Editorials
[Interview] ‘My Amityville Horror’ Director Eric Walter On Daniel Lutz And Searching For The Truth
I just watched director Eric Walter‘s documentary, My Amityville Horror, yesterday prior to interviewing him and I was surprised by how much I liked it. In particular, Walter pulls off a difficult feat in engaging the very temperamental Daniel Lutz, something he managed to do over a period of months without ever losing his objectivity on his subject. Walter and I spoke at length about the effect the real-life Amityville saga has had on Daniel Lutz and whether or not he believes the claims the Lutz family has made over the years. The answer, like most things in real life, is complicated.
“For the first time in 35 years, Daniel Lutz recounts his version of the infamous Amityville haunting that terrified his family in 1975. George and Kathy Lutz’s story went on to inspire a best-selling novel and the subsequent films have continued to fascinate audiences today. This documentary reveals the horror behind growing up as part of a world famous haunting and while Daniel’s facts may be other’s fiction, the psychological scars he carries are indisputable.” Laura DiDio and Lorraine Warren also make appearances.
The film hits limited theaters and VOD today, March 15th from IFC. If you have any interest at all in the Amityville story it’s a must watch, so check your local listings or hit up SundanceNOW, Xbox, iTunes, PS3 and others. Head inside for the interview!
How did this whole thing come about?
As much of an obsessive interest as I’ve had in the Amityville subject, it kind of found me as much as I found it. Danny actually found me through a website that I run called AmityvilleFiles.com that I started when I was 17 years old. I’m 27 now so that was obviously some time ago. I was enamored with the fact that this was claimed to be a true story, both the account of the Lutz family and the DeFeo murders. I began looking into the trial records for the DeFeo case and the alleged hauntings of the Lutz case to see whether or not it was a hoax. I also talked to a bunch of people who lived in the house subsequently and never experienced anything abnormal. I really dove into this at a very young age. I developed the site because I really wanted to create a place that would give people the unbiased whole story. I didn’t want the perspective of, “this is all a hoax” or “this is all true.” I think it lies between those two things. I wanted people to make up their own minds.
So I was contacted by Daniel out of the blue by a friend of his who claimed he was interested in going public with the story. He was angry at the way the story had been portrayed in the media through so many years. He was also angry at what his stepfather, George Lutz, had perpetrated on the family. He felt very strongly that George was involved in occult dabblings in the house and that whatever he was involved in triggered the hauntings on the family. It was an entirely new perspective, since George had been essentially controlling [the conversation] until his death. For Danny, this was a kind of catharsis, he felt a very deep personal desire to get his story told. And the way he appears in the film is very much the way he is. He’s an extremely angry and intense personality, so a lot of times I felt like I was putting myself in harm’s way in even making this film. Anytime you question the credibility of anything he says, he’s ready to jump down your throat.
It’s interesting because in the film he mentions that one of the reasons he didn’t like George is that he felt like he was walking on eggshells around him. But, it seems to me, that being around Danny himself is also like walking on eggshells.
Oh, you know it’s a sad portrait because in many ways he’s doing what George did at the time. He’s certainly not the same kind of person as George, but George was trying to control the story and in many ways it seems that Danny is now being passed that torch. It’s almost sad. It’s a fatal attraction to Danny, he talks about how he doesn’t want to do it but feels like he has to. There was a lot of concern for me personally about the allegations that were being made against George Lutz because I can’t verify them. I know that Christopher, his younger brother, has also claimed similar incidences where George was involved in the occult. So it does corroborate in a general fashion, but Danny goes into so much more detail. For me, it’s a very sensitive area.
I’m not sure where you stand on this, and I never rule out anything I don’t understand, but it seems to me there’s a very good chance that Danny has been afflicted by this abuse. It seems like he’s very much fighting back against the abuse he received from his stepfather, but at the same time he hasn’t extricated himself from the belief system George forced upon him.
I would agree with that. It’s interesting to see how many people take away different perceptions of it. I thought the film was better left open ended that way because there’s so much grey area to this story and Danny’s story in general that for someone to come in to say, “this is the reason”, I wouldn’t be doing my job. So I agree with you. I think that for me it does’t make sense that a family would get up and leave all of their personal belongings – clothes, food, furniture and all of that. They gave the house back to the bank, George sold his business and moved to California. Kathy and George were newlyweds and had sold both of their homes to move into this house, so they gave up all of their investments. So they were literally living off food stamps in San Diego for several months after this.
So, for me, while I personally don’t believe all that has been said about the Lutz family or all of the things the Lutz family claimed happened to them, I’ve always felt that they believed that this happened. The problem is that they sold the book rights to Jay Anson, who took great creative license with the story and slapped a “true story” sticker on the front of the book. And the book was a bestseller that rolled into 13 movies about the subject – a spin-off, the sequels and a remake that to me was an entire abomination on the case in general.
So to me, selling those rights was was the worst thing they could have done. Because now they’re a direct part of it. Danny and his siblings, their actual names are used in that book. So no matter how hard they try not to, they’re living in the shadow of this for the rest of their lives. And that’s the story I wanted to tell.
Editorials
‘Immaculate’ – A Companion Watch Guide to the Religious Horror Movie and Its Cinematic Influences
The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. NEON’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.
Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.
From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises for the way it leans so heavily into Italian horror and New French Extremity. Let’s dig into many of the film’s most prominent horror influences with a companion watch guide.
Warning: Immaculate spoilers ahead.
Rosemary’s Baby
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The mother of all pregnancy horror movies introduces Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), an eager-to-please housewife who’s supportive of her husband, Guy, and thrilled he landed them a spot in the coveted Bramford apartment building. Guy proposes a romantic evening, which gives way to a hallucinogenic nightmare scenario that leaves Rosemary confused and pregnant. Rosemary’s suspicions and paranoia mount as she’s gaslit by everyone around her, all attempting to distract her from her deeply abnormal pregnancy. While Cecilia follows a similar emotional journey to Rosemary, from the confusion over her baby’s conception to being gaslit by those who claim to have her best interests in mind, Immaculate inverts the iconic final frame of Rosemary’s Baby to great effect.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s horror classic shook audiences to their core upon release in the ’70s, largely for its shocking imagery. A grim battle over faith is waged between demon Pazuzu and priests Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow). The battleground happens to be a 12-year-old, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), whose possessed form commits blasphemy often, including violently masturbating with a crucifix. Yet Friedkin captures the horrifying events with stunning cinematography; the emotional complexity and shot composition lend elegance to a film that counterbalances the horror. That balance between transgressive imagery and artful form permeates Immaculate as well.
Suspiria
Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American newcomer at a prestigious dance academy in Germany who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy amid a series of grisly murders. It’s a dance academy so disciplined in its art form that its students and faculty live their full time, spending nearly every waking hour there, including built-in meals and scheduled bedtimes. Like Suzy Bannion, Cecilia is a novitiate committed to learning her chosen trade, so much so that she travels to a foreign country to continue her training. Also, like Suzy, Cecilia quickly realizes the pristine façade of her new setting belies sinister secrets that mean her harm.
What Have You Done to Solange?
This 1972 Italian horror film follows a college professor who gets embroiled in a bizarre series of murders when his mistress, a student, witnesses one taking place. The professor starts his own investigation to discover what happened to the young woman, Solange. Sex, murder, and religion course through this Giallo’s veins, which features I Spit on Your Grave’s Camille Keaton as Solange. Immaculate director Michael Mohan revealed to The Wrap that he emulated director Massimo Dallamano’s techniques, particularly in a key scene that sees Cecilia alone in a crowded room of male superiors, all interrogating her on her immaculate status.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
In this Giallo, two sisters inherit their family’s castle that’s also cursed. When a dark-haired, red-robed woman begins killing people around them, the sisters begin to wonder if the castle’s mysterious curse has resurfaced. Director Emilio Miraglia infuses his Giallo with vibrant style, with the titular Red Queen instantly eye-catching in design. While the killer’s design and use of red no doubt played an influential role in some of Immaculate’s nightmare imagery, its biggest inspiration in Mohan’s film is its score. Immaculate pays tribute to The Red Queen Kills Seven Times through specific music cues.
The Vanishing
Rex’s life is irrevocably changed when the love of his life is abducted from a rest stop. Three years later, he begins receiving letters from his girlfriend’s abductor. Director George Sluizer infuses his simple premise with bone-chilling dread and psychological terror as the kidnapper toys with Red. It builds to a harrowing finale you won’t forget; and neither did Mohan, who cited The Vanishing as an influence on Immaculate. Likely for its surprise closing moments, but mostly for the way Sluizer filmed from inside a coffin.
The Other Hell
This nunsploitation film begins where Immaculate ends: in the catacombs of a convent that leads to an underground laboratory. The Other Hell sees a priest investigating the seemingly paranormal activity surrounding the convent as possessed nuns get violent toward others. But is this a case of the Devil or simply nuns run amok? Immaculate opts to ground its horrors in reality, where The Other Hell leans into the supernatural, but the surprise lab setting beneath the holy grounds evokes the same sense of blasphemous shock.
Inside
During Immaculate‘s freakout climax, Cecilia sets the underground lab on fire with Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) locked inside. He manages to escape, though badly burned, and chases Cecilia through the catacombs. When Father Tedeschi catches Cecilia, he attempts to cut her baby out of her womb, and the stark imagery instantly calls Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s seminal French horror movie to mind. Like Tedeschi, Inside’s La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) will stop at nothing to get the baby, badly burned and all.
Burial Ground
At first glance, this Italian zombie movie bears little resemblance to Immaculate. The plot sees an eclectic group forced to band together against a wave of undead, offering no shortage of zombie gore and wild character quirks. What connects them is the setting; both employed the Villa Parisi as a filming location. The Villa Parisi happens to be a prominent filming spot for Italian horror; also pair the new horror movie with Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood or Blood for Dracula for additional boundary-pushing horror titles shot at the Villa Parisi.
The Devils
The Devils was always intended to be incendiary. Horror, at its most depraved and sadistic, tends to make casual viewers uncomfortable. Ken Russell’s 1971 epic takes it to a whole new squeamish level with its nightmarish visuals steeped in some historical accuracy. There are the horror classics, like The Exorcist, and there are definitive transgressive horror cult classics. The Devils falls squarely in the latter, and Russell’s fearlessness in exploring taboos and wielding unholy imagery inspired Mohan’s approach to the escalating horror in Immaculate.
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