| Sunday
November 2nd, 2003 |
| AMITYVILLE...
THE HOUSE THEY JUST WON'T DEMOLISH. PERIOD. |
| How
many movies can they wring out of the Amityville Horror?
A town full to judge from the two new projects coming
to life this Halloween. |
Daily Variety reports that one is billed as a remake of the 1979 fly-infested horror hit about a man and his family who moved into a supposedly haunted Long Island home. The other is billed as inspired by the man whose family moved into said Long Island residence. Er, spot the difference?
Apparently there is a small, but important distinction at work here: The first project, like the original movie, is based on the book about George Lutz's family; the second project is based on George Lutz's family. Whatever... all you need really need to know is that blood-curdling screams will ensue.
The remake, or "reinvention," as one insider put it, is being scared up by Michael Bay's production company. The über-director got his blade wet in the horror business this month, producing the all-new Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
As he did on Massacre, Bay will produce the all-new Amityville. The film is being eyed for a late summer or fall 2004 release, even though little matters, like who'll star and direct it, haven't yet been decided. MGM, home of the original franchise, will distribute the flick through its United Artists division.
The competing Amityville flick is from Miramax's Dimension Films, home of the Scary Movie franchise. Variety said the story takes place 25 years after George Lutz, portrayed by James Brolin in the 1979 film, packed up and left the house from hell. No cast or director named to that project, either.
"We don't anticipate a lawsuit [from MGM] because the story and the events surrounding the house are public domain," Dimension's Bob Weinstein told Variety. "We've come up with our own take on the story."
It was unknown what the second Amityville project was to be titled. The Bay movie reportedly has dibs on the famous The Amityville Horror moniker. Because Amityville is an actual geographic location, it's believed the Dimension project could use the town name in its title. (One suggestion: Another Stupid Family Moves into That Crazy Amityville Place.)
Amityville mania is rooted in a very real, very disturbing bloodbath. On November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. gunned down his two parents and four siblings in their Amityville, New York, home. In his defence, DeFeo claimed the devil made him do it.
A little more than a year after the killings, George Lutz, his wife and three kids decided the house was just dreamy and moved right in. They moved out shortly thereafter, claiming the devil made them do it.
The Lutzes' tale of a house possessed was recounted by author Jay Anson in the 1977 book, The Amityville Horror.
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| "The
3 golden rules to House movies: location shoot,
location shoot, location shoot!" |
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