Fan or not, there's little doubt that this project sounds right up director Marcus Nispel's alley. The new film in the hands of the man behind Conan the Barbarian is Hack/Slash, a film adaptation of a successful and gory graphic novel. The source material, created by Tim Seeley and Stefano Caselli, follows the horror genre's conventional female survivor as she becomes a vengeful vigilante with the help of a hulking sidekick. See, sounds perfect for Nispel.
THR reports that the director, who had previously flirted with the project, is back on board to helm the graphic novel adaptation for Relativity. Hack/Slash follows Cassie Hack, who begins as the embodiment of what Carol Clover calls 'the final girl' - in her amazing analysis of horror flicks in her book "Men, Women and Chainsaws" - before turning the convention on its head and having her pursue serial slashers across the country and bring them to bloody justice. Accompanying her on her quest is an imposing 'protector' named Vlad.
As you can see from the plot description, the film is firmly entrenched in the codes of the horror genre, specifically the slasher, which makes Marcus Nispel perhaps perfect choice to direct. Nispel has spent a significant portion of his career retelling some of the very slasher stories on which Hack/Slash is based. The director of both the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th remakes is at least familiar with the genre and is confident directing the kinds of gore required for a tale about a killer of killers. The obvious question becomes, which young star would you like to see hack and slash the Freddys, Jasons and Michael Myers of the world?
