Nicolas Winding Refn To Remake Witchfinder General
Drive director to produce new take on groundbreaking folk horror.
One of the most intense horror movies of the 1960s is getting a contemporary do-over, courtesy of one of the most intense filmmakers in the business today.
Deadline report that Nicolas Winding Refn - director behind Drive, Only God Forgives and the upcoming The Neon Demon - is set to produce a remake of Witchfinder General, in conjunction with producer and distributor Rupert Preston. However, Refn himself will not direct, and the duo are said to be "speaking to writers and directors for the $5M-$10M budgeted picture."
This is in fact the latest in a small number of remakes Refn has been linked to, as he is also set to produce a remake of 80s horror Maniac Cop from director John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning). Refn's also attached to a TV adaptation of erotic sci-fi comedy Barbarella, although there doesn't seem to have been much progress on that for a long time.
Initially released in the US under alternate title The Conqueror Worm, Witchfinder General starred Vincent Price in arguably his darkest role as the historical figure real-life witchfinder Matthew Hopkins. Though fictionalised, the film approached its subject matter with unusual realism for the time, resulting in scenes of violence and torture which proved hugely controversial.
Refn has praised Witchfinder General (the film last made by director Michael Reeves, who died not long thereafter) as a very visual and contemporary film... fascinating in its physical and emotional violence. This comes at little surprise, as Refn's work makes clear the director's own fascination with violence.
As with any remake announcement, this news is sure to leave many fans of the original spitting feathers, but perhaps there is scope for something that stands apart in its own right here. While Witchfinder General did indeed break new ground, it was still very much a film of its time, and there's scope for the same story to be explored in an even more unflinching manner today.