Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• DVD Release Date: September 26, 2006
• Run Time: 50 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000GAKMBG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,425 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

AMITYVILLE:HAUNTING - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Amityville "Hoax's", August 7, 2007

By 

John D. Page "movie fan" (usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History's Mysteries - Amityville: The Haunting (History Channel) (DVD)

This is a very fine telling of the events that were to become the most famous "haunting" of our time. On the night of Nov. 13,1974, drug crazed Ron Defeo Jr. shot and killed all five members of his family. After a short investigation, he was sent to jail and the house sold to the Lutz's family. After 28 days there the family fled in the middle of the night and said that demons and all manner of supernatural "things" forced them out of the house. Not long after, with Author Jay Anson They gave the world "The Amityville Horror" and made millions! Besides giving us the facts as told by the family this excellent program looks into the case and finds many things that don't add up in the story. A fine piece of reporting that shows this was one of the better "Hoax's" ever done on the American people. Well worth the time and money!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keep an open mind here. Is it fact or fiction or a mix of both?, September 25, 2007

By 

Kyle Tolle (Phoenix, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History's Mysteries - Amityville: The Haunting (History Channel) (DVD)

Beginning with the history of this famous house at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, there is a surprisingly large and interesting amount of information about the property it resides on and the surrounding areas. Research indicates that this timeline goes back for generations. While some of these past findings remain questionable to this day, other facts brought to light are eerie and compelling when considering unusual events that purportedly occurred here.

Moving forward to more modern times and substantiated events, the DeFeo family tragedy is explored beginning with their move to this house in the summer of 1965. According to official records, a seemingly happy family began a downward spiral in 1973 when violence and abuse in the household escalated and reached the breaking point in November of 1974. On the thirteenth day of this month, Ronald DeFeo Jr. used a high powered rifle to murder his parents and four siblings. With all of these facts not in dispute, what are intriguing are several aspects of the murder that baffled investigators afterward and they are revealed here.

In December of 1975, George & Cathy Lutz and their three children take up residence in the now vacated home but flee the premises forever on January 14th, 1976. Actual interviews with the Lutz's and re-creations of events portrayed there demonstrate what seem to have been some terrifying and downright bizarre occurrences on many levels. Upon fleeing this house and moving to California, they reveal that the haunting continued to plague them for several years afterward. Inexplicably, all successive residents of this house since that time have not experienced anything out of the ordinary.

I have read the book by Jay Anson and seen the movie (both of which scared me at the time) and I've also done some research on this topic online and elsewhere. With that in mind, I offer the following. The History Channel has done a comprehensive job of examining the Lutz's `official' story of events here, in my opinion. It appears that was the sole intention of this program and it stands well on its own in that regard. On the other hand, the entire spectrum was not examined in this production in relation to questionable facts, unproven claims, and possible fabrications in the story that others have found and documented. Despite the one sided approach here, `Amityville: The Haunting' is another decent installment of the History's Mysteries series. Whether you believe in the truthfulness of this account or lean toward the more commonly accepted theory that it was a hoax, it is fun to watch nevertheless and it's even a little bit creepy at times.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Call me stupid, but I believe this was NOT a "hoax"., July 9, 2010

By 

James A. Carrington - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History's Mysteries - Amityville: The Haunting (History Channel) (DVD)

I agree that this does not examine each and every item that pertains to this case; however, suggested reading would be Ric Osuna's "The Night The DeFeos Died", despite the fact that he, too, believes the story to be a lie.

The Elder DeFeo was a very violent and abusive man who beat on his family constantly, with his pretty and apparently sweet wife, Louise, bearing the brunt of his most horrific abuse. My heart actually ached for this woman, as well as her children, due to the abuse that they were forced to endure at this one animal's hands. By all accounts, Mr. DeFeo was a liar, a crook, a thief, a con man, and possibly even a murderer himself; I came away from Osuna's book forever believing that this man was seriously mentally ill.

It was alleged that the Family's car dealership was actually a disposal point for dead bodies for the Italian mob. It was also alleged that he (the elder DeFeo) killed a handyman whose services he had used for odd jobs around the residence, out in the boathouse. The same boathouse where George Lutz was drawn to night after night for inexplicable reasons; what's even more eerie is the fact that there is no way that the Lutzes could have known about the alleged boathouse murder, as it was only revealed just recently in Osuna's book. Eyewitness accounts also claim that upon returning home, Mr. DeFeo would often urinate on the side of the house, saying that he was marking his territory! So, to me, a guy who has experienced hauntings and evil entities myself, I am inclined to believe that while the Lutzes' account may have been misrepresented by members of the media, I also find it entirely plausible to believe that the house was indeed inhabited by an evil spirit...... that of Mr. DeFeo himself, who was furious that another family was living in "his" house! Also, Ronald DeFeo, Jr., was not the sole assassin, either; his sister Dawn was the one who more than likely not only pressured him to help her do it, but more than likely it was actually she who killed the children after Ronald, Jr., left the house to chase after a friend who had been present (and was the one who had actually shot Louise as she sat up in bed, screaming). Also, the victims were not sound asleep as they were being shot; there is evidence that suggests that they were forced to lie on their stomachs (the kids) while the parents were placed into that position post-mortem to make it look like a mob hit.

We'll never know exactly what happened with regard to either family, but rest assured, the de-bunkers and naysayers had lots of good reasons for screaming "HOAX!" The Suffolk Co. Police, the detectives, Louise's own family (The Brigantes), along with the New York mob, ALL had good reasons to lie, cover up the truth, and implicate only one murderer when in fact it was obvious that this was the work of more than one person.

Stephen Kaplan, the main de-bunker who first cried "Hoax", was doing so simply because when his credentials didn't check out (he didn't even know what the ghost-searching equipment was called, yet he claimed to have a degree in this field!)he was dismissed from the case. In actuality, he was a self-proclaimed vampire hunter (yes, he really did believe that these creatures exist as they are portrayed in classic folklore and literature) who was really just furious and full of revenge toward the Lutzes after they fired him, because, as he had said to others, "Channel 7 is going to make me a star". Obviously, when the Lutzes ultimately didn't help him reach his self-predicted star status, he reacted with swift punishment by calling them liars. And DeFeo's attorney comes off as a liar as well, who also had an axe to grind with the Lutzes over an original book deal which they backed out of upon learning that DeFeo himself was going to share in the profits. Indeed, no murderer should EVER profit from his crime(s).

If one keeps these things in mind while watching this documentary, you'll still have many more unanswered questions and perhaps even a few new doubts as to whether or not this really was a hoax. As Mr. Warren, one of the paranormal investigators interviewed for this piece remarked, "For the believer, no further proof is necessary; for the skeptics, no amount of proof will ever be enough." Amen to that. Ghosts, haunted houses, evil spirits.....trust me, they DO exist, and they often stop their antics just as suddenly as they began, too; they also follow people sometimes to torment them, just like the famous Bell Witch case.

I highly recommend this documentary along with Ric Osuna's book, despite the fact that Osuna is also a non-believer, because his book is chock-full of little-known facts and information that one wouldn't otherwise have.