On November 13, 1974, the house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York became a place that locals feared when 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo murdered his entire family under very mysterious circumstances. In September 1977, it became a place the entire world feared when Jay Anson’s book “The Amityville Horror” was published (later adapted into the popular series of films), bringing the house international notoriety and instant entry into the occult history books. Not so much because of the DeFeo murders, but because it told the tale of what happened to the next family who lived there, one year after the massacre. The Lutz family.

In 1975, they were dwellers for all of 28 days before fleeing in mortal terror, the victims of widespread supernatural happenings that pushed them to the brink of madness and had them fearing for their lives. A media circus began that never fully ended. Straight up to their recent deaths, George and Kathy Lutz have never gone back on a single claim. Daniel Lutz was ten years old at the time that his family literally went to hell. Never before in the 35 years since living through the ordeals has he gone on record about his experiences. This is his story, in his words.

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Press Notes

Director: Eric Walter

Executive Producers: Ronald Puleio, Michael S. Russo

Producers: Andrea Adams, John R. Blythe, Eric Walter

Co-Producers: Rebecca Breithaupt, Laura DiDio, Christine Irons

Associate Producers: Matthew LaCurts, Michelle Paster

Featuring: Daniel Lutz, Laura DiDio, Lorraine Warren

Music: Herman Witkam

Runtime: 88 minutes

Production Companies: Lost Witness Pictures, LLC; Film Regions International, Inc.

US/Canada Sales Contact: Submarine Entertainment/Submarine Deluxe – Josh Braun, josh@submarine.com

Foreign Sales Contact: Highland Film Group – Arianne Fraser, sales@highlandfilmgroup.com

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The Filmmakers

 

ERIC WALTER – Director, Producer, Editor

Eric Walter is a writer, director and documentarian specializing in the exploration of the unexplained.

As a Maryland native, Eric began writing and producing original short subject films at a very early age, refining his artistic skills in nearly every medium he could lay his hands on. In 2008, Eric moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career in the film industry. His continued research into infamous unsolved mysteries fed his desire to pursue documentary filmmaking. He has consulted on numerous investigative projects for both television and radio and is currently developing his next feature film project for 2013. MY AMITYVILLE HORROR is his first feature.

 

ANDREA ADAMS – Producer

After graduating with a degree in production from Ithaca College, Andrea Adams moved to Los Angeles right in time for the writer’s strike. Surviving that, she has worked at companies including Anonymous Content, William Morris Agency (briefly for the merged entity William Morris Endeavor Entertainment), Team Todd, The Mark Gordon Company and Davis Entertainment. She has received credit in Disney’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND, THE ROMANTICS directed by Galt Niederhoffer and most recently, CHRONICLE, directed by Josh Trank for 20^th Century Fox.

She is very active within the independent community, having been involved in many different aspects of several productions. These include Ocelot Robot’s music video for “Give It To Me”, Delphic’s music video for “Doubt”, the short branded content film RIFT for L Studios and the short film CHANCE OF SHOWERS which played the LA Shorts Fest, the Omaha Film Festival, Santa Catalina Film Festival and Cape Fear Film Festival. She’s consulted on several other productions of varying lengths and is developing a narrative feature length script. Andrea is a board member of the 4^th Wall Geffen Playhouse Arts Alliance and  the Daughters of the American Revolution. MY AMITYVILLE HORROR is her first feature.

 

JOHN R. BLYTHE – Producer

John Blythe is an entrepreneurial independent film producer with experience in managing the business and financial affairs of independent film productions.

John’s professional career began as a Co-Producer for Emmy®-Award winning filmmaker Charles Barbee on the historical documentary film WILD WEST COUNTRY for PBS. After obtaining his Associates Degree from Cerro Coso College studying Business Administration and Digital Film Production, Blythe formed Film Regions International, Inc. (FRI), an independent film production company in which he currently serves as its President.

Since 2006, Blythe has offered film production business consulting to filmmakers in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and South East Asia. John has also worked within the production field as a Controller, Production Manager and Executive Producer on other independently financed films in the United States and Canada. He is a graduate of UCLA’s Business and Management of Entertainment Program.

CHARLIE ANDERSON – Director of Photography

Charlie Anderson is an award winning cinematographer based in the New York City area who recently wrapped principle photography on his 8th feature length movie, SIX DEGREES OF HELL. Six Degrees of Hell was shot in Saylorsburg, PA and was Charlie’s 7th feature shot on RED as Director of Photography. He has also shot one feature on the Canon 7D, Close-Up, which is getting stark reviews from critics for it’s cinematography.

In 2007, Charlie co-founded StrataTek Studios with Justin Beckenheimer, and the two have since made a name for themselves in the Baltimore area. Their paramount client is Under Armour, which StrataTek Studios shot a national commercial for their “Athletes Run” campaign in 2009. Along with creating commercial content, StrataTek keeps busy developing stylistic music videos and producing independent movies.

On his own, Charlie is a member of Local 600 and has worked as a Digital Imaging Technician on 2009’s Sundance selection, TOE TO TOE, as well as many countless digital productions as well as 3D projects around the United States. He has also been an editor for the award winning web series FEAR CLINIC, starring Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, and Danielle Harris, which is currently in preproduction to be made into a full length feature.

HERMAN WITKAM – Composer (Original Score)

Herman Witkam was born in Leiden, an old town in the Netherlands. His father taught him music from an early age at his private music school and at elementary school. After graduating at the Utrecht School of the Arts in 2008, Herman further pursued his work as a film composer and sound designer.

Already having worked on over 80 feature and short films, television episodes and commercials Herman has collaborated with filmmakers in the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, Malaysia, Iraq, the UK, Switzerland and many other countries.

As a multi-instrumentalist, Herman performs many of the instruments heard in his scores. Having written his graduation thesis about conceptual sound for film, he is especially interested in the overlapping borders of music and sound design. He currently resides in Amsterdam, working from his WitkamSound studio, which is based near the Dutch capital.

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Director’s Statement

The real Amityville Horror isn’t just what has happened in the past, but how it has continued to manifest itself in the present. I feel the real story here is the one that has never been told. It’s that gray area. It’s a story about the dynamics within the Lutz family at the time. No one can confirm or deny their veracity. But, there’s no question these events, hoax or not, had an enormous impact on each member of the Lutz family – particularly the children.

In August of 2009, I was introduced to Daniel Lutz and subsequently conducted over ten hours of audio interviews with him. For someone who has remained until now virtually non-existent in the public eye, I was surprised that he spoke so openly to me about his memories of the house, his family and his views on being labeled ‘the Amityville kid’. With these exclusive recordings came the creation of this film. I am someone who had a passionate interest in the Amityville case prior to meeting Daniel, so hearing his personal story has been more of a discovery process for me than anything else.  It has challenged my beliefs, my theories on the events and overall, dramatically enhanced my view of the Lutzes’ story.

This is a portrait of a man who has been literally indoctrinated into these events – and how he copes with that indoctrination. To me, this is Daniel’s attempt to set the record straight not only for his friends and family, but also for himself.

Eric Walter
Director

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Credits

 

JASMINE ADAMS
JOE BAKER
BRITTANY ANDRES BREITHAUPT
THE CIMARRON GROUP
DENNIS BROWN
JASON BUTLER
BRANDON MICHAEL CATER
TERRY CERTAIN
NEME ALPERSTEIN
DR. SUSAN S. BARTELL
TARRAH CURTIS
BLAINE DUNCAN
COREY FITELSON
BEN FOTI
ELISE FREIMUTH
JOY GANES
SHANNON GANS
PAMELA GOLDSTEIN
MATT GRATZNER
JESSICA HALL
TONY HANNAH
JULIANNA HAYS
BRIANA C. HILL
PETER JORDAN
HALIE LEONARD
DR. ELIZABETH LOFTUS
JOEL MARTIN
KATE MCCARTHY
DEBORAH MCINTOSH
RU VAN MEETEREN
MICHAEL MERLOB
NEW DEAL STUDIOS
DAN NOLTE
KATE OLSON
TOM PELLEGRINI
JASON PYKE
MORGAN RESSA
MORGAN RUSSO
RUSSO CONSTRUCTION, INC.
MARY LOU SALTZ
MARVIN SCOTT
CHRIS SHELLAN
PAM SMITH
MARK F. SPELLMAN
TONY SPERA
TIFFANY VAN GOEY
ROBERT AND BEVERLY WALTER
LORRAINE WARREN