Dimension Films is planning to release its remake of The Amityville Horror on January 2, 2015 making it the second remake of the franchise within the past 10 years. The first remake, starring Ryan Reynolds, released in April 2005 and made over $100 million on a $19 million budget. The new remake, for now called The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes, will be a found footage movie written and directed by Daniel Farrands and Casey La Scala.

The original film released in 1979 was inspired by the experiences of the Lutz family, who claimed to witness unexplained phenomena after moving into a house in Amityville, New York. The house in question had been the site of a mass murder several months prior, prompting suspicions that the house was haunted. As is frequently the case with these kinds of stories, there has been controversy over how much of the story was fabricated.

So far most signs indicate that the new remake will be just another cash grab. Neither Daniel Farrands nor Casey La Scala has much in the way of directorial experience, though Farrands certainly has a fondness for the genre. He did direct documentaries on both the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises; he also co-wrote 2007’s The Girl Next Door. With that said, the better received recent horror flicks have usually been original efforts while remakes have almost always been terrible. Furthermore, January has a long history of hosting sub-par horror films. We shall see if The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes breaks the mold in one year’s time.