects the work of some of the original researchers.

There's nothing amazing or unique here, but if you're a fan of the Amityville legend, then it makes a harmless little watch.

It's one of those tv style documentaries that loves to recap, so you can nip off to the kitchen and grab a snack and not really miss anything.

It delves just deep enough into each aspect to keep it moving along without dragging to much over one section. The actual events and phenomena surrounding it make it pretty easy to keep it interesting.

I get the TikTok cross over was to highlight the generational interest, but they didn't blend that well, a small montage would have done.

There's a nice amount of archive footage, maybe a bit to intrusive modern footage and a good variety of vox poppers, so overall it does what it's supposed to do and mildly entertain with a recap of a story you probably already know.