Abyzou: Nick Blood, Emm Wiseman star in film based on demon legend

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Production on director Oliver Park's horror thriller Abyzou, said to be "loosely based on a Jewish folk tale", is currently underway at Millennium Media's Bulgarian studio Nu Boyana. The film stars Nick Blood (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Emm Wiseman (Winchester) and tells a story that's set in a Hasidic community. At the center of it is 

a family struggling with unresolved trauma, which finds itself at the mercy of an ancient demon bent on destroying them from the inside.

Hank Hoffman wrote the screenplay, working from a story he crafted with Millennium's Jonathan Yunger. 

Blood and Wiseman are joined in the cast by Allan Corduner (Homeland), Paul Kaye (Game of Thrones), Daniel Ben Zenou (Skins), and Jodie Jacobs (The West End's Rock of Ages).

I wasn't familiar with the legend of Abyzou before this project was announced, so I did a Google search and found this information on Wikipedia: 

In the myth and folklore of the Near East and Europe, Abyzou is the name of a female demon. Abyzou was blamed for miscarriages and infant mortality and was said to be motivated by envy, as she herself was infertile.

So this movie could get quite disturbing if it's dealing with subject matter like miscarriages and infant mortality.

Yunger said, 

Abyzou is something that is very near and dear to our hearts. Being able to tell a story rooted in Jewish mysticism all while wrapped in a commercial horror film that will scare audience’s socks off is very exciting to me and we can’t wait to bring it to the world."

Hoffman and Yunger are producing Abyzou with Jeffrey Greenstein, Les Weldon, and Yariv Lerner. Sam Schulte is co-producer, and Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, and Tanner Mobley serve as executive producers.