Amityville - is it a true story?

I think there may have been some small paranormal experiences happen in the house to the Lutz's and they were blown way out of proportion out of greed. Too many big name paranormal " experts " jumped on the bandwagon on this one I beleive just to further their names.

I was a strong believer for many years and had a deep fear of this place from childhood now Im not so sure!

The statistics (from that clip itself) state that only 1/3rd of adults believe in ghosts. Given that statistic and comparing it to the number of people who have lived in the house since the Lutz's vacated it, it's not surprising that no one has "witnessed" anything out of the ordinary. They'll dismiss "weird" stuff as an over-active imagination or forgetfulness. "I thought I put my keys on the dresser, but I must've left them on the table."

As far as the Lutz's making something up....WHY? I mean, really....who would *want* to leave their home - a home that they seemed to love....why would anyone want to abandon everything they enjoyed out of life...for a little money? I'm not buying it.

I fully believe the house was and still is haunted. I don't, however, believe it was demonically possessed.

And I'll save my opinions about Ron DeFao for another time.

i have always been torn on this issue....and to this day i haven't made up my mind.....so i can't give a 'yes' 'no' answer

As far as the Lutz's making something up....WHY? I mean, really....who would *want* to leave their home - a home that they seemed to love....why would anyone want to abandon everything they enjoyed out of life...for a little money? I'm not buying it.

i guess i'm super jaded, because it would not surprise me in the least to find out that someone would do this for money......ppl have done much sicker things in the pursuit of fame and fortune

i have always been torn on this issue....and to this day i haven't made up my mind.....so i can't give a 'yes' 'no' answer

As far as the Lutz's making something up....WHY? I mean, really....who would *want* to leave their home - a home that they seemed to love....why would anyone want to abandon everything they enjoyed out of life...for a little money? I'm not buying it.

i guess i'm super jaded, because it would not surprise me in the least to find out that someone would do this for money......ppl have done much sicker things in the pursuit of fame and fortune

I suppose you're right...but I just don't get that impression from George Lutz. I've been wrong before.

The statistics (from that clip itself) state that only 1/3rd of adults believe in ghosts. Given that statistic and comparing it to the number of people who have lived in the house since the Lutz's vacated it, it's not surprising that no one has "witnessed" anything out of the ordinary. They'll dismiss "weird" stuff as an over-active imagination or forgetfulness. "I thought I put my keys on the dresser, but I must've left them on the table."

As far as the Lutz's making something up....WHY? I mean, really....who would *want* to leave their home - a home that they seemed to love....why would anyone want to abandon everything they enjoyed out of life...for a little money? I'm not buying it.

I fully believe the house was and still is haunted. I don't, however, believe it was demonically possessed.

And I'll save my opinions about Ron DeFao for another time.

melanie I would have to agree with you to a certain extent, I think for anyone to believe that Lutz thought that he was going to make a ton of money for telling his story is completly outrageous. If anything he did quite the contrary. In any case the whole story, is certainly fascinating, I do believe there was a demonic entity at the location when the Lutz/DaFeo's were there.

Ok heres my 2 cents on this for what its worth.

There are a ton of misconceptions surrounding this entire story, let me see if I can point them out for those of you who raise their collective eyebrows...

First and foremost...Mr Lutz did not seek media attention over any of this...they sought him out!!

The man you see speaking at the beginning of the video is William Webber, who, was the attorney for Ronald Dafeo. He originally set out to sign the Lutz's for the book and during this open discussion George Lutz decided against it because at that point he wasn't sure the world needed to know what his family endured. A bit later he was contacted by a noted author, Jay Anson who offered a true to life story built around the events and a deal was made. I suspect theres just a tad bit of bitterness on Mr Webbers part for not getting his greedy little fingers into the Lutz's pie, so I don't put much value on his words. Mr. Webber eventually purchased the film rights to Mr. Dafaoe's story and made a movie after the first Amityville show came out which depicted the years prior to the murders based on Hanz Holzers book titled 28 days. You can only imagine how much money he made on that deal...after passing it thru the courts as a prequel as opposed to a sequel

With that said.. Most people don't realize that George Lutz spent most of the last 30 years in litigation with the film studios.. Not for money but for breech of contract, defamation of character and slander.
For those who think this was a well planned hoax for money, if you look at the facts, he sure didn't go about it very well. With the first movie starring James Brolin, Mr Lutz was to be paid $50,000.00 and only if the films box office collected more than 10 million in ticket sales. When signing this original agreement Mr Lutz made sure he owned the sequel rights which sat dormate until the latest movie popped up which clearly breached the signed agreement. The only people who got rich over this was the movie studios and Jay Anson.

When not in court...Mr Lutz devoted most of his time trying to correct the misconceptions and exploitations surrounding this. He did speaking engagements which were designed to dispell the rumors that made him out to be a hoax and a liar. He would give the list of things that absolutely didn't happen in the first movie such as...There was no green slime or blood pouring from the walls, He didn't have a facination with cutting wood with a sharp axe, The pit in the basement was a hollywood created effect, they didn't leave Harry the dog behind when they fled..saying he would never had forgot about his beloved dog...The kids had their own beds, he would never have let them sleep in the beds of the murder victims..The list is endless.

What did happen after he fled only 28 days after moving in to what he referred to has his dreamhouse is very sad. After being there for less than a month he didn't ever go back for any personal belongings, no dishes, clothes, furniture, decor etc. The only thing which was retrieved from that house was a wooden chest full of family photos. He was told that spirits could not easily attach themselves to wooded objects so he sent a moving company to return that only item to him. All the household effect were eventually sold at auction which brought a very little money to him. He was a land surveyor and eventually his company went bankrupt because he had such stress and trauma over this he couldn't focus on what he needed. His marriage to Kathy eventually broke up but the relationship stayed because of their experiences.

This story is very sad in my opinion. Can you imagine going what this man obviously went thru only to be referred to as a liar. Who has the right to say what really happened there? Mr William Webber...he didn't live it.... George and Kathy Lutz lost so much when this came out and continued to do so thruout the remainer of their alarmingly short lived lives.

Then to add fuel to the fire, the last movie was such a fiasco that Mr. Lutz filed a multiple charge lawsuit against MGM because the movie, based on George Lutz, depicted him as a wife beater, child abuser, dog killer, attempted murderer just to name a few...none of these had a thread of truth to them. MGM responded by filing a counter suit against George Lutz for simply inquiring to the studio about the manuscript contents, which he was never allowed the right to see beforehand. I think if someone were ever to make a movie about MY life, I'd want it to reflect who I am...not what they want me to be for "shock & awe" factors. As I stated above, Mr Lutz didn't sue for monetary gain...he simply wanted the story to be told as the truth. It remained his hope until the day he died that someone would step in and do the movie correctly. Unfortunately that never happened. I hope they can finally rest in peace.