This is a very informative, well researched series. My only complaint is the lighting of the interviews. Maybe the color scheme of the interviews are meant to be reminiscent of the mid '70's. OK, fine but turn the lights on so we can see who is talking! The camera movement and compositions are great but you can't see the people talking. It makes no sense. There is a good balance of interviews with people who knew the families and archival information. I was unaware of several details in the story. Such as the father-in-law connection to the mob. Curious if the filmmakers have done other stuff and if they lit the interviews.
8 Reviews
A View From All Sides
thalassafischer21 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Some points from this documentary that I think are pertinent are:
1) Some things happened in Long Island dating back to 1895 involving an adolescent boy violating a skeleton from a native American grave and this coincides with what I understand about Long Island largely being forested for many years before quite suddenly becoming the suburbs in the mid-20th century, and some areas were still under-developed in the 1980s - a full decade after the DeFeo murders. The other Long Island famous murder of course was committed by Ricky Kasso, who performed a ritual at the Amityville house in the early 1980s.
2) A lot of people who are talking here believe what they're saying. I think two things can be true at the same time. People who are really hostile to religion because they're afraid of mystery and things that they can't know or control are going to insist that OBVIOUSLY this was either a mafia murder connected to the DeFeo grandparents or it's because young Ronnie/Butch was a mentally ill drug addict. I think it can be both natural corruption and supernatural influence. I think real evil exists every day in weak, selfish people who try to tap into something that will ultimately crush them in the end. Live by the sword die by the sword and all that.
3) More factually speaking, the Lutz family did in fact exaggerate their story for money, but some pretty banal everyday evil come from that too in the form of their son. Watch a related documentary called My Amityville Horror. The real darkness of the situation here is rooted in the DeFeo family and how the Lutz' exploited it, and harmed their own family in the process. It's very interesting to me that Chris Lutz here did not contradict his brother Daniel from the other documentary in regard to the strange occurrences.
4) There's a strong possibility someone did help Ronnie DeFeo because of the forensic evidence of the murder scene. That's also chilling whether or not you accept any of the parapsychology theories. It's definitely a story worth telling.
1) Some things happened in Long Island dating back to 1895 involving an adolescent boy violating a skeleton from a native American grave and this coincides with what I understand about Long Island largely being forested for many years before quite suddenly becoming the suburbs in the mid-20th century, and some areas were still under-developed in the 1980s - a full decade after the DeFeo murders. The other Long Island famous murder of course was committed by Ricky Kasso, who performed a ritual at the Amityville house in the early 1980s.
2) A lot of people who are talking here believe what they're saying. I think two things can be true at the same time. People who are really hostile to religion because they're afraid of mystery and things that they can't know or control are going to insist that OBVIOUSLY this was either a mafia murder connected to the DeFeo grandparents or it's because young Ronnie/Butch was a mentally ill drug addict. I think it can be both natural corruption and supernatural influence. I think real evil exists every day in weak, selfish people who try to tap into something that will ultimately crush them in the end. Live by the sword die by the sword and all that.
3) More factually speaking, the Lutz family did in fact exaggerate their story for money, but some pretty banal everyday evil come from that too in the form of their son. Watch a related documentary called My Amityville Horror. The real darkness of the situation here is rooted in the DeFeo family and how the Lutz' exploited it, and harmed their own family in the process. It's very interesting to me that Chris Lutz here did not contradict his brother Daniel from the other documentary in regard to the strange occurrences.
4) There's a strong possibility someone did help Ronnie DeFeo because of the forensic evidence of the murder scene. That's also chilling whether or not you accept any of the parapsychology theories. It's definitely a story worth telling.
Real horror Real life
leeboaldershot2 May 2023
This was one of the most interesting documentary films I've ever seen . I'm a huge horror fan and am very interested in Real life cases . After watching this it sort of gets you to believe the haunting. What's sad though is the real crime that happened prior to the family moving in . Its amazing how many photos and film they produced for the documentary, which makes it even more compelling . Remember watching The Amitiville horror as a kid but never did I ever think it could be true . Anyway I don't know what else I can say apart from give it a watch for yourselves , preferably late at night .
Waaaaay Longer Than It Needs To Be
Shauna6317 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Like many who grew up in this time I thought I'd seen, read, heard it all about the DeFeo murder case and the Lutz haunting. This doc however did surprise me with a few nuggets that I'd never heard before and I appreciated that. So why only 5 stars? Because of the ridiculously loooooong dramatic pauses that interrupt the interviews. Excruciating, exhausting filler segments sometimes as long as 40 seconds (yes I counted!). Long, slo-mo shots of things like a chandelier, a door, a statue of Jesus; set to the same, repetitive eery music. The interviewees were interesting and would have been more than enough on their own without all the drama.
Fusion of Fact and Fiction:How it Happened
apettibone6 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This docuseries looks at a truly horrific crime and examines how it evolved into a complicated, and profitable, story that has fascinated the public for decades. Based on a true event, we see how the facts gradually morphed into fiction. Plenty of original footage and many new interviews give us a thorough and honest explanation of how the truly gruesome murder of six family members (this alone is the stuff of nightmares), devolved into creatively alluring paranormal experiences which the public couldn't resist. An Origin Story proves these are the creations of one dubious character whose only goal was to profit off the tragedy. It continues to be a fascinating tale!
Real life.. not real horror...
NullUnit15 May 2023
If anything, this documentary debunks the entire "haunting" aspect of the Amityville fable. I post "fable" because that's what it's become.
CLEARLY, this documentary exposes what a goldmine George Lutz found in a normal house with a terrible history. They made up a story and raked in income year after year after year because of it. The Lutz family was clearly used to perpetuate the fable and thus the income. THere's NO METION of how George or Kathy Lutz ever made any income OTHER than due to the conjured fable of the haunted house.
More power to them.... after all.. there's one born every minute, right.
I find it rather interesting how so many think the original move was factual.. I mean do they believe other films in that era were factual?? Was Star Wars a biography??? Alien a factual account of another planet?? Life of Brian a true tale of mistaken identity?? The Amityville Horror was a work of fiction.. designed to generate money. It was not a factual telling of real life occurrences.
This documentary is rather boring. One keeps waiting for some revelation that never comes. Basically if you believe the "hokum" of the haunting, you can read into enough pieces to perhaps support that belief - but you have to dismiss a great deal as well. If one is of a critical mind, this merely exposes everything which was done to proliferate the profits.
Meh.. it's only 4 episodes.. I certainly would never go seeking this out and pay to see it.. but if you've got MGM+ anyway.....
CLEARLY, this documentary exposes what a goldmine George Lutz found in a normal house with a terrible history. They made up a story and raked in income year after year after year because of it. The Lutz family was clearly used to perpetuate the fable and thus the income. THere's NO METION of how George or Kathy Lutz ever made any income OTHER than due to the conjured fable of the haunted house.
More power to them.... after all.. there's one born every minute, right.
I find it rather interesting how so many think the original move was factual.. I mean do they believe other films in that era were factual?? Was Star Wars a biography??? Alien a factual account of another planet?? Life of Brian a true tale of mistaken identity?? The Amityville Horror was a work of fiction.. designed to generate money. It was not a factual telling of real life occurrences.
This documentary is rather boring. One keeps waiting for some revelation that never comes. Basically if you believe the "hokum" of the haunting, you can read into enough pieces to perhaps support that belief - but you have to dismiss a great deal as well. If one is of a critical mind, this merely exposes everything which was done to proliferate the profits.
Meh.. it's only 4 episodes.. I certainly would never go seeking this out and pay to see it.. but if you've got MGM+ anyway.....
I had a thought after watching this...
jaylemieux-2323718 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Before I start off on my personal thought on the whole thing, I'd like to say the shows were really great. It was excellent to hear from Christopher Lutz and he seemed pretty clear on things after never really saying anything for 40 years. All the talk about the red room and the other people that were interviewed seemed like they knew what they were talking about. In general, I found the entire show was easy to watch and there were a LOT of pictures and video I'd never seen before. It's 9 stars for me just because I found everything to be interesting and I guess factual. If you are into watching things on this house and it's history, this is a great one to see!
That being said...
I have seen about every documentary about the house that I can find, including this one and the one with Daniel Lutz, My Amityville Horror. I like to watch the ones that explore the actual issue which was the DeFeo murders and see if anything new has come up. Usually the same thing, but I seem to get something from each of them. Then, the ones that have to deal with the Lutz's and how everything shook down with them.
I have always thought that the whole "The house is haunted" was pretty much not real. My concept was like most people think: Ron DeFeo waxed his entire family, probably whacked out on some kind of drug. I listened to him change his story over the years several times from he did it, to he and Dawn did it, to the mob did it, to the devil made him do it. I think he just did it because he was angry and a druggie.
I have always thought of Ed and Loraine Warren as pretty honest folks. So when they did their thing in the house, and she freaked out, I was skeptical because I just wasn't buying what George Lutz said most of the time.
Then after this I had a thought...
I listened to Daniel Lutz story about how George was into the occult and all that meditation stuff, and how he actually saw stuff happen in the house. I sort of didn't believe him as I think George was abusive and he might have been just angry...which I do believe.
All of a sudden, here comes Chris Lutz in this series, and he confirmed that not only did all that weird stuff happen, but George was into the occult and abusive. I really thought Chris was going to deny all this, but he didn't, and I started to think....
I don't think I ever heard anyone of the DeFeo family ever say something was wrong with the house. Other than when Ron Jr. Said the voices made him to it, but I didn't believe that as they were trying for the insanity defense. It seemed like the normal stuff with families and the fact that Ron Sr. And Jr. Didn't get along at all.
So, I thought...is it possible there was nothing wrong with the house in the first place when the DeFeo's were in there...until the Lutz's moved in and George went off the deep end with occult crap? This would explain why the Warren's saw things they did while they investigated since the investigated AFTER the Lutz's had moved out. Did George cut some entity or whatever loose in the house?
I would have never thought it was anything other than a hoax if this show had not come out. I guess since Daniel and now Chris have stated that George was a cult freak, it could be that he brought something. I'd love if Missy made some kind of statement now.
That being said...
I have seen about every documentary about the house that I can find, including this one and the one with Daniel Lutz, My Amityville Horror. I like to watch the ones that explore the actual issue which was the DeFeo murders and see if anything new has come up. Usually the same thing, but I seem to get something from each of them. Then, the ones that have to deal with the Lutz's and how everything shook down with them.
I have always thought that the whole "The house is haunted" was pretty much not real. My concept was like most people think: Ron DeFeo waxed his entire family, probably whacked out on some kind of drug. I listened to him change his story over the years several times from he did it, to he and Dawn did it, to the mob did it, to the devil made him do it. I think he just did it because he was angry and a druggie.
I have always thought of Ed and Loraine Warren as pretty honest folks. So when they did their thing in the house, and she freaked out, I was skeptical because I just wasn't buying what George Lutz said most of the time.
Then after this I had a thought...
I listened to Daniel Lutz story about how George was into the occult and all that meditation stuff, and how he actually saw stuff happen in the house. I sort of didn't believe him as I think George was abusive and he might have been just angry...which I do believe.
All of a sudden, here comes Chris Lutz in this series, and he confirmed that not only did all that weird stuff happen, but George was into the occult and abusive. I really thought Chris was going to deny all this, but he didn't, and I started to think....
I don't think I ever heard anyone of the DeFeo family ever say something was wrong with the house. Other than when Ron Jr. Said the voices made him to it, but I didn't believe that as they were trying for the insanity defense. It seemed like the normal stuff with families and the fact that Ron Sr. And Jr. Didn't get along at all.
So, I thought...is it possible there was nothing wrong with the house in the first place when the DeFeo's were in there...until the Lutz's moved in and George went off the deep end with occult crap? This would explain why the Warren's saw things they did while they investigated since the investigated AFTER the Lutz's had moved out. Did George cut some entity or whatever loose in the house?
I would have never thought it was anything other than a hoax if this show had not come out. I guess since Daniel and now Chris have stated that George was a cult freak, it could be that he brought something. I'd love if Missy made some kind of statement now.
The George Lutz Horror
nicholasadrianandrade8 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Firstly, this doc is very good. Though I'd argue that there could have been more said - i.e. The other theories regarding the night the DeFeos died. That aside, Origins does prove my own personal belief of the matter. I do, in fact, think that the Lutzs experienced a residual haunting due to the horrific murders. Like an echo - it lingered, waiting to be heard. And George, feeding into this energy - be that by drugs or his own personal demons - made it worse. And perhaps the narrator is right - maybe 112 Ocean Avenue needs a certain type of person to reawaken that trauma. Or maybe getting rid of George Lutz saved not only those children, but the home itself.
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