The Amityville Horror (1979)




The Amityville Horror was released into theaters on July 27th, 1979. Filming locations include Lakewood, Point Pleasant Beach and Toms River, NJ. It was directed by Stuart Rosenberg. The film stars James Brolin and Margot Kidder as George and Kathy Lutz. Brolin was also in genre films The Car and Westworld while Kidder was in Black Christmas. The film spawned seven sequels, a remake and a sequel to the remake. The films first DVD release was on September 5th, 2000.


Church - 406 Forman Ave. Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. 08742
(St. Peter's Church)

The church was constructed in 1919.


2019


Town Hall - 33 Washington St. Toms River, NJ. 08753
(Toms River Township Municipal Building)


2019


Witches Brew Bar - 24 W. Water St. Toms River, NJ. 08753

At the time of my visit, Stolfe & Zeigler Counselors at Law occupied the building used in the film. Some believe this location to be next door at the Music Academy, but after visiting for myself, I can confirm that as incorrect. The building that currently houses the Music Academy didn't exist in 1979.


2019


Father Delaney sits in the garden - 7th St. and Lakewood Ave. Lakewood, NJ. 08701
(Georgian Court University, Sunken Garden)

The university was established in 1908. The campus was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 20th, 1978. The garden inlet is on the shore of Lake Carasaljo.


All "Now" pictures taken in 2019.



Lutz house - 18 Brooks Rd. Toms River, NJ. 08753

It was built in 1920. The house has four bedrooms and consists of 3,068 square feet. A few years after the film was released, the owners of the house had it slightly moved and turned to where the front faces Brooks Rd. Prior to that, and the way it's seen in the film, the front of the house faced northwest, toward where E. Water St. and Dock St. connect. They also removed the front third floor attic level windows. The distinctive two quarter round windows that the house had become famous for were added by production solely for the purpose of duplicating the original house and they were removed after filming concluded. The house was also used as the exterior for Amityville II: The Possession and Amityville 3-D.


All "Now" pictures taken in 2019.




Real Amityville house - 108 Ocean Ave. Amityville, NY. 11701

In short, on November 13th, 1974 Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed six members of his family at the house, a large Dutch Colonial house situated in a suburban neighborhood in Amityville, on the south shore of Long Island, NY. He was convicted of second-degree murder in November 1975. On December 19th, 1975 George and Kathy Lutz along with their three children moved into the house. After twenty-eight days they left the house, claiming to be terrorized by paranormal phenomena during their time there. For anyone wanting the full back story, I urge you to read Jay Anson's The Amityville Horror: A True Story, first published on September 13, 1977. The house was built in 1927. It has changed owners five times since the murders occurred there, with the most recent being in 2017, when it was purchased for $605k, approximately $245k less than it sold for during it's previous sell in 2010, which was $950k. When the murders took place, the address of the house was 112. Sometime after, a different owner of the home had the address changed to 108.



8 comments:

  1. 112 Ocean Avenue has been blurred on Google Street View.

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  2. The movie house looked so much better with the third story windows.

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  3. Those people are pathetic. Like by blurring all the houses do they really think it's going to discourage tourism. It has always had the opposite effect and it's not going to change now.

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    1. excuse them for wanting privacy lmao

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    2. They knew what they were getting into when they bought the house.

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    3. I think the main point is that by blurring a house in Google Street View, it perhaps encourages more visitors to come see it in person. I think a lot of people just want to see what a movie location looks like today and wouldn't bother to travel to it if they could find a nice, clear (360°) image online.

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