Ramsey Campbell’s award-winning novel NAZARETH HILL has been optioned by Steven Mackler’s Bedford Entertainment and will be scripted for theatrical production in association with Fangoria Entertainment.
Shockingly, this is Campbell’s first book to be adapted into a theatrical film in the U.S., even though the author is one of horror fiction’s most notable names. However, Campbell has previously had two of his novels turned into motion pictures by Spain’s Filmax company: the highly regarded THE NAMELESS in 1999 and 2002’s SECOND NAME. These films were helmed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, respectively, who went on to collaborate together on the blockbuster [REC] films.
First published in 1996, NAZARETH HILL (a.k.a. THE HOUSE ON NAZARETH HILL) tells the story of a rebellious teenager, Amy Priestly, who lives with her religiously autocratic and increasingly irrational father in an apartment building on Nazareth Hill. Their relationship has been shaky for some years and as it degenerates further, the building, which has a peculiar history of its own, is subject to a variety of episodes-some explainable, some not-causing many of the tenants to leave until the Priestly’s are practically the only ones left in the complex.
Bedford Entertainment’s Steven Mackler had this to say: “NAZARETH HILL has all the elements for a top-notch horror film; two main characters, each with offbeat psychological profiles; a living environment whose appearance is as odd and sinister as it is commonplace; and neighbors who might have come out of ROSEMARY’S BABY. With the right creative team, we feel we will make a theatrical film that is both dramatically absorbing and scary as blazes.”
No director has been assigned NAZARETH HILL just yet, but we’ll keep you informed on this front as things develop. To read the full details on the project, head over to Fangoria.
From Paco Plaza’s adaptation of THE NAMELESS, Erica Prior
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