In what’s being called “the first elevated, authoritative look” at the world’s most infamous haunted house tale, MGM+ has just released a new four-part docuseries called Amityville: An Origin Story.
If you’re a fan of true crime, you’ve most likely heard about the mysterious Amityville horror house murders—and you won’t want to miss this new series.
Amityville is a small town on Long Island, New York, that has been shrouded in mystery since 1974 when Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered six of his family members at 112 Ocean Avenue. Just one year after the murders, the Lutz family purchased that same home and moved in. It only took a month for the Lutzes to leave, driven out by alleged bouts of terrifying paranormal activity.
That fascinating story has inspired countless supernatural theories, books, and movies—including the 1979 blockbuster film,The Amityville Horror —over the years. But Amityville: An Origin Story digs deeper and aims to answer some unanswered questions that have never been fully explored.
We recently had a chance to speak with Jack Riccobono, the director and executive producer of Amityville: An Origin Story. Here’s what he had to say:
Tell us about the true-crime docuseries 'Amityville: An Origin Story.'
Riccobono: Amityville: An Origin Story twists everything you think you know about the Amityville horror. We unravel what makes the Amityville horror tick and look at the story through all of its different layers. There’s a horror film that came out in 1979, the paranormal experiences the horror film was based on, and the terrible mass murder tragedy. The series tries to look at how the haunting of the Lutzes and the murder of the DeFeo family combined in the 1970s to give rise to the Amityville horror story, which continues to this day with more than 40 films based on these events.
The Amityville house. Without any spoilers, is there anything new viewers can expect to learn from the show?
Riccobono: We’re really proud of the fact that we got people who had never before sat for interviews to participate. We have several people who have never spoken on camera. The most important interview is with Christopher Quaratino, aka Christopher Lutz, who is the middle son in the Lutz family. He was seven years old when the family was haunted out of the house in 1976. He sat for his first longform interview to tell us in detail what he remembers as a seven-year-old living through those 28 days in the Amityville horror house, and also the impact of the book and the film and all the attention his family received in the years after the hauntings and how that impacted their family.
How to watch ‘Amityville: An Origin Story’
Don’t have MGM+ yet? MGM+ costs Prime members $5.99/month—but you can sign up for a 7-day free trial first. You can also bundle Starz and MGM+ for $11.99/month (normally $14.98) through Prime—or you can subscribe to MGM+ directly via the MGM+ app.
Next, learn about MGM+’s true-crime docuseries ‘Murf the Surf.’
