British outfit The Fyzz Facility have set Christopher Smith (Creep, Black Death) to direct their upcoming supernatural terror tale, The Banishing. The film will lay out a story of lost faith and demonic possession as a family moves into an old abode that houses a deadly secret. Cliche? Sure, but this seems to be in good hands.
The Banishing‘s script comes courtesy of Ray Bogdanovich, Dean Lines, and Ronnie Thompson. Wayne Marc Godfrey, James Harris, Robert Jonesm and Mark Lane are on board to produce the project for The Fyzz Facility. They are joined by fellow producer Jason Newmar.
The real gem of the bunch is Christopher Smith himself. The man is a bit of an unsung filmmaker within the horror genre. I see his films occasionally mentioned with fondness, but he is nowhere near as celebrated as peers like Eli Roth, James Wan, Alexandre Aja, or even Neil Marshall. That’s a shame, as films like the aforementioned Creep (pictured above) and Black Death, as well as Severance and Triangle, are all great. If you consider yourself a horror fan and you have not had the pleasure of seeing those titles, I suggest you track them down at your earliest convenience. They’re worth it.
Smith also recently tried his hand at more family-friendly fare in the form of Get Santa and the 2012 miniseries Labyrinth. His latest film, a thriller titled Detour, was given a limited theatrical and VOD release earlier this year. I have yet to see any of these three, so it sounds like I’ll be giving myself some Christopher Smith homework as well.
