Have you ever seen the creepy man pictured above in a dream? Or have you heard the story about a psychiatrist who found that several of his patients all reported seeing the same man in their dreams? Believe it or not, this story was part of a viral hoax that was orchestrated by Italian sociologist Andrea Natella a couple of years ago. He set up a fake website at ThisMan.org purporting to be in search of the mysterious man’s identity. The hoax worked so well that many people still believe it is real and some do, in fact, claim to have seen the man in their dreams. Now Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures will be turning This Man into a horror thriller to be directed by Bryan Bertino (The Strangers).

The story will revolve around a protagonist who essentially discovers that he actually is This Man, when he finds that people he has never met before recognize him from their dreams. Personally I think it sounds like a great concept, and the fact that some viewers may believe that it is based on a true story will make it even more effective. I found Bertino’s The Strangers to be tense and genuinely frightening, so I’m very interested to see how he follows it up. Initially it looked like he might direct The Strangers 2, but it turns out he just wrote the script, and handed it off to French director Laurent Briet instead. With Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert on board as producers, I think this project has a lot of potential and I can’t wait to hear more about it. Thoughts?

Around the Web: