On November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. shot and killed six members of his family at 112 Ocean Avenue, in a suburban neighborhood in Amityville.
The victims were Ronald Jr.'s parents and four of his siblings. All of the victims had been shot with a .35 caliber rifle at around three o'clock in the morning. All had been lying face down at the time of their deaths. Physical evidence suggests his mother and little sister were both awake at the time of their deaths. Ronald DeFeo, Jr. was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to six concurrent sentences of 25 years to life.
This is the REAL AMITYVILLE HORROR story. The quick story told above is more chilling than one hundred of demon pigs floating around in one hundred little girl's windows. Well, maybe not quite, but all the same this true tale has only been given fleeting coverage in the million AMITYVILLE flicks that have poured out over the years. Most of the films choose instead to focus on (admittedly freaky) little girl ghosts and Margot Kidder in her underwear.
That is until now.
Turns out a new film is coming to us from CineTel Films (I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE remake) and the producer of THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT and – as is the fashion with this film producer – called THE HAUNTING ON LONG ISLAND: THE AMITYVILLE MURDERS. I assume this is because THE HAUNTING OF AMITYVILLE was already taken.
Anyhow, the new film will finally be an attempt to explore the original DeFeo murders with a more in-depth hand. I know it is called "The Haunting of" but from the synopsis below I'm thinking their new approach will be on the true crime story this time around.
THE HAUNTING ON LONG ISLAND: THE AMITYVILLE MURDERS synopsis:
On the night of November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. took a high-powered rifle and murdered his entire family as they slept. At his trial, DeFeo claimed that “voices” in the house commanded him to kill. Thirteen months later, the Lutz family bought the house and stayed only 28 days before fleeing in terror. Their nightmarish ordeal shocked the world in The Amityville Horror. The Lutzes may have escaped from Amityville with their lives … but the DeFeo’s weren’t so lucky. This is their story.”
Cintel Films is hoping to get the new film financed during this year's Canne Film Festival, and I for one am hoping they succeed as this is the REAL Amityville story that still needs to be told right.
Until then we have yet another version of the Amityville story coming to us this Summer with the Bella Thorne/Jennifer Jason Leigh flick AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING, which is set to be released (pfft, yeah right) June 30th.
Melissa George (Amityville '05) in Agent Provocateur's video for 'Control Yourself' is a must-see.