Shattered Hopes: The True Story of the Amityville Murders - Part I: From Horror to Homicide

I loved this documentary, a few key points:

A) Loved the mixed action/interviews

B) THOROUGH detail

C) How many other docs on this subject include interviews from the real Butch? Makes everyone saying the facts are false look pretty bad, since it's based around the actual's killer's accounts. Come on people

D) 3 total movies on this? KUDOS!

E) It goes against what you're told is true, and for any film-maker or documentary maker, this is HUGE

F) Kept my attention the entire time :)

This DVD totally stinks of BS, and how could it not? The entire DVD is based off of the fictional book The Night the Defeos Died. The quality of the film is barely amateur, as is the acting. The soundtrack is just awful, and kind of sounds like the xylophones we played in kindergarten. Most of the "actual" footage, if any, is readily available on the internet along with documents proving that this film is a total farce and full of lies. So if you enjoy watching a toothless hag chain smoke and lie about innocent dead peoples lives, buy the DVD. If not, save your money! If you do choose to make the purchase, make sure you leave the DVD package outdoors for a few days to rid it of the awful smell that comes with it. BS maybe?

This contains a lot of "facts" from Geraldine who claims to have met and married Butch BEFORE the murders. A quick Google search of "DeFeo v. DeFeo Supreme Court, Ulster County Sep 24, 1993" will bring up legal documents stating they met in 1985, wed in the prison visiting room in 1989 and were filing for a divorce in 1993.

"Plaintiff states that he first met the defendant, Geraldine A. DeFeo, in January of 1985 while he was incarcerated at the Auburn Correctional Facility. Their entire courtship leading to the decision to marry occurred exclusively while he was incarcerated."

So all the stories she tells in this "documentary" are false. The filmmaker failed to do his homework.

You have to give the producers credit, they did unearth rare Defeo family photographs and got interviews with 3 close family friends who have not spoken about the family since 1974. The fundamental problem is the basis of this documentary is the unreliable testimony of Geraldine Defeo who may or may not have married to Butch Defeo and has been called a fraud by many authorities on the Defeo Murders. I do agree with the producers it is impossible Butch Defeo committed the crimes alone but that sister Dawn took part has been debunked by forensic science. Brigante mob ties too were long ago dismissed. Mike Brigante did have some friends who were outfit guys and may have had some dealings with them on some minor level but the half of the Buick dealership was his own earned through hard work in the automobile business since the end of WWII. The Defeo Murders were the story of a family that could have been your neighbors or mine who were all killed by their mentally disturbed son who found access to a shot gun.

I have to say that this documentary was riveting. The details and precision of delivery of the story was excellent. No stone was left unturned. They were diligent with this film in their investigations.

The only con was that it seemed like it was made on a low budget; however, because the content and acting was delivered with such depth it didn't matter.

The movie boasts that the real life story is scarier than fiction which is true. I had to watch a few comedy sitcoms before going to sleep that night and sleep with the TV timer on.

There is something scary about delving that deep into something that really went down and all the scandal and horror behind it.

I would say this is s must see film for sure.