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In the ensuing years, the Lutzs, including their children who were present in the house, defended most of the details of the hauntings that made them flee. There have been countless books and documentaries that have tried to both confirm and dismantle the stories. The films are entirely entertainment with some origin details about the DeFeo murders being correct, while the rest of the plot points and supernatural elements were presented as fictions that have increasingly departed from reality. As the days get shorter and the leaves fall, it's the time of year to work on curating your Halloween viewing list of scary season favorites.
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Or was the world's most famous haunting nothing more than an amateurish hoax? Bartholomew is a sociologist in New Zealand, specializing in mass hysteria and amazed that nearly 50 years after the alleged haunting, we're still talking about Amityville. Truthfully, someone looking for an "old house" in Amityville would in fact be better served traveling further up Ocean Avenue, to Nautical Park, where a well-worn historic home awaits restoration. On a recent visit, a local resident informed PopMech that several people have mistaken the dilapidated building for the infamous "horror house."
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The original film earned well over its production budget at the box office and was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score, while the 2005 remake brought in a whopping $107.5 million when it was shown in theaters. According to History, police arrived at the scene and found an in-shock Ronald DeFeo Jr. waiting for them. DeFeo initially claimed to the authorities that he believed his family had been targeted by the mob. Don Jacobsen/Newsday RM via Getty ImagesRonald DeFeo Jr. was just 23 years old when he killed his family. The Amityville Horror House today has undergone quite a transformation; it has even changed its address from 112 Ocean Drive to 108 Ocean Drive in an attempt to stop people from visiting the house. The book is based on the 28-day period during December 1975 and January 1976 when George and Kathy Lutz and their three children lived at 112 Ocean Avenue.
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Renowned investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren were among those to delve into the case. Their involvement further fueled the mystique surrounding the house, with Lorraine telling The Express-Times following their investigation that the stories were not false and that there was some truth to what the Lutz family had experienced. Several paranormal investigators have investigated the Amityville Horror House, each bringing their unique perspectives and findings. Their work has added layers to the mystery, with some supporting the Lutz family’s claims of paranormal goings on. That being said, the statements the family gave to the media show true terror at what they allegedly experienced, with George Lee Lutz telling ABC News in 2002, “I try not to think about it,” when asked about what could have happened if they remained in the residence.
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Butch’s ongoing conflict with his father came to a violent head when he fatally shot Ronald DeFeo Sr. with a .35-caliber Marlin rifle as he slept during the early hours of November 13, 1974. Inside the house, there were life-sized portraits of the family hung on the walls. His defence lawyer, William Weber, mounted an affirmative defence of insanity.
Some claimed the entire story was fabricated for financial gain, adding a layer of controversy to the already enigmatic tale. Before the DeFeo and Lutz families, the Amityville Horror House had a history steeped in darkness. Reports suggest the property was once the site of a Native American burial ground, adding an extra layer of mystique to its already foreboding presence. Incredibly, there have been over a dozen films based on the murders released since then, but the 1979 movie starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder as George and Kathy Lutz remains perhaps the best known.
The three-story colonial — its original address was 112 Ocean Ave. but was changed to 108 to deter tourists — was the site of a brutal slaughter. It has changed hands for decades, with nothing but price fluctuations and a change in address serving as notable incidents. But even after the Amityville Horror house's address changed, the public fascination never let up. DeFeo Jr. was convicted in 1975 of six counts of second-degree murder and received six sentences of 25 years to life. The property sits on Amityville River and features a large boat house with a boat slip and two-car garage. Scroll through the photos below to see both past and present shots of the infamous home.
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The parents were killed first, having both been shot twice, while all four children were killed with single shots. On January 14, 1924, Annie Ireland sold the property to John and Catherine Moynahan. The following year, Amityville builder Jesse Perdy constructed the five-bedroom, three-bathroom Dutch Colonial house that still stands there today. On November 13, 1974, the property at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York, was the scene of a gruesome mass-murder.
Biography describes one incident wherein Butch "attempted to shoot his father with a 12-gauge shotgun during a fight between his parents. DeFeo pulled the trigger at point-blank range, but the gun malfunctioned." Castle Keep was in line with the films of 1969 in terms of transgressive filmmaking, but hardly stood out from the crowd. It's sexual, but not nearly as sexual as that year's Best Picture-winning Midnight Cowboy.
The legend of the Amityville house ran wild after the publication of Anson's The Amityville Horror book in September 1977. One year later, director Stuart Rosenberg's adaptation of the same name came out and became a modern day horror classic. And then, the subsequent owners, the Cromartys, refuted much of the stories about the state of the house when they bought it, including the book's stories of "greenish-black slime" and a hidden "Red Room" which was just a closet. Independent investigators then proved the cloven hoof prints that were said to be found in the snow would be impossible because there was no snow during the time the Lutz's lived in the house. Most damning was a very messy lawsuit about the ownership of the story that had Ron DeFeo's defense lawyer, William Weber, admitting that the events were entirely made up by him and the Lutzs.
If you find yourself in Amityville, there will naturally be a temptation to visit the house on Ocean Avenue. It's still there, though it has been remodeled, removing its infamous rounded windows, and it has had its address changed to deter tourists. "No Parking" signs prevent visitors from even stopping their vehicle in front of the residence. Beset upon by illness after his encounter with the haunted home, Mancuso is even paired with a law officer, just like the priests in The Exorcist, in this case the character of Suffolk County Sergeant Gionfriddo. The film also clearly felt the priest was a crucial part of the story, casting Academy Award-winner Rod Steiger as Father Francis 'Frank' Delaney. William Friedkin's 1973 film The Exorcist, based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty, was a cultural lightning rod like no other.
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