Special effects guru Tom Savini gained a whole new generation of fans after Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez both started casting him in just about every other movie they make. (He also had a small role in The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, revealing his deep-seated desire to take a break from fake blood for like five minutes, please, people.) Like many in the horror world—looking at you, George Romero—Savini has announced many new projects over the years, many of which never come to fruition, or even go beyond the “wouldn’t it be cool if I did this?!” phase. And now comes the latest in Savini maybes: Rue Morgue reports that Savini is set to direct a remake of Nightmare City for Monstaworx Entertainment. (Company motto: “Monstaworx Entertainment: A Name In Unfortunate Portmanteaus.”)
This would mark the second time Savini has directed a feature film, the last one being 1990’s remake of Night Of The Living Dead, popularly known as the version nobody talks about that much. And while he’s also directed several shorts, he’s still primarily known for being one of the gurus of modern horror-film special effects. He is also known for playing the character of “Sex Machine” in From Dusk Till Dawn, which you may also recognize from the tattoo on the leg of that creepy guy in college who did too many mushrooms his junior year.
Nightmare City, originally released in 1980, is an Italian zombie flick featuring Hugo Stiglitz in a sweet trench coat, wildly variable levels of effort in zombie makeup application, and the high-quality English overdubbing that midnight movies from that era are known for. The director, Umberto Lenzi, is a legend of the genre, famous primarily because he thought of stuff like zombies attacking a TV studio full of spandex-clad aerobics dancers. No word yet on the status of the project, but given that it seems reliant on this Indiegogo campaign, bookies in Vegas are currently listing this one “too close to call.”