Black & Blue Films has acquired the remake rights to 1971 cult horror film The Asphyx. It will be written and directed by Matthew McGuchan.

The original film, which was directed by Peter Newbook, told the story of Victorian scientists trying to capture the soul as it leaves the body so they could isolate it and cheat death. The remake will be set in the present day and will feature Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade star, Alison Doody. It will shoot in London next June.

Billy Murray, actor and director of Black and Blue Films, said: “Matthew’s a great writer and I know he’ll make a great job of directing the film. He worked with us on the Dead Cert script and his contributions were invaluable.”

Black & Blue aims to make six to eight low-budget, high concept films a year, predominantly for the UK market but with international sales potential. It is currently making Dead Cert, starring Craig Fairbrass, Dexter Fletcher and Steven Berkoff, and is planning to make crime thriller Gunned Down, also starring Fairbrass and directed by Alex Soskin, next year.

London-based sales company Moviehouse Entertainment is handling sales at Dead Cert, which will have a promo screening at next week’s American Film Market, and Expose, which was written and directed by British actor Martin Kemp.

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