The ghosts were real but don’t call him an ax murderer.

George Lutz, whose family’s 28-day stay in a Long Island house was the basis for the “The Amityville Horror,” has filed a libel suit against the producers of this year’s profitable remake of the classic horror picture.

His beef? The producers not only depicted him as a “homicidal maniac,” but ripped him off in the process, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Miramax Film Corp., Sony Corp. of America and three of its divisions and companies.

In 2002, Lutz signed an agreement with Barstu Productions to allow a sequel to proceed but it included a provision that the film could not “intentionally defame or libel Lutz,” according to the lawsuit. The rights in that agreement were assigned to a joint venture, which later assigned them to Nu Image Inc. Nu Image agreed to pay Lutz $50,000 once the box office gross receipts reached $10 million, plus 7.5 percent of the total “contingent compensation” and merchandising profits. Those rights were ultimately assigned to Dimension Films, a division of Miramax, itself a unit of Walt Disney Co.

Lutz claims Dimension Films failed to pay Lutz the $50,000 or his share of compensation and merchandising profits that were outlined in the Nu Image agreement.

In addition, the remake, which begins with the disclaimer, “based on a true story,” depicts Lutz killing his dog, building coffins for his wife and kids, choking his wife, attempting to drown his wife, shooting his wife and kids and attacking his son with an axe, the suit states.

The original idea for both movies stemmed from Lutz’s family’s stay in the Amityville house, which had been previously occupied by a young man who killed his parents and four siblings. The family, which moved out of the house citing “supernatural forces,” signed a book deal in 1977. The next year, Lutz signed an agreement with Professional Films Inc. to make the 1979 movie.

Judicial Appointments


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed six new judges to Los Angeles Superior Court:

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Martha Bellinger, a commissioner in the family law and juveniles departments of the Los Angeles Superior Court, is a former deputy district attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.


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Lawrence Cho has been an assistant U.S. attorney since 1990 and is former chief of the Organized Crime and Terrorism Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.


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Dalila Corral has been the chief legal advisor to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since 1997.


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Rex Heeseman has been a partner at Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps.


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Roger Ito has been a commissioner for the Los Angeles Superior Court since 2002. Ito is a former district attorney at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.


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Beverly O’Connell served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles since 1995.

*Staff reporter Amanda Bronstad can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 225, or at

[email protected]

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