Remember "The Amityville Horror" movie (and book)??
Hopefully everyone has heard about it.....those that haven't are probably living under a rock somewhere.
One of the primary people involved in the most famous recent "hauntings"of a house in America has passed away.
I learned of his passing while listening to "Coast to Coast" on friday evening on my way home from work.
The last I had heard of Mr. Lutz was that he was in the process of suing the movie studio who did the remake of the original movie because, among other things, the producers promised him a "cut of the proceeds" from the revenues of the movie-which they supposedly backed out of and he also was suing the producers for libel as he claimed they potrayed him in a "bad light" in the remake, making him out to be a lunatic and a psychotic maniac.
I do not know how his lawsuit has been proceeding through California courts but I do remember hearing that he was having a very tough time of late.
He and his wife then divorced a bit after the events that gave the fodder for the book and subsequent movie that was made.
A little background on what I remember without digging into any web searches is that George Lutz and his wife Kathy and their children moved into an old Dutch Colonial House in Amityville, Long Island in New York State which they got for a "steal" due to the house not selling on the real estate market of the time.
If I remember the story correctly, the house had sat empty ever since a young man named Ronald Defoe went on a rampage and killed all the members of his family by shooting them all.
The killer was convicted of multiple murders and to this day is serving a life sentence in prison somewhere in the east.
So the Lutz family bought the old house and shortly after they moved in, strange things supposedly started happening to them and to the house. After 28 days of horrific hauntings, they left all of their possessions behind and ran from the house and from Amityville and never looked back....
supposedly I say because according to some people, the Lutz' conjured up the whole affair to get rich and sell a book with the help of Jay Ansen who authored the now famous "horror novel" turned into two movies.
Whatever the truth, it was a great book and the original movie was one that I remember that I enjoyed.
I think I was in high school when it came out around the late 70's, and though I did see the remake of a year or so ago, I feel that it was just a cheap and badly written retelling of the original story and I also have to say that if I was George Lutz, I also would have been very upset to be made out to be the "mad man" that this new version ended up potraying him as.
When I was out in NYC this last fall I had hoped to take a drive onto Long Island and try and find the famous house on Ocean Avenue. This was to be my Halloween experience but I ended up getting caught up in the annual Greenwich village Parade and by the time I made it out of the village, I was exhausted and just wanted to get back to my hotel in Brooklyn to rest for a bit. Then instead of trying to make my way around Long Island in the dark, I took the subway back into Manhattan and spent the evening wondering around Times Square and midtown Manhattan.
But I digress.....
I hope he rests in peace. He sounded like a very intense person and I would have considered it very cool if I had ever gotten the chance to meet him. His story has been a part of my memories since I was a very young man. I think that his book about the happenings on Long Island was the first paperback that I ever bought for myself....
And now that I have talked a bit about a man who no matter what the real truth of what happened to him was, here is a link to his personal website with a note from one of his friends that mentions his passing:
http://www.amityvillehorrortruth.com/
I just headed over there and and there are close to seven pages of condolences to his family and friends.
He sure did have an interesting life to say the least.
Another link that talks about George and his life:
http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=6107
No comments:
Post a Comment