A Possible "Amityville Horror" Special Edition? (1 Viewer)

[Pat_TL]

Living just minutes from the real infamous "haunted house" in Long Island, New York that inspired the events of Jay Anson's novel "The Amityville Horror," I have always been intrigued by the story of Ronald De Feo, the murders of his family, his subsequent claims of "demonic possession" that forced him to kill them, and the Lutz family's claims of a haunting in the same residence.

While STILL waiting for a region 1 release of "Amityville II: The Possession" and "Amityville 3-D" on DVD, the original "Amityville Horror" has always been a guilty pleasure of mine....unfortunately, the bare bones MGM disc that houses the film on disc is a dissapointment to a fan like me. While the transfer isnt bad, the audio is in a congested 2.0 mono, and aside from a rather long trailer, there are no extras....

I was wondering, now with the announcement of an "Amityville Horror" remake (due out next year sometime) that will be produced by action guru Michael Bay (the pre-production photos look horrible, IMO...the house doesnt even look like the house did in the 1970s), does anyone think MGM will do a Special Edition re-vamp of some kind of the original film? Perhaps with some 5.1 remastered audio and MAYBE clips from the History Channel documentary about the murders and the haunting as an extra?

As a fan, I would dump the version of "The Amityville Horror" that I have now and buy a Special Edition in a heartbeat.

 

[Mike_G]

Get out! Really?

*wink*

Yeah, I'd buy this if it ever came out.

Mike

 

[Pat_TL]

Yeah, there is a remake DEFINITELY coming out in 05; I will post a link to the pre-production photos when I get a chance....

 

[Paul_Scott]

this is a guilty pleasure of mine also, but i think the transfer is bad...or at least very weak.
the thing should have been 16:9 enhanced at least (the R2 is, iirc), and i wouldn't mind a few extra features as well. pre-produced docs on the real incident would be a great value added addition.

 

[Pat_TL]

"this is a guilty pleasure of mine also, but i think the transfer is bad...or at least very weak.
the thing should have been 16:9 enhanced at least (the R2 is, iirc), and i wouldn't mind a few extra features as well. pre-produced docs on the real incident would be a great value added addition."


Absolutely agreed, Paul...although I gotta say, the Pan and Scan flip-side version of the film doesnt look all that bad on my 27" screen...a lot better than the Goodtimes VHS version that's on my rack...





I would LOVE for MGM to include the History Channel's two-part documentary on this case on a future DVD, the one that was titled "Amityville: The Haunting" and "Amityville: Horror or Hoax?" Great in-depth look at what happened there. I am hoping they will re-do this disc in a special edition prior to the remake coming out...

 

[Pat_TL]

Hey Guys,

I have those links for you regarding the Amityville Horror remake, but how can I attach links in the thread?

 

[Pat_TL]

Here are some links to check this out:

http//filmforce.ing.com/articles/554/554173p1.html


and....

http//www.thezreview.co.uk/comings...lehorrorthe.htm

 

[Pat_TL]

Damn....these arent working....is there a way to just attach links?

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Hmmm...let's look at the track record:

New THUNDERBIRDS movie...new MGM discs of the Anderson films
Scorsese's THE AVIATOR comes Xmas...new MGM discs of their Scorsese films scheduled for soon after

More than logic makes me certain there will be new discs of the trilogy coming to tie in with the remake

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Which house are they using for the remake? The one in the original film wasn't the real house, but a look-alike in Toms River, NJ. When I first visited the real house, it threw me off a little beacuse I was used to how it looked in the movie.

 

[David Allen]

Check out Film&Video magazine this month. They have a story about film audio restoration that includes a few comments about a 5.1 track on this film.

 

[Pat_TL]

"Hmmm...let's look at the track record:

New THUNDERBIRDS movie...new MGM discs of the Anderson films
Scorsese's THE AVIATOR comes Xmas...new MGM discs of their Scorsese films scheduled for soon after

More than logic makes me certain there will be new discs of the trilogy coming to tie in with the remake"

Agreed; I was hoping Amityville II and III would eventually make its way to Region 1 because the VHS incarnations are HORRID.

The first film, in my opinion, deserved a lot more attention on DVD than it received. The audio and video should definitely be updated by MGM; the mono track on the current disc is laughable.

 

[Pat_TL]

"Which house are they using for the remake? The one in the original film wasn't the real house, but a look-alike in Toms River, NJ. When I first visited the real house, it threw me off a little beacuse I was used to how it looked in the movie."


Jeff,

I live 10 MINUTES from the real house....I am in Rockville Centre, Long Island, and Amityville is 10 MINUTES from me, and I go to the real house all the time. The tenants who have lived in that house since the murders and after the Lutz story changed the look of the side of the residence, with the famous eye-like windows, because there was just too much attention on the home....droves of people would come from around the world to look at this place; I should know, I did a couple of papers on the De Feo murder case for pre-law classes I took at Long Island's Hofstra University, and I have been to the property many times.

Yes, you are right, the movie house was in Toms River, NJ, and actually, THAT house doesnt look the same anymore, either...they changed the look of THAT house because of too much tourism...but the real house is hard to find if you are a casual fan of The Amityville Horror because the windows are no longer the same and the house has been repainted many times so people arent attracted to the property.

Now, the NEW house they are using for the remake is a house they found in Salem, Mass. if I am not mistaken...early reports said the filming was supposed to take place in Maine, but I think the house is in Salem. At any rate, the house they are using is a JOKE....sure, the eye like attic windows are there, but TRUE fans of this case, like me, know that 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York was actually sitting SIDEWAYS on the plot of land --- with the front door actually on the SIDE of the house, and the attic windows looking DOWN on the street....I dont know what they were thinking with this remake house, but the windows are facing the wrong way...they are on the SAME side as the front door. Even the Toms River house got that detail right.

Also, the house just doesnt look like it did in 1974...if you look at photos of the home after the De Feo massacre in the book "High Hopes: The Amityville Murders," you will see just how different the house looked from this travesty they are filming in; Michael Bay and the producers claimed the reason for doing this remake was to more accurately portray what happened to the Lutzes in those 28 days of "The Amityville Horror," and to get more details right, but then they go ahead and use a house that really looked nothing like the real one, save for the attic windows (which, if you want to get nit-picky, dont really look like the REAL attic windows from 112 Ocean Avenue; the real house's windows were much smaller and less dramatic).

 

[Pat_TL]

"Check out Film&Video magazine this month. They have a story about film audio restoration that includes a few comments about a 5.1 track on this film."


David,

Thanks for the info...I'll have to check that out....

 

[Pat_TL]

David,

Interesting piece on the Amityville Horror....but when they say "European 5.1 tracks," do they mean there is actually an ENGLISH 5.1 track available for this film? If so, why didnt MGM use this on their Region 1 DVD release???

 

[Jon Martin]

Parts 2 and 3 just got released in R2 DVD, part 3 in both flat and 3-D versions (it comes with glasses). Great transfers on both.

The Part 2 DVD has an excellent essay on the story of the house.

And as for the soundtrack on 1, wasn't it released to theatres that way? It was before surround sound or anything like that.

Worth picking up if you are a fan.

 

[Pat_TL]

"Parts 2 and 3 just got released in R2 DVD, part 3 in both flat and 3-D versions (it comes with glasses). Great transfers on both.

The Part 2 DVD has an excellent essay on the story of the house.

And as for the soundtrack on 1, wasn't it released to theatres that way? It was before surround sound or anything like that.

Worth picking up if you are a fan."

Jon,

I know II and III were released in the UK; my original post says that...I am dying for these titles to come to Region 1 already. And yes, Amityville Horror was released to theaters in mono, but that doesnt really hold any water today, where many, many old films are getting 5.1 remixes....why should this classic shocker be any different? Heck, MGM could give this a DTS mix if they wanted to!

I am a fan of the whole franchise, and I do own MGM's bare bone one disc version of The Amityville Horror; actually, its the only version available on the US market.

 

[Jon Martin]

True, but to a lot of people around here, the original soundtrack is the most important thing. Any remixing or anything of the sort is akin to pan and scan.

 

[Pat_TL]

"Why wait? You can pick up a multi region player for $20 or $30. Less than a lot of DVDs."

Are you SERIOUS? $20 or $30 BUCKS? For the PLAYER?



"True, but to a lot of people around here, the original soundtrack is the most important thing. Any remixing or anything of the sort is akin to pan and scan."


I hear ya, I was just saying that to some HT enthusiasts, like me, remixed sound is always almost certainly preferred; I know I enjoy John Carpenter's Halloween with the 5.1 remix done by Chase Productions, more than just watching the film with the flat mono mix. I would love to hear little spooky cues in 5.1 surround for The Amityville Horror; perhaps sounds that were never heard before.

 

[Jordan_E]

I have to agree with Pat. The Amityville Horror isn't above Halloween, so why shouldn't it get a 5.1 makeover as well? And I'm getting SICK AND TIRED of other regions getting apparently better discs than us! Don't give me that "just buy a non region DVD player" stuff either. Why does Japan get DTS versions of movies that we never do? Oh well, rant over, we now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion.