<P> Brolin was hesitant when first offered the role of George Lutz . At the time of his casting, the script was unfinished, and so Brolin obtained a copy of Anson's novel to read . Brolin started the book and read until two o'clock in the morning . He had hung up a pair of his pants in the room earlier and during an especially tense passage of the book, the pants fell to the floor . Brolin jumped from his chair in fright . It was then that Brolin decided to do the film, convinced that the material would make an effective film . </P> <P> Kidder was cast in the role of Kathy Lutz after her breakthrough performance as Lois Lane in Superman the year prior . </P> <P> The on - location scenes of The Amityville Horror were filmed at a private residence in Toms River, New Jersey, which had been converted to look like the 112 Ocean Avenue home after authorities in Amityville denied permission for filming on the actual location . Exterior scenes were also filmed in Toms River and Point Pleasant Beach . Local police and ambulance workers would play extras in the film, while the Toms River Volunteer Fire Company was used to provide the rain during several scenes . Indoor shots were filmed at the MGM studio lot in Los Angeles, California . </P> <P> The film shoot was widely publicized in national media when the studio attempted to concoct stories of "unusual" occurrences on the set (not dissimilar from what was claimed to have occurred during the filming of The Exorcist). According to Brolin, he and Kidder were both asked by the studio and the press, "' Is there weird stuff going on?'...and we were looking for stuff now . We'd have liked to tell them,' Oh yeah, you wouldn't believe the stuff that happened yesterday--my lunch fell off the table in my lap ."' </P>

Where was the original amityville horror movie filmed