*Watch "Amityville: An Origin Story" on Amazon Prime Video here*
*Get The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson here*
*Get "The Amityville Horror" (1979) on Amazon here*
*Get "My Amityville Horror" on Amazon here*
This long miniseries documentary isn't an end-all, be-all about the 1974 murders of the DeFeo family in Amityville, New York, but a very good modern look at the story that has entranced (and fooled) a nation for over five decades.
Ronald DeFeo, Jr. killed six members of his sleeping family one night in 1974, and was eventually sent to prison for a life sentence. George and Kathy Lutz and their three kids eventually moved into the giant house, but fled four weeks later after they said they were terrorized by demonic and unseen forces. The Lutzes gave recorded interviews of their experiences to author Jay Anson, who published the book The Amityville Horror (one of the greatest book, and later film, titles of all-time). A (terrible) hit 1979 film was made of the experiences of the Lutzes, which spawned dozens of sequels, spoofs, and remakes, all mostly unrelated to the original DeFeo murders except in passing. As the Lutzes continued to talk about what happened, lawsuits began as the major players tried to get their piece of a very lucrative pie. The series concentrates on Christopher Lutz, one of Kathy's sons from her first marriage (her other son appeared in the documentary "My Amityville Horror"), and his bitterness at a celebrity he never asked for.
George Lutz is the villain in the series, although it's understandable to see how an average guy can get caught up in the glitz and glamour of money and fame. There are a lot of clips from the 1979 film, and I thought the film makers were relying on it a little too much before I realized they were showing what everyone else at that time was seeing and accepting as the truth. I was eleven in 1979, and I remember the Amityville story vividly. There is a quick shot of a newspaper series based on Anson's book, and I remember reading that exact same series of articles when I was living across the country in Louisiana. I've seen a lot of the earlier sequels, and reviewed "Amityville: No Escape" (2016) a while back. I also had the misfortune of seeing "Amityville Vibrator," a stupid decision on my part. The final episode's credits show the physical media containers of other Amityville films, and they get progressively dumber as they go along.
The documentary is a little meandering, dwelling on odd aspects of the case. The infamous "red room" isn't mentioned until the final episode of the four episode run. The "ghost boy" photograph is debunked in a story I was hearing for the very first time. Ed and Lorraine Warren don't escape blame, either. "The Conjuring" films and their preceding cinematic universe are all thanks to the exposure they gained investigating the Lutzes' story, not the DeFeo murders. Even the murderer, Ronald DeFeo, Jr., wanted in on the profits. I watched an interview with DeFeo years ago, he was an awful drug burnout/killer looking to blame everyone else for the murders he committed. A Native American indigenous spokesperson pops in to tell everyone to quit blaming "indian burial grounds" for the evils of many a horror film (I have no dog in that fight), and even the Mafia was looked into after the original shootings. The DeFeo case is touched upon, but the documentary wants to show how this snowball of lies quickly overtook the original tragedy, dragging everyone with it as it plunged downhill into the country's consciousness. Director Riccobono needs to get his hands on a horror film soon. His direction is fantastic, elevating this above basic cable true crime show levels and discomforting the viewer.
Having recently started watching more true crime documentaries and fictionalizations, I keep coming back to a focus that many film makers keep missing- the original case and their victims. I've had passing brushes with true crime in my over half a century on this planet- a family member was friends with a child who was killed in a murder/suicide. I have lived within walking distance of houses where murders were committed. I have known sexual crime perpetrators back before they were caught and jailed, throwing everyone who knew them "before" for a loop. I have been the victim of criminal trauma, untried by the courts and eventually forgotten by everyone but me and maybe the abusers. I don't mean to sound like a narcissist and make this case about me- we should be making the case about the people who can no longer speak for themselves anymore. Ask the DeFeo's children's friends, now understandably angry adults (the film "Amityville II: The Possession" hinted at incest in the DeFeo home), about what those forever-kids were like. We all know the names Amityville, Lutz, the Warrens, the DeFeos, but what were the deceased family members really like? I've mentioned this about serial killers and their victims in the past, too: I can say the name Gacy, and you don't need any additional information to know who I'm talking about, but can you name any of John Wayne Gacy's almost three dozen victims? The documentary wisely goes after Hollywood and the irresponsibilities of profit over storytelling and the cinematic and literary arts.
This film puts the brakes on the ridiculousness that the DeFeo murders and the Lutz infamy have turned into. Christopher reminds us that there were children involved, and he and his brother (through his documentary "My Amityville Horror") show that they still aren't ready to talk about what really happened back then, if anything did at all. Christopher does allude to physical abuse at the hands of George, whose idea for a sequel to the original film was both stupid and shocking. Christopher's story about elitist actor James Brolin winking and shrugging off an incident with a young Christopher should anger you too- and you can see why the Lutz children haven't come out with a tell-all book or long documentary of their own, if they even have a relationship today. We forget they were kids, but getting their story out there might help others heal. George and Kathy Lutz are no longer alive, Christopher changed his name from Lutz to his original last name, and he seems to be trying to move on. Looking back over past true crime stories, many involve children and young adults who now suffer in silence and/or self-inspired anonymity. Even victims can't rest in peace, as Ronald DeFeo, Jr. blamed his sister for the murders, another silly and easily debunked claim.
"Amityville: An Origin Story" plays with the conventions of the modern true crime documentary, and succeeds.
Stats:
(2023) 201 min. (8/10)
-Directed by Jack Riccobono
-With Christopher Lutz, George Lutz, Kathy Lutz, Ronald DeFeo Jr., James Brolin, Ed Warren, Lorraine Warren, Gloria Gangitano, Carol Soviero, Joe Vetter, Erik Davis, Diane Franklin, Tommy Maher
(TV-MA)-Physical violence, some gun violence, violence involving children, gore, profanity, very brief nudity, sexual references, adult situations, strong violence involving children references, drug abuse references, alcohol and tobacco use
Media Viewed: Streaming
