 Hartman wrote a number of screenplays that were never produced . In 1986 he began writing a screenplay for a film titled Mr. Fix @-@ It , and completed the final draft in 1991 . Robert Zemeckis was signed to produce the film , with Gil Bettman hired to direct . Hartman called it " a sort of a merger of horror and comedy , like Beetlejuice and Throw Momma From the Train " , adding , " It 's an American nightmare about a family torn asunder . They live next to a toxic dump site , their water supply is poisoned , the mother and son go insane and try to murder each other , the father 's face is torn off in a terrible disfiguring accident in the first act . It 's heavy stuff , but it 's got a good message and a positive , upbeat ending . " Zemeckis could not secure studio backing , however , and the project collapsed . Another movie idea involving Hartman 's Groundlings character Chick Hazard , Private Eye also fell through . 
