“HORROR HOTEL” Next On The Remake Slate

Who doesn’t love remakes, huh? Well, for those of you who prefer Vince Vaugn to Anthony Perkins, Jackie Earle Haley to Robert Englund, and Paris Hilton to Vincent Price (no direct character correlation, so this is all I’ve got), we have exciting news for you! HORROR HOTEL (aka CITY OF THE DEAD), the witchy 1960 Brit chiller starring Christopher Lee, is being remade by a Welsh company called Pillay-Evans Productions, with Stephen J Evans on tap to write and direct.

Original HORROR HOTEL plot synopsis:
“On the recommendation of her professor (Christopher Lee), a young female student (Venetia Stevenson) travels to the fictional Massachusetts town of Whitewood to do some research intowitchcraft. She finds the town occupied by the reincarnation of an infamous witch (Patricia Jessel) burned at the stake in the 17th century; in order to sustain her immortality, virgins must be sacrificedto her every year–and this year, the student has been the chosen victim.” 

Evans, who has a penchant for re-treads considering his starring role in last year’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: RESURRECTION, and the upcoming HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK II, comes at the project with a resume comprised mostly of short films. Producer Adam Stephen Kelly is also a greenhorn, with two production credits under his belt in 2010′s INCEST DEATH SQUAD 2, and 2011′s MEDIATRIX.

In an interview making the rounds online (original source unknown), Kelly had this to say about the new CITY OF THE DEAD: ”It’s our intention to take British horror back to its roots. With our film, we’re going back to what made the genre we love great. Over the last year or so, we’ve seen attitudes towards the genre changing and audiences are growing tired of being grossed out. They’re after the next big scare. With THE CITY OF THE DEAD, we aim to make a film that evokes emotion from the audience because of its characters, atmosphere and tension, rather than how much blood is spilled. We’re going to combine classic genre tropes with a classic story to create something that will take a 21st century audience for a ride.”