Daniel Lutz knows the Amityville Horror.

He experienced it first-hand as a ten year old boy.

Now, all grown up, he’s in a documentary. My Amityville Horror gives Daniel the opportunity to say what happened in Amityville. I watched this doc on Netflix last night and it’s gripping on a few different levels.

Daniel Lutz is not to be toyed with. He embodies the tough-guy persona with a shaved head and a chilly stare.

However, his vulnerabilities seep through the cracks as he explains the events of Amityville. The information he adds to the legend is startling. The book and movie touched upon the family dynamic in the Lutz household, but many elements didn’t make it in the commercial versions of the story. After spending time with Daniel, it’s clear that growing up as George Lutz’ stepson was traumatic enough without poltergeist activity.

The Amityville Horror story is entrenched in our culture now. That barn like structure and its creepy, Jack O Lantern window-eyes is probably the most famous haunted house in America. It’s also a polarized case. Its supporters believe that every incident did, in fact, happen. Famous paranormal investigators support the claims. The story’s detractors, including the homes subsequent occupants, cry hoax.

Regardless, it’s evident that the Amityville demons remain a part of Daniel Lutz life even now. He no longer walks into a room and finds thousands of flies or that the temperature has dropped twenty degrees. It’s the memories that stalk him, the aftermath and the unhealed scars of being the boy from Amityville. He says it best:

“All I do is walk around protecting that ten year old kid.”

On a side note, Daniel Lutz is an accomplished guitar player. The documentary divides its chapters with shots of him playing electric and acoustic instruments. It would be interesting to hear him talk about this aspect of his life and the solace found in loud guitars. Music can sooth a wounded soul, we all know this. But can it heal one so deliberately and badly damaged? Can anything?