JohnHarrison

Fangoria got out word today from the Fantasia Film Festival that Stephen King's Cell is no longer destined for the silver screen. Instead the novel will be reborn as a four hour TV mini-series to be scripted by John Harrison. Details are rather sparse at this stage, but Harrison tells Fango his take on the material will be closer to a classic creeper like Village of the Damned (I hope Harrison is referring to the original and not the languid John Carpenter remake) than an all out zombie movie.

If you recall Eli Roth was long attached to a film adaptation of King's novel about a cell phone pulse that scrambles the inner workings of any poor sap that hears it, converting them instantly into a murderous member of a new society. When Hostel: Part II didn't turn out too hot at the box office, his directorial duties looked in jeopardy, though he remained attached until quite recently. There's no word yet on who will be taking over his role behind the camera, though screenwriter Harrison, who is at Fantasia for their premiere of his work on the film adaptation of Clive Barker's Book of Blood, confesses he'd be interested in taking the reins. It's up to The Weinstein Company, who is still producing the adaptation, to make that call.

When it was announced that Clive Barker's short story Book of Blood was being optioned for a film adaptation I did a double take. Why adapt not only the shortest story in Barker's much respected anthology, but the one that serves as prologue to all of the others?

If this trailer (included below and branded with the beloved Red Band) for Book of Blood is any indication, writer/director John Harrison saw something in the tiny story I didn't. Harrison looks to have expanded the premise of a house built on the intersection of several 'highways of the dead' substantially, even mixing in from "On Jerusalem Street: A Postscript", an entry from the sixth volume of Barker's anthology. The scale of the story has evolved so much so that the only thing I recognize from page-to-screen is the carved-by-ghosts body of the main character.

Normally I'd chide an adaptation that deviates considerably from the source material, but the UK production frankly looks better than I ever expected it would. Earning even more favor with this jaded horror fan is the fact that I'm finally reminded of what a real Red Band trailer should contain. I'm happy to say do not click play after the jump if you're at a place of work.