Top creature designer, Tom Woodruff Jr., known for X-Files, Alien 3, and The Thing, now joins many of his predecessors in getting behind the camera as a feature film director. Guillermo Del Toro comes to mind as a special effects creator who made the hugely successful leap to director with films like Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy ,and Hellboy II. On the independent side of the industry, the Strause Brothers directed their breakout box office hit, Skyline.

Woodruff takes on the first installment of a multi-platform franchise dealing with a non-religious demon mythology; more akin to Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings than Constantine. He teams with first-time producing partners, and creators of the world, Brian Lubocki & Michael Hayes, who made a splash at last year’s Cannes Film Festival with the promotional footage of their franchise Fire City (http://www.FireCity.com)

Touted as a non-studio made franchise, the filmmakers potentially take on big budgeted tent-poles, though there hasn’t been any horror franchises as of late, unless you count the endless run of remakes. Not since the Saw franchise, which was well within the studio system and packaged by CAA, have we seen a fresh new take on horror that promises to keep us entertained for more than just a sequel or two if we’re lucky.

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