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Nyx UK presents nine horrific channel premieres in August, headed up by FrightFest classics The Last Horror Movie and Summer Scars. Both disturbing psychological horrors are directed by Julian Richards and star Kevin Howarth in two of his most memorable roles. Nyz UK also premieres Darklands, another British horror film directed by Julian Richards, which delves into the world of ancient pagan rituals and modern-day conspiracies and stars Craig Fairbrass.

Other 9pm primetime channel premieres include The Greywood Plot (2021) an inventive horror-comedy film directed by Josh Stifter (Fri 2nd August), the atmospheric, twisty Inner Demon (2014), written and directed by Australian Ursula Dabrowsky (Thurs 8th August), Hell House LLC (2015), an American found footage horror film written and directed by Stephen Cognetti (Thurs 16th August) and Pin (1988), a Canadian psychological chiller which offers a daring exploration of a very unconventional family, directed by Sandor Stern

Then on Thurs 22nd August and Frid...

Damian McCarthy sure does love a creepy antique. If you don’t recall the director’s previous effort Caveat, you at least remember the film’s desiccated stuffed bunny which featured heavily in its plot about sick family secrets hiding within the bones of a remote Irish house. McCarthy scales-up the prop-fetishism (and scares!) in Oddity, which centers around a terrifying human-size wooden effigy that may hold the key to righting a wrong committed against an innocent women.

Carolyn Bracken (You Are Not My Mother) stars as Dani, who answers the door one night and is greeted by a mysterious man named Olin Boole (Tadhg Murphy) who claims that she has an intruder in her home. Initially skeptical, she decides to let the man in before the film leaps forward. A while later, Boole has died after taking the fall for Dani’s murder and her doctor husband Ted (Gwilym Lee...

Sandor Stern’s ‘Pin’ is an unsung ‘80s classic that tells a traumatic tale of a broken family that turns an unhealthy coping mechanism into a totem of terror.

“Have you heard from Leon?”

“No.”

“I miss him a great deal.”

“So do I.”

Horror’s “evil doll” sub-genre has never been more popular, but it’s been a lively area of terror for many decades now. There’s an instantly identifiable selling point to one of these stories where a mundane toy suddenly becomes a terrifying artifact. One of the more obscure entries in the evil doll sub-genre is 1988’s Pin, a disturbing tale of repressed pain, codependent family dynamics, and displaced identity that bears more in common with Psycho than Child’s Play. Pin, while refusing to limit itself to just one type of horror, delivers a memorable meditation on trauma that makes an even greater impact 35 years later.

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.”

What’s fun about writing this series based on first time watches is that I only have a cursory awareness of the weird places the franchise goes. When Amityville is discussed in horror circles, you hear about “the one with the clock” or “the one with the dollhouse,” as well as insinuations that at some point the films go completely off the rail.

That means that pressing play on each successive entry is accompanied by an “is this it?” question: Is this one of the infamous entries? Is this where the franchise loses its way?

I’m happy to report that while The Evil Escapes isn’t a great film, it certainly isn’t a horrible entry in the series. If anything,...

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

At this point, the Amityville “universe” of films is something of a running joke in horror circles. It is borderline ridiculous that there’s so many entries (for those who are curious: 2022 has seen the release of no less than 10 new films!). As Paste editor Jacob Oller explains in his piece “Why Are There So Many Absurd Amityville Horror Movies?”, there appear to be two main reasons why there are so many movies with Amityville in the title.

After the Lutzs lost their suit against The Possession and 3-D producer Dino De Laurentiis, Amityville titles became open season so long as they didn’t skew too closely to the real-life story. As Oller explains: “The nuttier the twist, the less worried anyone has to be about getting sued.

The 1979 horror classic The Amityville Horror has been newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative by Vinegar Syndrome, we’ve learned this afternoon.

Available in a Standard Edition or Limited Slipcover Edition, The Amityville Horror is Now Available on 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome!

“One of the most acclaimed and terrifying horror films of the 1970s, director Stuart Rosenberg‘s (Cool Hand Luke) The Amityville Horror features powerhouse performances from James Brolin (Westworld), genre film icon Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night), and cult star Don Stroud (Django Unchained).

“With a chilling screenplay by Sandor Stern, based on Jay Anson’s best selling novel, and an unnerving score by Lalo Schifrin (Mission: Impossible), Vinegar Syndrome is proud to present the Uhd debut of The Amityville Horror, stunningly restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative and featuring a comprehensive selection of new and archival interviews.

Veteran writer-producer Joel Rogosin, who was nominated for three Primetime Emmys in a TV career that spanned more than 30 years, has died. He becomes the the fifth resident at the Mptf’s Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills to succumb to the coronavirus. He was 87.

Rogosin’s first job in the industry in 1957 was as a messenger at Columbia Pictures. By 1961, he was producing the No. 1 show on TV, 77 Sunset Strip. He shared with friends at the Motion Picture & Television Fund retirement home that beyond the 23 primetime series he had produced, the TV movies and specials, the highlights of his career were the two Jerry Lewis telethons he produced. He said never felt more alive than when he was doing something good for others.

More from DeadlineAnn Sullivan, Longtime Disney Animator, Is Third Coronavirus Death At Motion Picture Home FacilityGeorgia Is Opening For Business But Hollywood Studios Are Not Rushing...

Boy howdy, there sure are a lot of Amityville flicks, aren’t there? I don’t know what kind of sadistic contest they’re in with the Witchcraft series, but I’m assuming regardless of the outcome, we the viewer loses. To each their own (I’ve never even seen the Witchcraft films), but I think it’s safe to say at this point in time that the word “Amityville” has lost all meaning far beyond its original IP. But there was a time, long ago when I had more hair and less belly, that the original Amityville series was an ongoing concern.

The ’79 original was a massive hit in theatres, the allegedly true book it was based on was still selling like hotcakes, the ’82 sequel scrapped mostly everything for Italian based lunacy (which was a blessing because it is easily the best one), and ‘83s 3D romp was laughable,...

With just a little over a month now until Halloweeeeen, we have some fun items to help get you into the holiday spirit (as if you even need it at this point). Kicking off today's Highlights, we have details on El Cucuy: The Boogeyman's "31 Days of Halloween" Syfy premiere, Creepy Co.'s new Beistle collection, the Amityville installment of Bloody Disgusting's Retro Nightmares cinema series, the red band trailer for Spiral, and Full Moon's Puppet Master: Blitzkrieg Massacre (the first entry in their eight-part Bunker of Blood film series).

El Cucuy: The Boogeyman Syfy Premiere Details: "Hybrid Entertainment's upcoming original movie, Cucuy: The Boogeyman, scheduled to premiere on SyFy on Saturday, October 13th (7p/6p Ct) is a timely twist on the indelible legend of a story young children are told by their mothers about a Latin American boogeyman known as the Cucuy who would come at night...

Five cult classics, including The House on Sorority Row, are being revived on the big screen by Bloody Disgusting for their "Retro Nightmares" cinema series kicking off on September 27th. Also in today's Horror Highlights: Travel Channel's "Ghostober" programming details, the latest addition to Mezco's Living Dead Dolls line, and the Indiegogo campaign for Masters of the Grind.

Bloody Disgusting's Retro Nightmares Film Series Details: Press Release: "Just in time to kick off the Halloween season, five HD digitally remastered cult horror classics--as voted online by fans--will be coming to the big screen as part of the “Bloody Disgusting Presents Retro Nightmares” Cinema Series this fall: The House on Sorority Row, Amityville: The Evil Escapes, Amityville: It’s About Time, Sweet Sixteen, and The Convent. Tickets are on sale now at www.Retronightmares.com for theaters nationwide.

Preeminent American horror genre website Bloody Disgusting, independent distribution company Multicom Entertainment Group,...

Stars: James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger, Don Stroud, Murray Hamilton, John Larch, Natasha Ryan, K.C. Martel, Meeno Peluce, Michael Sacks, Helen Shaver | Written by Sandor Stern | Directed by Stuart Rosenberg

When films say they are based on true stories, it is easy to take such statements with a pinch of salt. The Amityville Horror though is one that is so enshrined in pop culture that it has a whole legend built up around it, whether it is true or not. Second Sight have now brought the popular horror to Blu-ray in the UK and it is well worth buying.

The Amityville Horror is the story of the Lutz family, who move into the perfect family home on the coast of Long Island. Surprised at how cheap it was, it soon becomes apparent why when the shocking history of the house is revealed, along with the demonic presence that resides there.

What I’m about to write is probably going to catch a lot of flack, but here it goes – in terms of creating a horror movie experience, I actually prefer The Amityville Horror (2005) to the 1979 movie. While director Stuart Rosenberg’s original is well-made and features strong performances from its leads, I’ve never really been a fan of it, and thus, have found over the last decade or so a true admiration for what Amityville (2005) was able to bring to the table.

Not only does the remake give us deeper characters to invest in, better scares, and made the act of chopping wood absolutely one of the most horrifying things ever, but it also does what all good cinematic retellings should do – respect its roots but also steps out and does something different. So when it comes to all the Platinum Dunes remakes, I do think The Amityville Horror...

Shock sings the praises of Sandor Stern’s 1988 thriller Pin. Paranoid schizophrenia: the most common type of schizophrenia defined as a chronic mental disorder in which a person experiences psychosis (a loss of touch with reality), delusions and hallucinations, particularly auditory (hearing voices) and perceptual disturbances. If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing Sandor…

The post In Praise of 1988’s Pin appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Sarah looks back at the Amityville films, and finds a lot of scary things, not all of which were intentional…

112 Ocean Avenue, Long Island is probably the most famous haunted house in the world. Not that you’ll necessarily recognise the address – it’s far better known as the Amityville Horror house. Back in 1975, George and Kathy Lutz moved their family into the house… and then 28 days later, they moved back out, claiming to have been driven out by supernatural forces. Their story made the news, was turned into a book, and then made into a movie, in 1979.

It’s hard to imagine now that a family claiming to have encountered the devil in their basement could cause such a massive fuss, but I’m not here to interrogate the truth of their statement. What I am here to do, though, is to watch all of the Amityville Horror movies made to date,...

Talk about a long road to the screen. The last time we heard anything about Sandor Stern's 1988 horror flick Pin was in early 2011. Things happen, ya know, but finally there's a bit of movement to report on.

The remake of Pin is finally getting going after years of woes pertaining to the rights. Jack Reher adapted it, and Nicholas Bogner (Corrosion) is on board to produce. The search for a director has ended and will be announced shortly. From what we hear, he's a fan favorite and consistently directs horror films that audiences like.

More on that when we get it!

Synopsis

Meet Pin, a harmless mute and lifeless fantasy in little Leon's mind - a fantasy that initially took form when Leon's father imparted life lessons to him through the use of an anatomical dummy. At first a source of amusement and comfort, Pin demonically evolves into the object of Leon's mad fixation.

Stars: David Hewlett, Cynthia Preston, Terry O’Quinn, John Pyper-Ferguson | Written and Directed by Sandor Stern

When Alfred Hitchcock made Psycho he had a lot to answer for, creating a character in Norman Bates that is so easy to replicate, though hard to perfect. Pin is a film that bears similarities to Hitchcock’s masterpiece and has a character that could be said to be just as twisted as Norman.

Ursula and Leon are the children of a doctor who, to communicate issues to his children uses a medical mannequin know as Pin to teach them about health and body issues. As the children grow up Ursula understands that Pin is not real, but her father uses ventriloquism to bring the doll alive, but Leon clings on to the belief that Pin is his best friend. When their parents die in a car accident Leon moves Pin into the family...

Maybe dolls and dummies, in general, just freak me out. Dead of Night, The Great Gabbo, even the new flick The Conjuring… dolls just have some hyper-real element that raises the hair on the back of my neck to full attention, and I have a really hairy neck. But I can’t think of another movie where the dummy is actually a medical model. Meet Pin. Well that’s what the family calls him. Pin is a medical dummy with clear skin like a plastic Slim Goodbody (wow, that reference dates me). Pin is the subject of this week’s entry of The Unseen. In the later part of the 1980’s, the creep-tatsic Canadians made the Pin, A Plastic Nightmare. Starring Terry O’Quinn and David Hewlett (who both would become nerd deities because of respective roles on Lost and Stargate: Atlantis), Pin focuses on a medical dummy. Pin is not one of the “Annie,...

By Jesse Miller, MoreHorror.com

The point of this new little series will be to watch and examine the original film and its remake back to back and deconstruct them a bit, rambling about both the good and the bad of each film.

Comparing an original against a remake might seem a bit odd because more often than not, the original might always be the better film in nearly every aspect.

However, a decent remake is definitely not a rarity – sometimes it might prove to be just as good or, hell, even surpass the original.

So, without further ado, I bring you the first instalment to the series:

The Original: The Amityville Horror (1979)

“Houses don’t have memories” George Lutz says to his wife Kathy when asked how he feels about moving into a house which recently saw a family of six brutally murdered in their a sleep by fellow family member Ronald DeFeo,...

by Christ Wright, MoreHorror.com

With all this new talk of a film based on the book “Amityville The Evil Escapes” I thought to myself “Why not write a review of the sequel that was already based on it?” I don’t know the full plot details of this new sequel from an independent production company but that movie already exists its called “Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes” from 1989!

This is the first and only of the many "Amityville" sequels that was strictly made for TV for NBC. It is also the first movie that was not theatrical and it deviated from the mythos of the original trilogy. What makes this movie more interesting is Sandor Stern who wrote the original movie is guy behind this sequel. This movie is not as bad as other reviewers have penned it out to be. I actually rather enjoy this movie. It is also somewhat difficult to find.

Good news for those of you out there familiar with Sandor Stern's 1988 horror flick Pin! It looks as if there's a remake on the way, but fret not, this has Mr. Stern sitting pretty once again in the director's chair!

According to Bloody Disgusting Stern will be returning to direct and co-write, alongside Jack Reher (writer of the forthcoming Red Machine and Edge of the Unknown), a redo of the super creepy doll movie.

Synopsis

Meet Pin, a harmless, mute and lifeless fantasy in little Leon's mind - a fantasy that initially took form when Leon's father imparted life lessons to him through the use of anatomical dummy. At first a source of amusement and comfort, Pin demonically evolves into the object of Leon's mad fixation. Soon, Leon and Pin quietly but thoroughly eliminate anyone who intrudes into their private world.

- Uncle Creepy

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The 1988 doll horror movie, Pin, is the latest on the remake block, but for its cult fans, don’t fret, because Bloody-Disgusting got the drop that the film’s original director, Sandor Stern, is set to come back. The film will be an adaptation of the original novel, writing back then by Andrew Neiderman of Amityville Horror and Devil’s Advocate fame.

In case you haven’t checked out this little Canadian horror film, the plot is: “A doctor has a lifelike, anatomically-correct medical dummy, with muscles and organs visible through its clear skin, named Pin (after Pinocchio). Via ventriloquism, Pin explains bodily functions in a way kids can relate to. When the over-strict doctor and his wife are killed in a car crash, his son (Leon) transfers his alter-ego into Pin, whom he always believed was alive. He starts using Pin as an excuse to over-protect his sister (Ursula...

A few months back a bunch of friends and myself discussed how a remake to Sandor Stern's 1988 horror flick Pin would be crazy awesome, so it comes as no shock that one is currently in development. Bloody Disgusting has exclusively confirmed that Stern will be returning to direct and co-write, alongside Jack Reher (writer of the forthcoming Red Machine and Edge of the Unknown), a redo of the creepy doll movie. What's different is that the duo will be scripting a movie based on Andrew Neiderman's novel of the same name. Neiderman is also known for writing the classic "The Devil's Advocate". Stern wrote the original The Amityville Horror.

The Amityville Horror is a true remake, sticking closely to the characters and story of the 1979 horror film about the ultimate real-estate nightmare. The major difference is that it's a half-hour shorter, which means the movie gets to the meat much more quickly. But this also means that the father becomes unhinged too quickly, thus eliminating any subtlety in his deterioration or the possibility that at least some of the events are psychological in origin. Despite a lack of major names, the modestly budgeted film should enjoy a decent theatrical payoff and perhaps even greater success in ancillary markets.

Both movies' setups are identical right down to the decision by the remakers to keep the story true to its period. Scott Kosar's screenplay is based on the original Sandor Stern script and a book by Jay Anson. The book purports to tell the true-life story of the Lutz family that moved into a large Dutch Colonial home in Amityville, Long Island, in 1975, a year after a young man went berserk there and killed his entire family with a rifle. The Lutzes stayed in the house a brief 28 days.

George Lutz insisted that he began to hear the same evil voices that drove the killer to murder eight people. Wife Kathy soon rightly feared for George's sanity -- and her family's safety. Other writers and investigators have called the Lutz story a hoax. Nevertheless, Anson's book spawned the first movie, a clutch of sequels and a telefilm.

Debuting commercial director Andrew Douglas casts much younger leads for the remake, both of whom were 28 when the film was shot. (James Brolin and Margot Kidder played the original Lutzes.) George Lutz (a bearded Ryan Reynolds) is newly married to Kathy (Melissa George), who has three youngsters by her late first husband. That Kathy would have a 12-year-old son is a bit of a stretch, but this does create a new source of tension as young Billy (Jesse James) bitterly resents the new man in his mom's life.

Everyone in the family is still getting to know one another as they move into the haunted house. Only the adults are aware of the house's grotesque legacy. Their anxiety to escape the confines of a crowded apartment causes George to shrug that "there are no bad houses -- only bad people."

Things go bump in the night right away, especially at 3:15 a.m., the time the murder rampage began a year earlier. Douglas and Kosar borrow from The Sixth Sense in having bloodied "dead people" turn up frequently, glimpsed in mirrors, empty rooms and nightmares. In fact, the house grows so crowded with ghosts it becomes a veritable Haunted Hilton.

The youngest child, Chelsea (Chloe Grace Moretz), claims to see the youngest murder victim, Jodie (Isabel Conner), though no one realizes that Jodie is trying to lure Chelsea to her death. This leads to the film's most hair-raising episode, where the family discovers the young girl walking precariously on the edge of the house's roof peak.

The priest Philip Baker Hall), who is unable or unwilling to exorcise the house's demons, is thankfully marginalized here, but in its place as an over-the-top character is the baby-sitter (Rachel Nichols), a sex kitten right out of the pages of Barely Legal complete with a 2005 exposed midriff.

George's mental and physical deterioration remains the same: He gets sick, is constantly cold and obsessively chops wood (with an evil-looking ax) to feed the wood-burning furnace. This film is willing to make the husband a much more unsympathetic character. Fortunately, Australian actress George, as beautiful as she is talented, steps into the breach as family protector and turns the wife into the film's real protagonist.

Jennifer Williams' design apes the original's right down to the house's diabolic "eye" windows. Steve Jablonsky's music is prone to cliches, especially the thunderclaps that accompany the revelation of each of the "dead people."

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR

MGM

MGM and Dimension Films present a Platinum Dunes production in association with Radar Pictures

Credits: Director: Andrew Douglas

Screenwriter: Scott Kosar

Based on the book by: Jay Anson

Based on a screenplay by: Sandor Stern

Producers: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller

Executive producers: Ted Field, David Crockett

Director of photography: Peter Lyons Collister

Production designer: Jennifer Williams

Music: Steve Jablonsky

Costumes: David Robinson

Editors: Chris Wagner, Roger Barton

Cast:

George Lutz: Ryan Reynolds

Kathy Lutz: Melissa George

Billy: Jesse James

Michael: Jimmy Bennett

Chelsea: Chloe Grace Moretz

Jodie: Isabel Conner

Lisa: Rachel Nichols

Father McNamara: Philip Baker Hall

MPAA rating R

Running time -- 89 minutes...