David F. Sandberg Is Making Amityville Scary Again With a Classic Horror Makeover
David F. Sandberg is steering Amityville Horror back to its roots with a suspense-first, supernatural throwback built on slow-burn tension and classic chills.
Because the universe is hilarious, there are roughly a zillion Amityville movies out there. Thanks to the odd quirk that anyone can slap 'Amityville' in a title, indie crews have been cranking them out for years. That has not scared off the big guys: Amazon MGM just teamed with director David F. Sandberg to reimagine 'The Amityville Horror' — and yes, he says he wants to take it back to old-school chills.
Sandberg’s pitch: back to classic, supernatural scares
At Midnight Fest in Boston, Sandberg told fans he’s excited to do something more traditionally spooky again — per a transcription shared by Bloody Disgusting — especially after his recent detour into gorier territory.
"I'm looking forward to doing a supernatural, classic horror again. Until Dawn was quite different and was more gore and craziness. Really looking forward to doing more of that suspenseful, supernatural horror."
Where this lands in his career (and who’s making it)
- How we got here: Sandberg broke out by turning his short 'Lights Out' into a feature, leveled up with the Conjuring prequel 'Annabelle: Creation', then jumped to capes with 'Shazam!' and 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods'. He swung back to horror for the 'Until Dawn' video game adaptation, and now he’s staying put for Amityville.
- What he wants next: He’s still holding out hope for a 'Lights Out' sequel. He’s also into sci-fi — the grounded kind — and says a space-horror vibe like 'Event Horizon' is on his wish list. He’s not chasing existing IP right now, though he did admit, 'RoboCop would be cool.'
- The Amityville reimagining: Sandberg will direct for Amazon MGM. The script is by Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing (the writers behind 'The Conjuring: Last Rites').
- Producers and EPs: Peter Safran and John Rickard of The Safran Company are producing alongside Sandberg. Executive producers are Natalia Safran (The Safran Company) and Lotta Losten.
Between the endless low-budget Amityville spin-offs and this new studio-backed take, the brand is somehow both overexposed and weirdly evergreen. If Sandberg really leans into 'suspenseful, supernatural, classic horror,' I’m listening. You in, or are you Amityville’d out? Sound off below.