Chilean filmmaker Patricio Valladares, behind the 2023 found-footage horror pic “Invoking Yell,” is set to direct a fantasy-horror reimagining of Dante’s “Inferno.”
“The Divine Comedy,” slated to begin filming in Rome in September, is produced by Italian film company Anxur Films, in collaboration with Ireland’s Skincrawl Studios, which is also handling international sales.
“You’ve likely come across the famous line from Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece, ‘Abandon all hope, ye who enter here,’ that Stephen King also borrowed for his novel ‘The Stand,’” reads the logline. The film promises to take audiences through the gates of Hell that bear the infamous inscription.
Valladares’ adaptation follows Dante, a grieving writer, and Virgil, a former priest, as they descend into the terrifying realm of the dead in search of Dante’s wife Beatrice.
As they go through a series of terrifying circles inhabited by the dead and the damned, Dante and Virgil encounter lost souls trapped within eternal punishments shaped by their deepest fears, desires and regrets.
Pursued by monstrous entities and confronted by manifestations of human suffering, Dante and Virgil will eventually come face to face with the Devil himself.
Starring Christopher Rygh (“Vikings: Valhalla”), Matthew Metcalfe, Tilda Metsola and Fadhillah Othman, “The Divine Comedy,” Valladares warns, “is set to push the limits of pain and physical torture to levels only seen in Barker’s ‘Hellraiser’ or Xavier Gens’ ‘Frontier(s).’”
“What drew me to ‘The Divine Comedy’ was the opportunity to create visions of hell that feel physical and painful,” he tells Variety. “But at its core, it’s a very human story about grief, guilt and how far you’re willing to go for love when you have nothing left to lose. The concept itself generates so much atmosphere, tension and real horror.”
Filming begins on Sept. 7 in Rome.
Ahead of that, Valladares will be celebrating the Aug. 28 world premiere of his new film, “Invoking Scream,” the sequel to “Invoking Yell,” at FrightFest in London.
Exploring the dark intersections of the supernatural and extreme music, the centers on a trio of metalheads who unwittingly unleash a dark force after they uncover a buried box containing a VHS tape and a mysterious book of witchcraft at the gravesite of Invoking Yell lead singer Andrea Fernandez.
“Invoking Scream” stars María Jesús Marcone, Luna Martínez, Teresita Rios and Matías López.
Valladares is also developing a FMV horror game via his Vallastudio Films that merges analog filmmaking with interactive storytelling.
