Courtesy: IFC Films
The Amityville Horror is the stuff of legends. The things that have gone on in the infamous house have been the topic of debate and movies ever since the murderous spree embarked upon by Ronald DeFeo, Jr. Now thanks to IFC Films Midnight, audiences get an entirely new view on what happened from one member of the Lutz family over the course of the family’s twenty-eight day stay in the house on 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, NY in the new documentary, My Amityville Horror.
My Amityville Horror is unlike most documentaries out there today. It’s not one of those Blair Witch guerilla style films. It features an adult Daniel Lutz talking one on one with director Eric Walter for a very candid and gripping story of what happened in that house when he was a child. There are no re-enactments here. So it’s not like Bio Channel’s Celebrity Ghost Stories or My Ghost Story: Caught on Camera. Lutz’s calm yet almost determined mindset leads one to believe that he experienced something. And whatever it was, it was something not good. His reaction late in the documentary to being asked if he would take a lie detector is hard hitting. It makes one want to really believe his story, even if one has never experienced paranormal activity for themselves. Speaking of his demeanor, that demeanor and Lutz’s facial gestures make him come across almost like veteran actor Michael Chiklis. But that’s beside the point. What is important is that he is convincing.
Lutz is very convincing through his interviews. There are however, those that didn’t believe his story. This is actually another part of what makes My Amityville Horror worth watching. It is unbiased. It shows the opinions of both the believers and of the skeptics. It leaves viewers to decide for themselves if in fact the events described by so many movies and books (and Daniel Lutz himself) did indeed happen. Only Daniel really knows; he and renowned demonologist Lorraine Warren. Audiences familiar with A&E’s former hot paranormal show, Paranormal State will remember her. Ironically enough, Mrs. Warren was also featured in an article on Yahoo! News discussing how the Amityville House was the one place that she would never step foot in again. When someone as well-known as she would make such a comment, one has to stop and take notice, regardless of whether or not they believe in the paranormal.
Because it is a documentary, there are those that would potentially discount it for their Halloween parties, or just in general. But anyone that has any interest whatsoever in the paranormal will want to watch this near ninety-minute documentary. Even among the skeptics interviewed for this feature, there were some skeptics that agreed that there are some things in this world that we cannot understand. And as Lutz notes in his own way, only those that have experienced events such as what he experienced, will ever fully appreciate the gravity of what allegedly happened over those twenty-eight days. It’s just as good that Lutz notes the reason he hadn’t come forward is the stigma attached to those who have experienced those unexplainable events. His reason for not coming forward before is the stigma attached to having experienced those events that are labeled as “unexplainable” by even the skeptics in this documentary. Those that even begin to public discuss the paranormal every day are labeled with any number of names. But maybe seeing Lutz come forward finally, viewers will take their cue from him and be less afraid to step up to skeptics. To that extent, it could be argued that this is one more positive to a surprisingly gripping paranormal documentary that stands out loud against so many other paranormal movies and documentaries. It is available now in stores and online. Audiences can get more information on My Amityville Horror and other releases from IFC Films on its official Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/IFCFilmsOfficial.
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