Blumhouse Productions is best known for its horror work, having produced the Paranormal Activity and Insidious franchises, in addition to a slew of hugely successful horror flicks including Sinister, The Purge and Oculus. However, Blumhouse is beginning to step outside of that one genre, with news that it is moving forward with revenge Western In A Valley of Violence and has recruited Oculus star Karen Gillan for the lead role.
In A Valley of Violence, from writer-director Ti West (The House of the Devil, The Sacrament), centers on two sisters who run a dusty old hotel in the 1890s. When a drifter arrives, seeking revenge for the death of his best friend, the sisters are drawn into the bloody crossfire. Gillan is set to play the older sister, Ellen. She joins the previously announced Taissa Farmiga, of FX’s American Horror Story, who’ll be playing the younger sister, and Ethan Hawke, who previously starred in Blumhouse flicks Sinister and The Purge, as the mysterious drifter.
Given the involvement of both West and Blumhouse Productions, there’s reason to suspect that In A Valley of Violence may provide some scares in addition to the requisite gunfights. In typical Blumhouse fashion, the low-budgeted film is moving ahead quickly, with a late June shoot planned.
Blumhouse has a lot of films to slot for release before In A Valley of Violence, unless the Western strikes them as a surefire hit. Strangely, multiple films have been gathering dust in post-production for years. The Joe Johnston-directed Not Safe for Work, about an office worker trapped with a serial killer; the Oren Peli-directed Area 51; Joe Carnahan’s comedic thriller Stretch; and Mercy, an adaptation of the Stephen King short story “Gramma,” are just some examples.
Already scheduled are this summer’s sequel The Purge: Anarchy and stand-alone Jessabelle, about a woman haunted by her past while recovering from a car accident in her childhood Lousiana home. This fall, we’ll see Paranormal Activity 5 and Ouija (which will open simultaneously the week before Halloween), and 2015 has so far been reported to hold Lazarus, about students attempting to bring their dead colleague back to life, and Insidious: Chapter 3.
In A Valley of Violence sounds like an intriguing addition to the Blumhouse catalog, so hopefully it finds a release date sooner rather than later and avoids winding up shelved.
