Weekend Newsreel: May 12, 2006

Compiled by the FilmBuffOnLine staff

The original Long Island home that inspired The Amityville Horror (1979).

     Original Amityville Horror Homeowner Passes: George “Lee” Lutz, the head of the family whose short, four week residence in Amityville, New York would become the basis for the 1979 horror classic The Amityville Horror, has passed away of heart disease on Monday, May 8, 2006 in Las Vegas, NV. He was 59. Lutz, his wife and three children moved into their Dutch Colonial home at 112 Ocean Avenue in the small Long Island town on December 18, 1975, but vacated the house a mere 28 days later, complaining of several mysterious instances which they attributed to the supernatural. Thirteen months before the Litz’s moved in, six members of the previous occupant’s family, the DeFeos, were shot to death by the family’s eldest son Ron. During his trial, DeFeo mounted an insanity defense, claiming that an evil spirit in the house drove him to the murders. The Lutz’s told their story to author Jay Anson who turned the account into the bestseller The Amityville Horror in 1977. Although the book came under attack from skeptics, it captured that public’s imagination to a point that a film adaptation was inevitable. In an effort to discourage ghoulish sightseers, the film, which starred James Brolin and Margot Kidder, changed the address of the home to 412 Ocean Avenue and filmed all exterior footage of the home at a similar looking house in Tom’s River, New Jersey. The original Amityville home was remolded by its then-current owners in the mid-1990s, with the distinctive quarter moon windows being replaced with rectangular windows.

     Classic Cartoon Story Boards Sold: The Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks, CA recently just sold a complete set of storyboards for the classic 1949 Warner Brothers Sylvester and Tweetie cartoon short “Bad Ol’ Puddy Tat,” hand-drawn by Merrie Melodies storyman Tedd Pierce. Since studios usually trashed such pre-production materials at the time, a complete set for a cartoon is extremely rare. For those of us who can’t afford such collector’s items, the gallery has posted the entire set – which includes some variations on gags that differ from the final product - on their website.

     Deja View: The Weinstein Company has announced that the 1980s television series Knight Rider will be roaring its way onto the big screen in 2007. Production is expected to begin later this year with a script by original series creator Glen A. Larson, who promises an emphasis on action over the camp that the television series often delved into. Original series star David Hasselhoff is expected to be back for a small cameo role, but the lead role of Michael Knight has yet to be cast. . . The 2001 Korean film My Sassy Girl is getting an English-language make over with Belgian director Yann Samuell at the helm. Gold Circle Films has picked up the project from Dreamworks with filming set to begin this fall.

     Opening This Week

May 12

• Alpha Dog- website

• Art School Confidential (wider)- website

• Dead Man's Shoes (NY, LA)

• Goal! The Dream Begins- website

• Just My Luck

• Keeping Up With The Steins (limited)

• Poseidon- website

• Revolution (NY)- website

• Saving Shiloh (limited)

• Sketches Of Frank Gehry (NY)- website

• Wah-Wah (limited)- website