Yet Another ‘Amityville Horror’ is on the Way

How many times has Hollywood gone to the 'Amityville Horror' well? Far too many times. At least ten, if you include the many sequels to the 1979 original and the 2005 remake with Ryan Reynolds. Of course, that's not including the numerous rinky-dink microbudget versions that have popped up over the years. Although a "reboot" is already in the works over at Miramax, it looks like it's going to have competition in a more "official" version.

Well, let's use the term "official" loosely, in this case.

The Hollywood Reporter has the full story and it's an odd one. Producer Tony DeRosa-Grund has not secured the rights to the original film or the original "based on true events" book, but rather the rights to footage shot by reporters Laura DiDio and Marvin Scott, who visited the house to conduct a seance/investigation shortly after the original reports of paranormal activity. From the original article:

"DeRosa-Grund has acquired rights to DiDio and Scott’s account of a seance that was held in the house on March 6, 1976, for a news report. As he tells it, DiDio was a 19-year-old cub reporter who had tracked down the Lutzes through property records after they fled the house and secured George Lutz’s permission to visit the house. Her resulting news report purportedly revealed ghostly presences, including that of a young boy, in the house."

So yes: this version of 'The Amityville Horror' will be a found footage horror movie based on actual found footage. Weird.

Of course, it could all be a publicity sham since this "long lost" footage is only serving as "inspiration" and will not appear in the movie at all. Did DiDio and Scott encounter creepy things in one of the most famous haunted houses of all time? Possibly. Did they capture anything on tape worthy of a Hollywood movie? Probably not. Still, expect this movie to contain much screaming and yelling and crying into a camera.