30th Anniversary of The Amityville Horror

On this date in 1979, the first film in a popular haunted house franchise hit screens. On July 27, The Amityville Horror was unleashed and became a box-office success worldwide. The film starred James Brolin, Margot Kidder, and Rod Steiger and was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by author Jay Anson. Of course, the film told of the alleged real-life haunting of the Lutz Family in a house located at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York (see Amityville Horror House).

The residence that doubled as that infamous house for the film was actually located in nearby Toms River, New Jersey, as Amityville officials turned down the studio's request to film there – reportedly already fed up with the exposure from the alleged haunting. The success of The Amityville Horror was spawned into countless sequels and even a remake in 2005 (see Amityville Horror Movie House (2005)) and reinvigorated the haunted house sub-genre of horror films. In fact, as this film celebrates its 30th Anniversary, another film based on an reputed haunting tore up screens earlier this year and is currently on top of the DVD rental charts - The Haunting in Connecticut (see The Haunting in Connecticut House).

Celebrate 30 years with a trip to Tom's River.

-Casey H.

An Amityville Horror in Jersey

As The Haunting in Connecticut feature film adaptation (I have to admit, the A&E made-for-tv version was very creepy) is about to hit theaters later this month, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at another well known adaptation of a reputedly true story in the original 1979 The Amityville Horror. In this case, the house and storyline needs little introduction, as most are now very familiar with the house formerly on 112 Ocean Avenue (see Amityville Horror House). The alleged story of the Lutz family and their short stay at the house was documented in the 1977 book, The Amityville Horror by author Jay Anson, that went on to sell a total of three to ten million copies depending on the source.

Given the surge of the horror genre in the 1970s, it isn't all that surprising that Hollywood quickly moved in and turned that book into a full-length feature film. Naturally, the filmmakers turned their eyes immediately to the town where it all happened and sought permission to shoot in the New York village, but ran into a few issues. It turns out that the Amityville officials were less than thrilled about the attention they were receiving because of the Lutz's story and Anson's book and were openly skeptical of the truthfulness of the account. Needless to say, the filming permits were turned down.

Film producer Samuel Z. Arkoff and American International Pictures then turned their attention to Toms River, New Jersey - approximately 60 miles away from Amityville. There they were greeted with open arms and found a suitable home to double as the infamous house, after $15,000 of remodeling. Various other locales throughout the town were utilized for the film and several of Toms River citizens appeared as extras. In total, it is estimated that the production pumped a quarter of a million dollars into the local economy. After filming had wrapped, several sources report that the filmmakers honored the town by giving them a special screening of The Amityville Horror in March 1979 - though no specific date is mentioned.

The film would later see a wide release in July of the same year and the story of the haunted house on Ocean Avenue would be known around the world. We'll revisit the film later this year as it reaches its 30-year anniversary to study the aftermath and subsequent sequels. In the meantime -

Pay a visit to the "Amityville House" in Toms River.

-Casey H.

Accident at the Original Camp Crystal Lake

With the remake of Friday the 13th raking in the money at the box office over the last two weekends, it seems appropriate that we take a trip to the original camp that doubled as Camp Crystal Lake - Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco in New Jersey. The camp is privately owned by NNJC Boy Scouts of America and is completely off-limits to Friday the 13th fans - in fact, it has often been reported that the managers are less than thrilled about their camp's appearance in the 1980 film directed by Sean Cunningham. Friday fans are entirely discouraged from trying to set foot on the property.

However, before it became the infamous hunting grounds of the Vorhees family, Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco witnessed a real-life tragedy in the midst of World War II. On this date in 1944, a B-17 Flying Fortress got lost in a heavy fog and crashed into the nearby Kittatinny Ridge. The 11 Army officers and one Royal Air Force navigator were killed instantly. With many of their families and friends serving in the military overseas, the scouts of Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco came to the plane's tail-gunner section one month after the crash and lit a council fire to memorialize the lost airmen.

Several years later, horror filmmakers would come calling and launch Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco to a whole new level of fame as Camp Crystal Lake in Friday the 13th. Two decades after that appearance, it became Camp Spirit Lake with tales of murder, ghosts, and satanic rituals for an episode of the MTV reality series, Fear. Today it is known worldwide for the fictional carnage depicted in the two works, but few know about the very real-life tragedy that descended on the camp years before.

Pay a visit to Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco.

-Casey H.

Kill, Kill, Kill, Ma, Ma, Ma!

Happy Birthday to Betsy Palmer. The actress turns 82 today on All Saints Day. Betsy has been acting in films since the 1950s and continues to work; acting in last year's Bell Witch: The Movie, another movie based on the stories of the Bell Witch in Tennessee.

However, Betsy is most often remembered for her role as Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13th. Before her son donned his cloth sack or hockey mask, Pamela was the terror of Camp Crystal Lake; avenging her son's "death" in her own psychotic way. She just lost her head (alright, I'm going to stop now before I turn into the Crypt Keeper).

In honor of Betsy's birthday, today's Dark Destination is the Blairstown Diner. This diner was used in the filming of the first Friday the 13th movie and is still recognizable from the film. In the movie, the character of Steve Christy has his last meal at the diner shortly before his fatal run-in with Mrs. Voorhees.

Pull up a table at Blairstown Diner, just don't go visiting Camp Crystal Lake after.