Jim Carrey Wanted To Make A 'Dumb And Dumber' Horror Movie

1994's Dumb And Dumber is one of the best comedies ever made. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've seen it or how many lines I've quoted from it.

While 2014's Dumb and Dumber To, was nowhere near as good as the original (how could it be?) it was a perfectly acceptable sequel.

As for Dumber And Dumberer... we don't talk about that one.

However, it turns out that if Jim Carrey — Lloyd Christmas himself — has his way, we could have seen a Dumber And Dumber found-footage horror movie as well.

Filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert revealed that before the long-awaited sequel was produced, Jim Carry got in touch with them.

"Very early in our careers, Jim Carrey reached out," Kwan said at a roundtable hosted by The Hollywood Reporter. "He had just seen Paranormal Activity and was like, 'Guys, it's found footage and it's horror — have you seen it?' And we were like, 'Uh-huh, we've heard of it. Where is this going?' And he was like, 'I haven't seen anyone do that — but with comedy. And I have this great idea.'"

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park Colorado inspired Stephen King's The Shining and was used for scenes in Dumb And Dumber. (Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Carrey Got His Idea From Strange Happenings On Set

As it turns out, parts of the original Dumber And Dumber were shot at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. If that sounds familiar it's because it was the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel In Stephen King's The Shining.

Much like the Overlook, the Stanley is known for some strange, possibly paranormal occurrences. Carrey said they experienced some of those odd happenings while making the first movie.

"Basically, the set of Dumb and Dumber was famously a haunted set," said Kwan. "He's like, 'The whole time we were shooting, things were breaking, people were getting hurt, doors were swinging, and it felt haunted.

"We're going to shoot Dumb and Dumber To, and I want you guys to do a found-footage horror comedy on the set. While we're filming, you guys are going to make a feature-length, behind-the-scenes video that slowly becomes a horror film.'"

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels arrive in Aspen in Dumb & Dumber. (Photo by New Line Cinema/Getty Images)

The Idea Got A Big Fat No

Kwan and Scheinert liked the idea and wrote an outline. Once it was done they — along with Carrey — took the idea to the film's producers.

Like so many ideas in Hollywood, it got shot down immediately.

From the sound of it, the pitch went over about as well selling a dead bird to a blind kid.

"Then we sat down with the producer, we pitched the idea, and they're like, 'We're not actually going to make this. I'm sorry, Jim got really excited, but there's no way the studio is going to let us do a movie while they're shooting Dumb and Dumber To.'"

They said that Carrey was incredibly bummed out by the rejection, only spitting out a dejected "Okay" at the time. I'll be totally honest: now I'm bummed that idea got rejected too.

It's such an unusual idea I would've liked to have seen how it played out.

Watching Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprise their iconic roles while poltergeists knock things over?

Sounds like my kind of film.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle