Kathy Lutz

But, uh, after that bloodletting, I mean, we, you know, I mean, we were just horrified that this would happen in Long Island in a very affluent, you know- Uh, uh, Amityville, uh, at High Hopes.

And then after that, uh, George and Kathy Lutz came and bought, purchased the house for $80,000 and stayed there for only 28 days, claiming that they were driven out by demonic infestations.

Hmm.

So that was the second act, and they believe that this was true.

And, uh, Ronnie DeFeo claimed that he was, uh, he was, uh, controlled by a demon.

And so the prosecution, who wrote a book called High Hopes, had to prove in a court of law that Butch DeFeo, 23-year-old Butch DeFeo, this rich kid that was fueled on methamphetamine and, and Thorazine and heroin, that, uh, he was not possessed by a demon, but he was a personality disorder that needed immediate r- gratification and also had no compassion, uh, no, uh, uh, compassion or understanding for his, uh, fellow human beings.

So, uh, that was the, the first part of it, and then George and Kathy Lutz, and then the fact that maybe it was hoaxed that people are still taking a look at.

So, you know, it's, uh, it's a, it's a story that, uh, just doesn't quit when you take a look at the amount of books written about the Amityville Horror.

A complete fabrication.

In 1979, the lawyer for the murderer, William Weber, the man who represented Ronald DeFeo Jr., publicly admitted that he, along with George and Kathy Lutz, had completely invented the haunting story from scratch.

Right.

And the detail that is just seared into my brain, Weber admitted that they concocted this massive horror franchise over many bottles of wine.

Tell the story.

The s- the story is [clears throat] that Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six members of his family in a house in 1974, and that later, the owners, George and Kathy Lutz, reported paranormal experiences, which inspired the books and the films, and the supernatural story became far more culturally famous than the original murders.

But I did research on this one a little bit, and what I found out was that the, the person who committed the murders only brought up that it was potentially haunted or that it was, it was motivated spiritually or by a supernatural entity of some sort after he was convicted of doing the murders.

So it, it led to a lot of speculation around if it was really, if it was really a supernatural thing or haunting, because it only happened, I guess, in the eyes of those prosecuting him, as a way to get out of prison time or jail or the, or the death, uh, the death row.

There are people who lived in the house that they didn't experience anything.

Yeah.

So did something really happen with George and Kathy Lutz, or was it a way to, nowadays we call monetize, monetize-

Yeah.

Things get dramatized more and more for a book and then even more for a screen.

George and Kathy Lutz were a newlywed couple in December of 1975, both having been...

both having been married previously.

No kids in George's marriage, but there are three children from Kathy's previous marriage, Danny, who's 10 years old, Christopher, 7, and Melissa, who goes by Missy, 5 years old.

So he's not intimidated by the story that the realtor has just divulged to them.

And so they discuss it.

There's actually a ton of footage of interviews with George and Kathy Lutz.

So I'm able to directly quote them quite a bit throughout this story, by the

Soon after the Lutz family moved in, the horror began.

George and Kathy's bedroom, the eyes at the window.

The sewing room, so many flies.

The living room, an unnatural cold.

Okay, let's get into the people that made this movie, 'cause people make movies, and the people that made this movie are...

It was directed by Stuart Rosenberg, and the screenplay by Sanders Stern, and it was based on the book by Jay Anson.

Also, IMDb lists, uh, George and Kathy Lutz as uncredited writers.

Oh.