Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes

[Cody]

Horror logs on.

Amityville On (http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/13665)li (http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=7785)ne (http://www.dreadcentral.com/story/amityville-goes-online#comments)

MGM's on-again/off-again interest in developing a sequel to the 2005 Amityville Horror is heating up again. Why anyone would want to sequelize the abysmal remake is beyond me, but at least it seems like those in charge are taking a page form the endless sequels to the original film and going the route of ridiculousness.

Forget the haunted dollhouse and clocks or whatever items the Amityville Horror sequels decided to exploit after the third entry arrived in 1983... the next Amityville may tap the horrors of the interwebs!

MGM is currently out to writers for a new AMITYVILLE HORROR film and they want the story to be focused around multimedia and "the internet".

Yes, yes - sometimes it does seem message board users are possessed.

The franchise will continue on as a direct-to-disc release, with more than one sequel planned.

This project may fade into obscurity like it has the few other times Amityville sequel talk has surfaced. Since this is the worst idea yet, however, something tells me this is the one that’ll make it through.

[Don]

I'd see it. I thought the remake was 5x creepier then the original. And depending on how they go with this internent route to it could be really interesting, esp if they go a Moloch (from Buffy) route.

[Rich]

I think the remake was a pretty good one, but I really hope Platinum Dunes does not lower themselves to this.

[Brett H.]

Fuck, I'd be down but about the only horror I simply detest is internet-based.

[Just Jeans]

You know, I used to check out webcams that were set up 24 hours a day in places that were supposed to be haunted. One in particular that I recall watching was set up in a library. I never saw a ghost, but just watching the feed after dark used to give me the heebie jeebies. I can't really explain why. It felt like the place was watching me rather than the other way around.

As a result, I've been thinking of writing a story about a haunted webcam feed. I wouldn't mind seeing something similar utilized in this flick. I just hope they get it right, coz I don't think any horror film has fully tapped the potential of horror meets Internet.

[Darth Sinister]

Didn't we already have a movie about the internet being evil?

[JVM]

^ Yes we did, this weird low-budget film called "Jason X"

[El Rooto]

Did Jason X have anything to do with the internet at all? :p

[Ron]

I'll pass....I love shitty horror flicks, but only if they have charm.

[CosmoBubba]

Did Jason X have anything to do with the internet at all? :p

Considering the movie was floating around online for about a year before it was released in theaters, maybe it has everything to do with the Internet. :p

But there's already been two evil Internet movies: FearDotCom and that one Hellraiser sequel with Lance Henrikson. And it might be a stretch, but you could always throw Ghost In The Machine and Untraceable into the "Internet = EVIL!" pile.

[Scarecrow]

There's been a ton of internet films although Hellworld really isn't one, the internet is relevant for all of 10 minutes really.


- Scarecrow

[Cody]

Clarification (http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/13672)

Our tipster was wrong about what was meant by "multimedia"... We learned that MGM has officially signed on a writer (we'll see if we can find out who) with the approach that the film will be in the vein of the Sci-Fi Channel show GHOST HUNTERS. The term "multimedia" was being used to represent the tools that will be used in the haunted house.

[Darth Sinister]

FearDotCom

That's what I was thinking of.

Our tipster was wrong about what was meant by "multimedia"... We learned that MGM has officially signed on a writer (we'll see if we can find out who) with the approach that the film will be in the vein of the Sci-Fi Channel show GHOST HUNTERS. The term "multimedia" was being used to represent the tools that will be used in the haunted house.

Oh, then it's like "Halloween: Resurrection".

[Madman Marz]

While I am a big fan of Ghost Hunters, I don't see how this could really work as a film.

[Notti]

If this movie has Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson in it, I'm there...but only if Dustin Pari has a cameo complete with perfect spiky hair & upside down sideways visor.

[Madman Marz]

If this movie has Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson in it, I'm there...but only if Dustin Pari has a cameo complete with perfect spiky hair & upside down sideways visor.

Hahaha! Gotta love Dustin and his upside down sideways visor.

If Kris Williams was in it, i'd totally be there. :)

[Scarecrow]

It's actually a fairly logical idea for a sequel, it would just have to be done right. It could be effective, certainly no worse than the tons of sequels the original series had.


- Scarecrow

[Just Jeans]

If this movie has Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson in it, I'm there...

Dude, totally. I've been thinking it'd be cool to see a film with Jason and Grant showing up and getting pwned by a spirit-infested house. This would be a real geek fest.

[Notti]

That would definitely be cool. Maybe a spirit can manifest itself as a giant spider & chase Steve around.

[Just Jeans]

That would be awesome, notti.

I'd like to see Brian talking his smack during a provoking session, only to have the house bitch slap him. :D

[Notti]

Haha. That would be pretty hilarious. Brian would be acting all tough then *SMACK*. I like Brian & all but if that would happen, it would be a funny event.

I could see Andy trying to debunk something & then a bookshelf suddenly falls on him or something.

[Just Jeans]

Andy's all like, "Yeah, I think those deep grumbling sounds are coming from this floorboard here." He steps on the floorboard to demonstrate, and the floor opens up and devours him, grumbling contently all the while. :X

[Notti]

Debunk that, Andy! :lol:

[Just Jeans]

I've been waiting ages to be able to shout that at the TV screen. :sniffle:

[NETRA]

I think the remake was a pretty good one, but I really hope Platinum Dunes does not lower themselves to this.

Platinum Dunes lowering themselves? Where are they now? I can't imagine anywhere to go but up.

You know, I used to check out webcams that were set up 24 hours a day in places that were supposed to be haunted... just watching the feed after dark used to give me the heebie jeebies... like the place was watching me rather than the other way around.

That's very well put! I feel the same way when I see those live feeds.

Oh, then it's like "Halloween: Resurrection".

That's the first thing I thought of too. This does sound very similar. But if done right, it could be pretty good. They just need some suspense. The problem with the remake was that it gave us too many ghosts. There was no suspense... No "Will there be a ghost or won't there?" There ALWAYS was. And they were always covered in grease and shaking. It got old by the second act.

but only if Dustin Pari has a cameo complete with perfect spiky hair & upside down sideways visor.

I'd rather see Dustin Diamond. He needs the work.

[skuppy]

I like this idea of having a "Ghost Hunters" style film for Amityville. This should be interesting if done right. Perhaps the dvd will include multiple angles so you can watch through different cameras.

[Scarecrow]

I'd hope so. As I've said often, still waiting for a DVD to come close to the genius that is the My Little Eye disc.


- Scarecrow

[Cody]

Watching my way through the Amityville series, viewing some of the middle ones for the first time, I saw that Amityville 3-D already had a bit of a Ghost Hunters angle to it. This idea kind of sounds like taking the climax of 3-D, expanding it to feature length and modernizing it.

The most interesting thing I saw in one of the middle films was at the end of Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes. They had a great set-up for a sequel, but the next film didn't follow it up. The possessed lamp is tossed off a cliff and destroyed, but at the end we see the family cat walking amongst the pieces. The cat walks toward camera - freeze frame - and it's eyes light up with the glow of evil. Demon cat! The next film should've been The Amityville Pussy

[Just Jeans]

Or Amityville: Pussy Whipped.

[Westin]

Amityville Ghost Hunters?

The Warrens, anyone?

[killingvector]

Amityville Ghost Hunters?

The Warrens, anyone?


If someone went with that idea, there would be legitimacy. But everytime a new writer approaches an Amityville film, that person's own ideas get in the way and what is a genuinely terrifying ghost story becomes sullied in cliche.

If any one is interested, get the Anson book. It supposedly takes a few liberties with the original 'story', but it is very creepy. Direct adapt that book, throw in the Warrens and you have something.

[Hypnocil]

Yeah the premise of this movie does sound a lot like the last third of Amityville 3D. Incidently, a lot of people assume Amityville 3D has nothing to do with the Amityville story. But really there are many "partial" elements pulled right from reality that gives it a semblence of "truth" (I use that term highly loosely whenever I refer to Amityville).

The Warrens are featured, or rather spoofed, in Amityville 3D. The "psychic" couple at the beginning, the Caswells, were the closest the film could get without being sued. John Baxter or Dr. West could be a reference to Dr. Stephen Kaplan, who spent a lot of time and energy trying to debunk Amityville and the Warrens. The Long Island University's study of the house was seemingly a reference to the few "studies" performed on the real house, sans psychics. ;) Otherwise, the house is certainly infamous as a haunted house in this movie. Oh, and call me crazy, but I'm convinced Clifford Sanders is a subtle homage to William Weber.

If this new movie tried to broach reality in terms of what really happoned after the Lutz family fled, they'd run into the same obsticles the makers of Amityville 3D faced. Sure, George and Kathy Lutz are both dead now, and I honestly don't know if the kids have it in them to continue the neverending lawsuits. But the Warrens would have to sign off on their names being used. All real people involved would. I still don't understand how the remake was able to get away with the whole "Jody DeFeo" character, since Jody would seemingly be Allison DeFeo.

I'm assuming they'll go in a totally different direction, and make the movie more along the lines of Halloween: Ressurection or Puppet Master 2. I have a feeling we'll see a team of psychic investigators mixed with scientific investigators, who will bitch at each other while exploring the house. They will all be killed off, one by one, as that dead cult warlock dude chilling in the basement decides to take his vengence on them.

Dollhouse would have been...okay...had they just replaced the Dollhouse with some other random furnature removed from the house (And, you know, scrapped the ending all-together). While I expect this movie to be better than Dollhouse, I have a feeling it'll probably wind up turning out similar to Amityville 1992, which I enjoyed but am hard-pressed to relate it to Amityville (not that any of the sequels after did, either).

[Cody]

Currently titled (http://www.fangoria.com/features/comic-screams/5-comics/1062-an-interview-with-screenwriter-neal-marshall-stevens.html) The Amityville Tapes and being written by Neal Marshall Stevens (13 Ghosts remake).

[CosmoBubba]

Currently titled (http://www.fangoria.com/features/comic-screams/5-comics/1062-an-interview-with-screenwriter-neal-marshall-stevens.html) The Amityville Tapes and being written by Neal Marshall Stevens (13 Ghosts remake).

I wonder what the people who made The Poughkeepsie Tapes are going to say about the title similarities.

[The Dream Master]

I wonder what the people who made The Poughkeepsie Tapes are going to say about the title similarities.

I think they should just be more worried about getting that damn film out already. :doggy:

[CosmoBubba]

Yeah, no kidding. I saw the trailer for Poughkeepsie Tapes in front of a movie something like a year and a half ago, and it still isn't out.

[nickmeece]

Yeah, no kidding. I saw the trailer for Poughkeepsie Tapes in front of a movie something like a year and a half ago, and it still isn't out.

Sorry to get off subject, but correct me if I'm wrong, isn't the trailer for Imposter on the Scream 3 VHS?

[Cody]

MGM's "Tapes" idea returns (http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=19175), but at Dimension and now apparently a follow-up to the original film rather than the remake.

Dimension Films and Miramax today announced the production of The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes.

This is the first film to be produced under the agreement between Miramax and The Weinstein Company to create sequels to some of Miramax's various properties.

Dimension also announced that it has acquired the rights to a new screenplay for the film by Casey La Scala and Daniel Farrands (Never Sleep Again, Halloween 6). Farrands and La Scala are also set to direct the film.

Production will commence this summer with a release date scheduled for January 27, 2012.

The latest chapter in the Amityville saga showcases the events after the time of the original "The Amityville Horror" book and movie through found footage dating back to 1976. An ambitious female television news intern, on the verge of breaking the most famous haunted house case in the world, leads a team of journalists, clergymen and paranormal researchers into an investigation of the bizarre events that will come to be known as The Amityville Horror...only to unwittingly open a door to the unreal that she may never be able to close.

"We are thrilled to return to the mythology of The Amityville Horror with a new and terrifying vision that will satisfy our existing fans and also introduce an entirely new audience to this popular haunting phenomenon," said Bob Weinstein.

The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes is being produced by Jason Blum (Insidious), Casey La Scala and Daniel Farrands.

Prior to MGM's money woes, there were talks of a film called The Amityville Tapes. Neil Marshall Stevens was scripting that film which appeared to have dissolved while the studio worked out its financial problems. I have to wonder where this will put Amityville: The Legacy (http://www.f13community.com/board/showthread.php?t=8264), currently being developed at Hannibal Classics.

[The Tall Man]

Wow. Somebody read my letters...

T.M., Esq.

[The Dream Master]

Sounds like a Paranormal Activity-inspired take on Amityville.

I approve.

[Westin]

Approved. Look forward to seeing it.

[Sean [The Wildcard]]

That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'm game.

[WesReviews]

Can't be worse than a haunted clock... lamp... dollhouse... Uncle Paulie...

Or can it? :X

[Westin]

The one about the lamp has actually gotten repeated views from me. It is hilarious.

[The Dream Master]

I will extend things so far back as to say, "it couldn't be worse than Amityville 3D, could it?"

[The Tall Man]

Fuck that shit. "Amityville 3D" is aces. Easily my favorite of the three real Amityville movies. Not especially SCARY in the way the first two are. But hellaciously creepy and atmospheric. Least to me.

T.M., Esq.

[The Dream Master]

This is how I recall my Amityville 3 experience:

"Hey, Meg Ryan! And isn't that Aunt Becky from Full Ho--zzzzzzz...."

[Chucky's back]

Fuck that shit. "Amityville 3D" is aces. Easily my favorite of the three real Amityville movies. Not especially SCARY in the way the first two are. But hellaciously creepy and atmospheric. Least to me.

T.M., Esq.

Amen to that. Great movie.

[The Dream Master]

Whenever I revisit this series, I'm kicking everyone's ass if Amityville 3 does indeed suck like I remember.

[Westin]

This is how I recall my Amityville 3 experience:

"Hey, Meg Ryan! And isn't that Aunt Becky from Full Ho--zzzzzzz...."

LOL. Yeah, that's how I view Amytiville 3D, as well.

---

The only ones I care about are II (Possession) and IV (the one about the lamp).

[Kane Lives]

I'm very casual on this series. Honestly, The Possession is the only one I cared for.

Of the films about the cursed objects, I probably "liked" It's About Time the best. Dollhouse was definitely my least favorite of those. The one I liked least of all the films was The Amityville Curse, which just about put me to sleep the one time I saw it. Never saw all of the remake.

At this point, the premise for The Lost Tapes interests me more than the stories for most of the sequels.

[The Tall Man]

Whenever I revisit this series, I'm kicking everyone's ass if Amityville 3 does indeed suck like I remember.
You know where I live. I'll be waiting. :cool:

Amityville 3-D used to be a television staple back in the day. It used to be in the rotation for the midnight horror movie on the local Fox affiliate in the early 90s or so (back when it was seen as "Amityville 3: The Demon"). Maybe some of that nostalgia clouds me up, but I genuinely feel 3-D is my favorite of the three movies.

I think maybe what you're calling dull, DM, I think of as atmospheric.

T.M., Esq.

[Hypnocil]

I thought The Possession and 3D were both better than the first movie.

So it would seem there are 4 Amityville related projects out. This one (The Lost Tapes), Amityville: The Legacy 3D, Eric Walter's My Amityville Horror (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9xESKreQ5M) which is about Danny Lutz (and his lifelong struggle with what he experienced in the house) and the purported six-hour long "documentary" called Shattered Hopes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIpaQCBcwoo).

The thing about Shattered Hopes is that the director is using some lady named Geraldine Gates as a primary source. Gates has made various claims over the years that she was married to Ronald DeFeo, Jr. before he killed his family. She has given her marriage date as 1969, 1970, and 1974, and that DeFeo fathered her oldest son or daughter (she has claimed both at different times). She then claims the mob "vanished" all records of their marriage after DeFeo killed his family. Facts, however, show that Gates was married to other men back in the 70's. She didn't meet Ronnie till 1985, and would have married him except she was still married to her last husband. She's been in prison for writing bad checks, and also went to jail for housing eighty-eight dogs in her house. Also, she signed an affidavit stating she has never been married to DeFeo.

So I can't really say that this documentary will be really legit. Geraldine's story is that Dawn DeFeo was the mastermind, and killed her mother, sister and two brothers. Ronald only killed his father, then killed Dawn because she killed the others. (She at one point concocted a story with DeFeo where Dawn and Gates' very-fictitious, non-exsistent brother "Richard Romandoe" did all the killings.)

However, to be fair, the documentary will present other sides and theories. A lot of people from Amityville (who were around for the murders) will be interviewed. At six + hours, I'd imagine there should be a lot there.

It should also be noted Ronald has changed his story many times, and has since changed his story from the one he and Geraldine were trying to push (to get Ronald paroled). I believe his latest story went back to the "possession" angle, only instead of being possessed by an Indian chief, he's now possessed by Lucifer himself. :sniffle:

[WesReviews]

This is how I recall my Amityville 3 experience:

"Hey, Meg Ryan! And isn't that Aunt Becky from Full Ho--zzzzzzz...."

Slightly off the subject, but I always thought the chick in Trick or Treat (the one who shows her goods) was Aunt Becky. At the time I first watched it, I had even been told by someone "You get to see Aunt Becky naked."

Of course, it's not her. But she does strongly resemble her. Enough so that, you know... it works. :X

[Rick]

I'm only a fan of the original and the remake.
This story could work though.
I look forward to it.

[Cody]

Details and characters (http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=20591)

Principal photography is just around the corner for directors Casey La Scala and Daniel Farrands and producer Jason Blum. What we already know is that it is about an ambitious female television news intern, on the verge of breaking the most famous haunted house case in the world, who leads a team of journalists, clergymen and paranormal researchers into an investigation of the bizarre events that will come to be known as The Amityville Horror, only to unwittingly open a door to the unreal that she may never be able to close.

Today, we landed some character details. No word as to who has been cast in these roles yet.

JESSICA (Female, 23): Jessica is a liberal arts major at a small college in Brooklyn and aspiring documentarian. Born and raised in New York, she's a real, "tough as nails" urban girl, strong-willed, attractive but unaware of it. This tough exterior is a mask for what lies beneath, a vulnerability that she just might not be good enough. She fears she may have received the genetic components of her mentally ill mother.

KENNY (Male, 21): JESSICA'S boyfriend. A free-spirited, pop-culture junkie and budding cinematographer who's constantly making film references. He is attractive and has a biting, sarcastic sense of humor. He's devoted to Jessica - everywhere she goes he's likely to follow. He probably has undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder.

KATELYN (Female, 25-35): Earthy and intense. Katelyn is a sensitive - a tested and proven clairvoyant and church-sanctioned Demonologist.
Collaborates often with FATHER BYRNES.

FATHER BYRNES (Male, 30-45): American or European. A bit of a dichotomy, he holds a PhD in Applied Physics and Ancient History also serves as an ecclesiastical psychologist for the Long Island Diocese. Even though he is a priest, he is a technology geek. He is very meticulous and often uses a scientific vernacular which can be lost on those around him.

[WesReviews]

So wait... is this the same thing as Asylum's The Amityville Haunting? Or was this a separate project altogether that got scrapped somewhere during the MGM bankruptcy shenanigans?

[Cody]

One version of it seems to have died at MGM. Last summer, it was picking up steam at Dimension. Then, silence. It's not the Asylum movie, Asylum just beat them to release.