Images
First Look: Before ‘The Amityville Horror’ There Were ‘The Amityville Murders’
Bloody Disgusting has your first ever look at Daniel Farrands‘ prequel story The Amityville Murders: A Haunting on Long Island, which quietly began filming for CineTel Films this past September.
Straight out of the ongoing American Film Market, we also have the official sales art from the film starring Paul Ben-Victor, Lainie Kazan, Chelsea Ricketts, John Robinson, and Diane Franklin.
Franklin, of course, starred in the original sequel, Amityville Horror II: The Possession!
In the new film:
On the night of November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo, Jr. took a high-powered rifle and murdered his entire family as they slept. At his trial, DeFeo claimed that “voices” in the house commanded him to kill. Thirteen months later, the Lutz family bought the house and stayed only 28 days before fleeing in terror.
Their nightmarish ordeal shocked the world in The Amityville Horror. The Lutzes may have escaped from Amityville with their lives … but the DeFeo’s weren’t so lucky. This is their story.
The Amityville Murders: A Haunting on Long Island is going to tell the DeFeo’s story. Farrands not only penned Havenhurst but he’s the producer on Dimension’s Amityville: The Awakening, as well as The Haunting in Connecticut.
We have an exclusive first look at A Man in the Woods With an Axe, a blood-soaked, genre-twisting homage to 1980s slasher films.
Spanning four decades, A Man in the Woods With an Axe begins in the summer of 1987 before pushing into the modern era, weaving together timelines and perspectives in a way that builds both dread and intrigue.
Drawing inspiration from genre standouts like Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Hatchet, and The Cabin in the Woods, the film blends visceral horror with moments of dark humor, creating a uniquely balanced experience that honors tradition while carving its own identity.
Writer-director Dillon Brown (Primal Darkness) aims to deliver everything fans crave from a slasher while boldly subverting expectations with a mid-film twist that redefines the story.
“This is an unapologetic love letter to the films that made me fall in love with horror,” Brown tells Bloody Disgusting. “But I didn’t just want to recreate that feeling; I wanted to challenge it. About halfway through, the film takes a turn that completely changes how you view not only this story, but the genre itself.”
Brown describes the vintage-inspired production as “far and away the bloodiest film I’ve ever made,” with practical effects helmed by Cody Ruch (The Mill, Pig Hill), an instructor at Tom Savini’s Special Make-Up Effects Program.
From Horror Dadz Productions, A Man in the Woods With an Axe is currently in production and targeting an early 2027 release.
You must be logged in to post a comment.