My Amityville Horror

Back in 1979, writer Jay Anson wrote a story about a real-life newlywed couple that moved into a new house in Long Island where a murder was committed. Upon moving in, the couple and their three children began to experience strange occurrences and manifestations that could not be easily explained.

The book was The Amityville Horror and its popularity in paperback drove MGM Studio's to option a screenplay by Sandor Stern (Pin) which soon became a popular movie of the same name starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder. The Amityville house soon became – and still is – the most recognized haunted house in the world. And even though the Lutz family moved out when the terror reached its pinnacle 35-years ago, the experiences and memories of the horrors experienced in the house haunts the family to this day.

Daniel Lutz was a member of the terrorized Amityville family and his story of experiences back in 1975 is the focus of My Amityville Horror, a new documentary by filmmaker Eric Walter. Daniel has stayed fairly quiet about his family's ordeal three decades ago and now he is ready to tell his story and reveal the psychological strains and scars that have plagued him for 35 years. The documentary that includes exhaustive research by Walter includes perspectives of those close to either the family or the house during the events of 1975 and many are interviewed offering their insight and recollection into what may have (or have not) happened to the fated Lutz family.

For those expecting a seriously scary insight into the unexplained events in the Amityville home, you may be disappointed. My Amityville Horror doesn't offer any new real insights. Daniel does speak of levitating beds, the infestation of flies and a few other unexplainable phenomena, but the heart of the movie is really a character study of the boy who became a man amongst media scrutiny and mockery.

Daniel comes across as a complex and angry man. He calls his experience in Amityville an 'unfortunate gift' and he gets defensive if cornered (Lesson learned: Don't ever ask Daniel to take a lie detector test). He is both playful and willing but when discussing uneasy topics such as his turbulent relationship with his stepfather, George Lutz, Daniel can be seen almost frothing at the mouth barely containing his rage so that his blood pressure doesn't make his head explode on screen.

Audiences will endear themselves to the older Daniel. He will remind you of the guy who sits at the end of the bar at the local tavern and has fascinating stories to tell. He won't be the type of person that gives you comfort and who you might pursue to tend to your children, but he is genuine and honest through the many layers of his complex personality.

As a documentary, Watler's meticulous detail and use of both stock and family photos allow us a glimpse into the Lutz family. Not so much a glimpse into the house that the Lutz family thought possessed, but a rare peak into a complex and dysfunctional family that may or may not have been terrorized by spirits in their Ocean Ave. home.

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This documentary focuses on Daniel Lutze. Throughout the movie he tries to convince you that he's haunted by this experience. Nothing could be further from the truth, he relishes in it. It's probably the only thing of note in his life. He tries to intimidate everyone around him by being confrontational and arrogant, even though he's only about 5'4" and 135lbs.

I would not be surprised at all if he insisted that his guitar playing had to be part of the film in order for him to do it. It adds absolutely nothing to the production.

During the retelling of him witnessing his step father levitate a wrench across a room you can tell he's making this entire story up as he's telling it. His mannerisms, his eye movements and speech give it all away. He is so used to telling lies about that time in his life, it just comes natural to him anymore.

He's a sad man and his reaction to taking a polygraph test shows his true nature. "After this is over, you and I are going to have some words about this"........ Really? Let's have the words right now, tough guy! He's a tool and fool.

For a person who claims he wishes someone had asked him to give his version of events in the famous Amityville Horror haunting story, Danny Lutz shares very little of it in this documentary. The man is clearly in pain, clearly carrying a load of emotional baggage. However, the more he talks, the more it seems that Danny Lutz's angst centered on his hatred of his stepfather, George Lutz.

For all the interview questions asked of him, for all the talking he does, Danny Lutz says very little. The Amityville Horror story has become very murky over the years. The only thing anyone can seem to agree on is that the book and movie were wildly inaccurate. OK? So, what's the real story? In interviews, George Lutz spent much of his time talking about what DIDN'T happen in the house. Danny Lutz doesn't take that route, but he's clearly holding something back.

Are the few paranormal experiences Danny Lutz shares convincing? Not especially. He does himself no favors claiming to have witnessed George Lutz moving tools around his garage with telekinesis.

Out of the 90 minute only two things were made clear: Danny Lutz hated George Lutz. Danny Lutz hated being identified as "that Amityville Horror kid". Neither is much of a revelation and neither sheds any light whatsoever on this campfire story that just won't go away.

This is interesting enough but not for the reasons the film makers Intended. If this was anything other than The Amityville Horror, he would just be another "crazy guy" telling his stories, with everyone rolling their eyes. It's a great character study and really demonstrates the effects of trauma, whatever the truth may be.

As most of the other reviews have already mentioned, this is not a movie about the events that purportedly happened in the Amityville house in 1975. Instead it's a truly engaging portrait of Daniel Lutz - the 10 year old boy at the center of the events, and it's more about his (potentially abusive) relationship with his stepfather and the media scrutiny that invaded and shaped his life thereafter.

While the documentary is competently made, it's Daniel Lutz himself who is the engine behind how powerful it is. He's a character full of nervous twitches and aggressive, eloquent storytelling. He's clearly got psychological problems and he wears most of them on his sleeve, but you also get a strong sense that this poor guy has a wall of defense mechanisms built up so high that he'll probably never escape it. He jumps in a single beat from being angry and intimidating to being open and borderline in tears. It would take a mean-hearted viewer indeed not to feel some sense of sympathy for him in spite of his abrasiveness.

Director Eric Walter wisely leaves the documentary very open to interpretation. There's no narrative to guide the viewer to a moral conclusion. There's no musical soundtrack to subconsciously push emotional responses. This is just Daniel Lutz, sat in front of a camera and pressed to open up. The theme by the end seems to be an invitation to the viewer to make up their own mind about what happened in that house but with more complex possibilities to choose from than the usual "was it a real haunting or not?" angle. Was it child abuse? Was it fanatical parents leading suggestive children? Was it a structured hoax that inadvertently led to the crumbling of this poor child's life and psyche? Did something paranormal happen but get embellished in a ten year old's mind?

All in all, a very compelling and thought-provoking biographical documentary. Well worth watching.