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Most people with a cursory knowledge of Hollywood history have a general understanding that the movie stars of today were the unknown (or barely-knowns) of yesterday, and that most actors get their start in projects that are either barely seen or exist at some level of disrepute. It's a bit of camp fun to check out some of these unlikely early works and see future A-list talent turn up in B-movies: Tom Hanks in "He Knows You're Alone," for instance, or Meg Ryan in "Amityville 3-D," or Denzel Washington in "Carbon Copy." Then there's the flip side of this phenomenon, where a future star gets a big, juicy role in a prestige picture made by an established director, like Dev Patel in "Slumdog Millionaire," or Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit."

There is also, however, a happy medium to these two extremes: a film made by a Hollywood legend which debuts...

Tony Roberts, the stage and screen actor best known for his supporting roles in six Woody Allen movies, has died at the age of 85.

Roberts’ daughter confirmed the actor’s death to the New York Times, adding he died at his New York home Friday from complications from lung cancer.

The New York-born son of famed radio announcer Ken Roberts, Tony starred in the Broadway production of Barefoot in the Rain (taking over for the play’s original actor, Robert Redford) before appearing in Allen’s Broadway shows Don’t Drink the Water...

Tony Roberts, the actor who collaborated with such filmmakers as Woody Allen and Sidney Lumet, has died. He was 85.

The Broadway actor’s daughter and sole survivor Nicole Barley confirmed Roberts death to The New York Times after he died on Friday at his Manhattan home following complications with lung cancer.

In Play It Again, Sam (1972), Annie Hall (1977), Stardust Memories (1980) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Roberts was known for playing Allen’s nonchalant friend, balancing the auteur and star’s anxious onscreen presence.

The actor also appeared in Lumet’s Serpico (1973) and Just Tell Me What You Want (1980).

Roberts’ other film credits include Star Spangled Girl (1971), The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974) and Amityville 3-D (1983), as well as episodes of shows like The Love Boat, Trapper John, M.D., Matlock, The Carol Burnett Show, All My Children and Law & Order.

Woody Allen, Tony Roberts and Diane Keaton in ‘Annie Hall...

The Amityville Horror is an essential piece of American folklore whose famous claim of being "based on a true story" fascinates audiences everywhere. The 1979 film depicted the real-life Lutz family's supernatural ordeal in the notorious De Feo murder house, and Amityville II: The Possession suggested that the De Feo killings were caused by demonic forces. Today, the franchise includes more than 30 films, but few fans realize that Amityville 3-D is based on the real person who fought to expose a hoax.

The Amityville Horror created a cottage industry of media and merchandise, and it kickstarted the careers of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, now famous through the Conjuring franchise. A few individuals have cried fraud over the years, and the recent AMC docuseries Amityville: An Original Story catalogs some of the controversies. However, even that show misses out on the truth-seeking parapsychologist Stephen Kaplan, whose story is told in a...

The episode of Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? covering Amityville 3-D was Written by Mike Holtz, Narrated by Travis Hopson, Edited by Juan Jimenez, Produced by Andrew Hatfield and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

You’ve heard the horrific true story of Ronald DeFeo Jr. You’ve heard of the alleged true story of the Lutz family who moved in afterward. You may have even watched Paulie from the Rocky franchise move into the same house and face a horror scarier than anything a haunted house could ever conjure… his own kids… brother and sister… you know what? I can’t even say it. Don’t you put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby. Just watch Amityville II: The Possession. Bring a loofa and some bleach though because you’re going to want to scrub that off of your memory. Just when you’ve seen it...

On November 13, 1974, at 112 Ocean Ave. in Amityville, New York, a young man named Ronald DeFeo woke up in the middle of the night, took up a shotgun, and went from room to room in his home, systematically murdering six members of his family. DeFeo was apprehended by the police. At first, DeFeo claimed the murders were mob-related, but he later confessed to committing the crimes himself. He was sentenced to 25 years to life for his crimes. DeFeo died in prison in 2021. 

DeFeo's murders became notorious with the publication of Jay Anson's nonfiction book "The Amityville Horror" in 1977. After the killings, the Lutz family moved into 112 Ocean Ave., and they claimed to experience a panoply of paranormal phenomena. Flies mobbed the building, and the entire Lutz family reported hearing eerie voices. George Lutz, the family patriarch, claimed to be possessed by a demonic presence that was driving him to kill his family.

Meg Ryan's new romantic comedy, What Happens Later, has a mixed reception on Rotten Tomatoes with a 51% score from 35 critics. This continues a streak of negative reviews for Ryan, who hasn't had a Fresh-rated movie since 1998's You've Got Mail. Although not her highest-scoring film, What Happens Later is her best score in 22 years, coming close to reaching a Fresh rating.

Meg Ryan's new romantic comedy What Happens Later has continued a negative streak for the movie star on Rotten Tomatoes. Ryan is best known for her roles in classic rom-coms including When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail. In her latest movie, which she also directed and co-wrote, Ryan stars as Willa, a woman who accidentally runs into her ex Bill (David Duchovny) and winds up spending the night trapped in the airport with him when they get snowed in, which causes them to reminisce about their past.

Twice a month Joe Lipsett will dissect a new Amityville Horror film to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”

It’s time to revisit the Amityville “franchise’s” most prolific director, Mark Polonia. Thus far we’ve experienced his work on Amityville Death House (famed for its bizarre Spider woman climax) and, more recently, Amityville Exorcism.

Which brings us to Polonia’s third title in the “series”: Amityville Island. Oddly enough this film is something of a spiritual sequel to Exorcism, in that it features brief flashbacks of that film’s lead, Melanie (Marie DeLorenzo). The reveal of that character’s fate is quite grim: in between films Melanie shot up a diner as part of a slate of unexplained murders in Amityville.

Unsurprisingly for these films, Melanie’s actions have very little bearing on Island. There’s a reporter,...

September is a great time to be a subscriber to Peacock as not only is the NBCUniversal streaming service able to bring audiences a ton of titles perfect to watch in preparation for Spooky Season, but it also is the streaming home to some of the best football action at both the college and NFL level. When you throw in new series that are original to Peacock and from across the NBCU family of networks, it is a good time to sign up for either a Peacock Premium ($5.99) or Peacock Premium Plus ($11.99) plan.

So, we here at The Streamable have put together a list of the five most exciting things coming to Peacock in September and down below, you can take a look at everything new coming to the streaming service in the month.

What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to Peacock in September 2023? Big Ten College Football | Starting Sept.

The most wonderful time of year is nearly upon us! With Halloween season just around the corner, Peacock unveiled an impressive lineup today of more than 100 Halloween, horror, thriller, and spooky season titles hitting the platform this September.

Get ready, the list is massive…

Whether you’re looking for recent releases like Hypnotic, or cult gems like Slither, Peacock invites you to face your fears in September. Binge complete freakish franchises like Chucky, Saw, and Amityville, or tune-in for fun family fare that includes Ghostbusters and Casper. Look for a variety of classic horror to arrive on the streaming service mid-September.

Speaking of “Chucky,” if you’re looking to catch up on the series ahead of season three, Peacock brings “Chucky” season two to their Halloween HQ on September 4. That gives you a whole month to catch up before the October 4 premiere of “Chucky” season three.

Full Peacock Halloween horror highlights below.

Check Out All Our Episodes Of ’80s Horror Memories Here!

JoBlo.com recently launched a new weekly documentary series called 80s Horror Memories, and the first five episodes of the series were all dedicated to films that were released in 1980: Maniac, Dressed to Kill, Alligator, Friday the 13th, The Shining, Prom Night, and The Fog. The second five episodes were a journey through 1981, covering The Funhouse, The Burning, Friday the 13th Part 2, My Bloody Valentine, Halloween II, The Evil Dead, The Howling, and An American Werewolf in London, as well as the careers of horror hosts Elvira and Joe Bob Briggs. We started our look at 1982 with Conan the Barbarian and continued with The Thing. With the thirteenth episode of the series, we’re digging into the ’80s 3-D boom, which included movies like Friday the 13th Part III, Jaws 3-D, and Amityville 3-D, among others. To hear all about it,...

The Amityville franchise has seen a wealth of sequels, spinoffs, and remakes, but in what order do the canon films go? The horror franchise was launched in 1979 with the release of The Amityville Horror, drawing its inspiration from the supposed true haunting of the Lutz family as chronicled in the book of the same name by Jay Anson. The original film was such a smash hit that it immediately garnered sequels, and the Amityville story grew increasingly outlandish with each installment. Though many of the claims made in the book have been debunked, the actual true crime case of the DeFeo family murders has continued to spark imaginations.

While the actual canon of The Amityville Horror is extremely tenuous, there are nearly a dozen films that can claim a connection to the source material in some way or another. Conversely, there is also a seemingly unending flood of unofficial Amityville...

If you’ve been putting off watching the terrifically adventurous Brendan Fraser-led “The Mummy” again, now’s the time to prioritize it. The 1999 film is one of a bevy of movies leaving HBO Max in June, the full list of which you can read below.

Also leaving HBO and HBO Max this month is a bevy of Tyler Perry’s Madea movies, “Rounders,” “She’s All That” and “Real Steel.”

If you’re looking to prioritize some selections, “Presumed Innocent” is one of Harrison Ford’s most underrated films (featuring one of his best performances) and the Melissa McCarthy/Jason Bateman comedy “Identity Thief” is good for some solid laughs.

Check out the full list of what’s leaving HBO Max below.

Also Read:

Here’s What’s New on HBO and HBO Max in June 2022

June 9:

12 Strong, 2018

June 30:

2 Guns, 2013

20 Feet From Stardom, 2013 (HBO)

All Dogs Go To Heaven,...

A new year has finally arrived and HBO Max is set to open it with a bang. With its list of new releases for January 2022, HBO Max is rolling out some intriguing original series and an absolutely packed slate of library titles.

The real highlight this month comes on Jan. 13 with the release of Peacemaker. Developed by James Gunn, this series spins off John Cena’s titular character from last years’ The Suicide Squad. The show will delve into the pathology of a superhero who will achieve peace regardless of how many people need to be killed to attain it.

Also of note this month are second seasons for two major HBO series. Euphoria season 2 and The Righteous Gemstones season 2 both premiere on Jan. 9, making for quite the odd double feature. Meanwhile, the fifth and final season of superb comedy Search Party arrives on Jan. 7.

January 2022 is light as far as original movies go.

Happy October, gang! With the Halloween season now officially underway, we have an incredible day of horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases to enjoy. Arrow Video has put together three stunning special edition sets for Children of the Corn, Don’t Torture A Duckling, and The Suspicious Death of A Minor, but we also have several other modern cult titles debuting as well, including Popcorn, 976-evil, and The Hidden.

For all you Charles Lee Ray enthusiasts out there, Cult of Chucky and the Chucky: Complete 7-Movie Collection both come home on Tuesday, and Scream Factory is also releasing the recent indie horror thriller Jackals on Blu-ray.

Other notable home entertainment titles bowing on October 3rd include American Horror Story: Roanoke, A Ghost Story, Haunters: The Art of the Scare, Little Shop of Horrors: The Director’s Cut, iZombie: The Complete Third Season, and Vampyr: Special Edition.

A horror movie marathon becomes host to all-too-real scares in 1991's Popcorn, coming out on a standard Blu-ray following its special Steelbook release from Synapse Films. We have details on the anticipated home media release in today's Horror Highlights, which also includes the poster for Brawl in Cell Block 99, a behind-the-scenes video from The Mummy (now out on Digital HD), and the trailer and release details for #FromJennifer, co-starring Tony Todd and Derek Mears.

Popcorn Special Edition Blu-ray and DVD: "Press Release: "In the history of Synapse Films few titles have generated as much excitement as Popcorn, director Mark Herrier’s 1991 cult favorite that’s been one of the most in-demand genre films of the Blu-ray era. Unavailable for over a decade, Popcorn now comes to HD in a deliciously butter-topped Special Edition Blu-ray and DVD release that will have fans craving for refills!

What could be scarier than...

Exhumed Films is resurrecting some beloved horror favorites from the 1970s and ’80s and projecting them onto the big screen at Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers, including Friday the 13th Part III, starring my original horror crush and maybe yours, too, Jason Voorhees! And also, we have release details for Escape Room, Paperbacks From Hell, Ghastlies, and Mountain Fever, as well as information on the new book Godzilla Faq.

Exhumed Films' Guilty Pleasures IV Marathon: Press Release: "Exhumed Films Presents: Guilty Pleasures IV--in 3-D!

Exhumed Films is pleased to return to the Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers to present the fourth edition of The Guilty Pleasures Marathon, our annual assault of cinematic insanity. For this year’s marathon, we present some of the greatest 3-D films of all time, projected from original 35mm prints using state of the art technology! The 1970’s and 1980’s saw a resurgence of three-dimensional movies, particularly in the realm of genre cinema.

Grab something sweet and salty from the concession stand and save yourself the best seat in the house, because this March, Synapse Films will release a limited edition Steelbook Blu-ray of Mark Herrier’s cult horror film Popcorn:

Featuring a 2K scan of the 35mm interpositive, Synapse Films' Popcorn Collector's Edition Steelbook Blu-ray is limited to 3000 items and is slated for a March 7th release. Below, we have a look at the cover art as well as the press release with full details:

Press Release: In the history of Synapse Films few titles have generated as much excitement as Popcorn, director Mark Herrier’s 1991 cult favorite that’s been one of the most in-demand genre films of the Blu-ray era. Unavailable for over a decade, Popcorn finally comes to HD in a deliciously butter-topped Limited Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Steelbook® Blu-ray that will have fans craving for refills!

AMC is bringing the horror this Halloween season with their annual FearFest. Kicking off on October 13th, the 20th anniversary of FearFest will include more than 80 movies, over 400 hours of cinematic programming, a massive The Walking Dead marathon, and a special retrospective that will look back at the iconic living dead series.

Press Release: New York, NY, October 11, 2016 – To mark the 20th anniversary of AMC FearFest, one of TV’s longest-running annual thematic programming celebrations, the network will offer the largest collection of horror and genre film titles in its history. AMC FearFest, which provided a launching pad for “The Walking Dead” when the show premiered in 2010, this year will feature more than 400 hours of horror and genre programming, including a full 88-hour six-season catch-up marathon of every episode of “The Walking Dead,” an all-new two-hour retrospective special and the highly anticipated season seven premiere on October 23.

AMC Fearfest runs on AMC for 19 days,...

Horror in the ‘50s tended to lean towards the sci-fi end of the spectrum. And why wouldn’t it? This was the atomic age, and hiding under your school desk during a bomb drill (the safest place to be!) was scarier than any monster Hollywood could muster. So as a form of social moralizing (or an excuse to display giant, mutated lizards on screen), filmmakers merged the fear of nuclear annihilation with the need for entertainment. Most filmmakers, that is. Paul Landres’ The Vampire (1957) is a deliberate ride through the (mostly) human condition, small in scope but surprisingly big on emotion. Just don’t expect any vampires, radioactive, sparkly, or otherwise.

What you do get is a story much closer to Stevenson than Stoker, a simple riff on Jekyll and Hyde shot through a cautionary tale about America’s then growing concern with pill poppin’. The Vampire is more concerned...

With a killer on the loose in a small town in Virginia, it’s “lose your innocence… or lose your life” for the locals. On March 29th, Scream Factory will release Cherry Falls (2000) on Blu-ray, and we’ve been provided with three copies to give away.

————

Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of Cherry Falls.

How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Cherry Falls Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on April 3rd. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

————

From Shout! Factory: “A serial killer is stalking the peaceful town of Cherry Falls. At first, it seems that he is just targeting teenagers, but...

Going against Randy Meeks’ rules for surviving a horror film, the killer in Cherry Falls (2000) seems to only target virgins. Ahead of its March 29th Blu-ray release from Scream Factory, Cherry Falls is teased in high-definition clips and a trailer.

From Shout! Factory: “A serial killer is stalking the peaceful town of Cherry Falls. At first, it seems that he is just targeting teenagers, but after the third killing it becomes clear that all the victims have been virgins. When the town’s students hear about this, they realize that there is only one way to protect themselves and begin planning a “Pop Your Cherry” party where they will all lose their virginities together. Meanwhile, Jodi (Brittany Murphy, Clueless, Sin City), the virtuous daughter of the town’s sheriff (Michael Biehn, Aliens, Grindhouse), decides to take matters into her own hands and trap the killer herself.

This chiller is directed...

Cherry Falls, starring the late Brittany Murphy, is getting the Blu-ray treatment courtesy of Scream Factory on March 29th! Also: a trailer for Darling, The Eyes of My Mother acquisition news, Nitehawk Cinema's programming schedule for March, Baskin release details, and Everlasting at the Nevermore Film Festival.

Cherry Falls: Press Release: "Lose your innocence…or lose your life. On March 29th, 2016, Scream Factory presents teen thriller Cherry Falls in its Blu-ray debut packed with new extras including audio commentary with Geoffrey Wright and interviews with writer/co-executive producer Ken Selden and producer Marshall Persinger.

A serial killer is stalking the peaceful town of Cherry Falls. At first, it seems that he is just targeting teenagers, but after the third killing, it becomes clear that all the victims have been virgins. When the town's students hear about this, they realize that there is only one way to protect themselves and...

*Updated with new film and TV show listings.* Happy October, everyone! Our favorite month is finally upon us, which means everyone is getting into the Halloween spirit, especially when it comes to upcoming TV programming over the next 31 days. Trying to keep track of everything that’s playing throughout October can be a hellish affair, so once again Daily Dead is here to help make sure you know about everything Halloween-related hitting cable and network airwaves over the coming weeks.

* All Updated & Additional Listings Are In Bold (all times listed are Et/Pt)*

Thursday, October 1st

9:00am – Halloween Crazier (Travel Channel)

10:00am – Halloween Craziest (Travel Channel)

4:00pm – Firestarter (AMC)

6:00pm – The Last Exorcism (Syfy)

6:30pm – Pet Sematary (AMC)

8:00pm – My Babysitter’s a Vampire (Disney)

8:30pm – Stephen King’s Thinner (AMC)

10:00pm – Dominion Season 3 Finale (Syfy)

10:30 pm – Cujo (AMC)

Friday,...

This week: A party at James Franco's house rages on as the Apocalypse gets it on outside in the outrageous horror comedy "This Is the End," starring Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Craig Robertson and featuring cameos from numerous celebrities.

Also new this week is the based-on-a-true-story thriller "The Frozen Ground," "The Amityville Horror" Trilogy on Blu-ray, and "The Wizard of Oz" 75th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray 3D.

'This Is the End'

Box Office: $101 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 84% Fresh

Storyline: This end-of-the-world comedy follows six celebrities — James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson — as they're trapped in Franco's house in the Hollywood Hills at the beginning of the Apocalypse. After cabin fever sits in, they are eventually forced to leave the house and face their fate ... and discover the true meaning of friendship.

Extras!: Both the DVD...

Scream Factory will release The Amityville Horror Trilogy Blu-ray set this October and they’ve provided us with the final list of bonus features:

“Holidays arrive early this year for horror fans and pop culture enthusiasts. Prepare to bring home one of the most iconic haunted house movie collections! For the first time ever, experience three original classic Amityville horror films collected together on 3D Blu-ray! On October 1, Scream Factory is proud to present The Amityville Horror Trilogy Deluxe Collector’S Edition Three-Disc Blu-ray™ Pack. Featuring perfect high-definition picture visuals and purest digital sound available, this essential collection brings together The Amityville Horror (starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Oscar(R)-winner Rod Steiger), Amityville II: The Possession (starring James Olson, Burt Young, Rutanya Alda, Andrew Prine, Jack Magner, Diane Franklin) and Amityville 3D (starring Tony Roberts, Tess Harper, Candy Clark). Each movie from this collection is packed with extensive bonus features and more!

Reviewed by Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com

Amityville 3-D: The Demon (1983)

Directed By Richard Fleischer

Written By: William Wales

Starring: Tony Roberts (John Baxter), Tess Harper (Nancy Baxter), Robert Joy (Elliot West), Candy Clark (Melanie), John Beal (Harold Caswell), Leora Dana (Emma Caswell), John Harkins (Clifford Sanders), Lori Loughlin (Susan Baxter), Meg Ryan (Lisa), Neill Barry (Jeff)

Amityville 3-D: The Demon has conjured up a mass amount of hate in the years as a massive down step from its two predecessors. I have seen this movie more than once and I cannot figure out why it is frowned upon the way it has from horror fans. Could it the main idea was already burned out? Sure, a concept like this can get old fast but this movie didn’t in any way try to be a cheesy sequel despite being billed in the “3-D boom” in the early 1980s.

Seeing as how this is the third volume of Poster Friday, I thought we’d do three posters from three threequels. Say that five times fast. Wait…never mind…that’s easy.

Click the link to see all three! You…only have to hit it once though.

Our first poster is a very striking piece for Friday The 13th Part III done by Jay Shaw. Love those eyes. As I write this, I’m only now just noticing that the bottom holes on his mask spell out “Friday The 13th”. Kevin, you’re slow.

I’ve never seen Amityville 3-D, but I’ve always loved this cheesy poster. I’m not sure who designed this one, but if anyone knows please leave a comment!

Our final threequel poster is done by Jason Edmiston. A very cool poster for Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.

Well that’s it for this week,...

Scream Factory recently revealed that The Amityville Horror trilogy will be released to Blu-ray later this year. However, they just made the announcement that Amityville 3-D will be released on the Blu-ray 3D format.

“We can now officially confirm that our upcoming Amityville Horror Trilogy blu-ray box set will include the film Amityville 3-D (1983) in Blu-ray 3-D!! (2-D version also included too.)

To our knowledge, this marks the first time an 80′s 3-D film has been presented in a Blu-ray 3-D format. Needless to say, we are very excited about this and hope you will be too.

The release is planned for October. More specific details (artwork, extras) will be announced in the Summer.”

Previous Announcement: “We teased the following weeks ago but now we will confirm it: The Amityville Horror Trilogy (consisting of the ’79 original, the ’82 prequel and the ’83 3D entry) will be making its way from us in...

Don't play hide-and-seek in this house.

The supernatural horror movie The Amityville Horror found huge success when it was released in 1979, sparking a franchise that ran out of steam around 1983's Amityville 3-D, though that didn't stop more sequels from being churned out for the next few decades. The 2005 remake did well financially, but failed to rejuvenate the haunted house franchise for a second time (even if there are a pair of Amityville movies either in the works or sitting on a shelf somewhere).

Perhaps director James Wan (Saw, Insidious) will have more success with The Conjuring (aka The Warren Files), an upcoming supernatural horror movie whose first trailer delivers with some legitimate scares. Part of the appeal of the Amityville movies was the fact that the original was based on the alleged real life experience of the Lutz family, and was investigated by married paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren,...

Thanks to that crazy haunted house house that resides in Amityville, N.Y. we've seen ten films based on the house, and now this latest addition to the Amityville collection that will supposedly be the "first time ever that the true prequel to the Amityville horror will be told.”

Just a little refresher course... Amityville is home to the infamous house in which Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered six members of his family in 1974. George Lutz and his family moved into the house a year later. They were forced to move out of the house 28 days later due to a series of terrifying hauntings they encountered. The case became the subject of Jay Anson’s 1977 book The Amityville Horror: A True Story.

This latest project comes from producer Tony DeRosa-Grund, and it will be based on the experiences of two reporters who investigated the incidents for New York TV station Wnew,...

[1] Hannibal Classics has just announced a spin-off of the 1979 classic The Amityville Horror, to be titled Amityville: The Legacy 3D. The new film will be based on the book Amityville: The Evil Escapes by John G. Jones, which also inspired some of the sequels. Andrew Helm and Steve B. Harris are set to write the script, with Harris, Richard Rionda Del Castro and Paul Mason (who also produced the 2005 remake) producing. No director or cast is attached at this time. Legacy will be the tenth installment in the Amityville series, which includes four previous feature films, four direct-to-video releases, and a made-for-tv movie. It will also be the second one in 3D -- the third film, Amityville 3-D, came out during the '80s 3D craze. Read more after the jump. Legacy will center around the Evans family -- parents Nancy and Michael and daughter Amanda -- who move into...

Welcome back, dear readers! Sorry about the delay as this writer’s heading off to cover SXSW for the next couple of days. But so far we’ve had quite the journey as we’ve looked back at the first 15 films in our countdown of the 25 milestones that shaped the world of independent horror.

Today we start in 1983 and kick things off with a true shocker!

1983- Horror Audiences Take a Shocking Trip to Sleepaway Camp:

Right after he graduated film school, writer/director Robert Hiltzik set out to make an unusual horror movie based on the success of the slasher films that had been hitting multiplexes over the previous several years. Hiltzik decided he was ready to leave his impression on the horror genre and independently raised $350,000 for Sleepaway Camp, a slasher flick inspired by his own experiences at summer camp as a kid (in fact, he actually...

Welcome to the first installment of PopWatch Rewind, where we take a leisurely stroll through the great big Hollywood Video of the past. Each week, we’ll pick a different movie from years ago pegged to something recent. It won’t always be a classic film, or even a decent one, but it’ll always be interesting. We hope.

It’s just like a book club, except instead of Anne Rice and The Help, it’ll be Steven Seagal and Short Circuit. We’ll let you know what movie we’re planning on discussing a week ahead of time, to...

Back in the early 1950s, 3D movies became popular for a while. Titles like Creature from the Black Lagoon and Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder turned up and I'm sure some pundits began to see it as the way of the future. And people were really excited for a while, until too many of them started complaining of headaches and the fad fizzled out. But before that could happen, a one-eyed director named Andre de Toth made a little horror movie called House of Wax (1953), starring Vincent Price. It was the one movie that really used the three dimensions to interesting effect (ironic, given that de Toth could only see in two dimensions). Some called it the greatest 3D movie ever made.

The trend came back for a while in the early 1980s, with titles like Comin' at Ya!, Jaws 3-D, Friday the 13th Part 3, Amityville 3-D, and...

I'm not about to pretend to be a big expert on the art/technology of 3-D movies, but I do know a few things: 1. I once spent an afternoon on the set of the My Bloody Valentine remake, and (say what you like about the movie) those guys spent a lot of time working on a massive camera / monitor hook-up that looked like a cat-scan machine combined with a airplane cockpit. 2. As a child of the '80s, I grew up suffering through several horrid 3-D movies (research the year 1983, movie freaks), but even the worst of those flicks were created with the intent of being shown in 3-D. For all its lameness, even something like Amityville 3-D was composed, framed, and photographed with the three-dimensional exhibition process in mind.

But guess what, moviegoers? Someone out in Hollywood figured out a way to "3-d-ize" an already finished film. Yes, a film that was (again) composed,...

Horror fanatics are still buzzing like chainsaws over the Academy Awards’ genre montage. Anywhere there could be a conversation about it online, there was one. Many were upset over the Twilight ‘tweens’ participation, as if their mere presence sent a message about the state of scary in Hollyweird, USA.

A few seemed happy, though, to just get a glimpse of their beloved Evil Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 if only for a few seconds. But many called the selections generic and thoughtless, demanding the likes of Demons and TerrorVision instead (well, maybe not TerrorVision; that was just me).

How about Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer? Re-Animator? It’s Alive? Tombs of the Blind Dead? Coffin Joe? No list is perfect, but with a bit more care and a phone call to any one of us, the Oscars could have elevated that section into a real scream. Or maybe they...

New York – Movies are evolving ever more into 3-D, a shake-up of the medium that has been compared to the advent of sound or color in motion pictures.But if digital 3-D is so revolutionary, it will need to go beyond fantasy and animated blockbusters to drama and live action comedy. Explorations of Pandora may seem like the stuff of three-dimension wizardry, but what of a domestic drama such as "Precious" or a character-driven movie such as "An Education"?When color was widely introduced to Hollywood moviemaking in the 1930s, was first used predominantly in musicals and other films thought to be perfect platforms for rainbow hues. Many filmmakers are predicting a similar genre expansion for 3-D."We see in depth, for the most part. We go to the theater — it's in depth. Why couldn't a film like `Precious' be in 3-D? It should be," says Martin Scorsese.Like many seasoned moviegoers,...

This past weekend, Netflix delivered me a documentary that I have been wanting to see ever since I missed it at Sliff back in 2007. The film was ‘Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story’. For those of you that don’t know who William Castle is, I implore you to check out ‘The William Castle Collection’ that was recently released on DVD (click here to see it at amazon.com) which also includes said documentary. While the meat of the story is how a man who turned some B-Movies into Grade-a events at movie theaters by offering a thousand dollar life insurance policies to attendees of one of his films if they die of fright. While I have always been a fan of Castle and his gimmicks/promotions, this really made me reflect advertising of film past.

When films really started becoming mainstream, the majority of the films were carried by...

3D has had many heydays through out the history of cinema. The early fifties saw Rko running with the new process and Universal taking punts on many films, some successes and some flat out failures. The ship finally sank after it was deemed too expensive to upkeep dual projectors and panned after terrible syncing issues with running two strips of film simultaneously. The delivering technology simply couldn't keep up with the "fad" and it wasn't until 1954 when single strip 3D was perfected. After that, everyone got into it, even Hitchcock, famously releasing Dial M for Murder in the third dimension. Shlock classic The Creature From the Black Lagoon and Howard Hawks' hit The French Line, which managed to fit Jane Russell in all her glory, into 3D saw the format finally with a steady footing. Or so it seemed until once again cinema finances crumbled when wide-screen formatted screens...

Disclaimer: This article may contain sarcasm; irony and “LOLs” proceed with caution.

Our second stab at the Oscars contains make-up effects and score (read part 1 here). The make-up effects, followed by the visual effects and technical awards, remain my favorite parts of the show; here you got to see your heroes: Rick Baker, Howard Berger, Chris Walas or Rob Bottin in the audience. Even the great Stan Winston could have been out there, back in the day. Though best known for his “visual effects” wins—he brought home an Oscar for best make-up in 1991 for Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Here genre fans can rejoice, Greg Cannom brought home the gold, again, for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Cannom, a genre elder, worked alongside (just to name a few) Fincher, Coppola, Landis, Dante, Blatty, and Cohen creating all sorts of character and creature make-ups.

This part of the list also...

"How good did you do the scene? That was the goal," recalls Melissa Leo of her time at New York's Purchase College. "And after I left Purchase, like many conservatory-trained actors, my ambitions continued to be about doing good work. It was never about making the right moves or playing the game. I'm still trying to figure that out. I certainly never anticipated this," she says, gesturing at herself prominently featured on the poster for Frozen River, the new independent film that marks Leo's first starring role in a movie. Best known for playing Detective Sergeant Kay Howard on Homicide: Life on the Street and for her supporting role as wife to Benicio Del Toro's character in 21 Grams, Leo has worked fairly steadily for almost 30 years and is generally satisfied with her career. Still, she's had her share of reappraisals. So have actors Larry Keith, Robert Joy, Robert Foxworth,...