Danish provocateur Nicolas Winding Refn seems intent on shocking his audience into submission with his upcoming tenth film “The Neon Demon.” It’s a horror film about fashion and beauty that’s already become divisive, even before its stateside release. During the film’s recent competition screening at Cannes, Refn used his platform in predictably unpredictable fashion: espousing what he called his “punk rock” philosophy of filmmaking, taking potshots at fellow countryman Lars von Trier and pretty much totally disregarding the negative notices that the film has received thus far. Refn’s hyper-stylized and aggressively violent films often tend to elicit love-or-hate responses such as these, though advance word on “The Neon Demon” is that it’s more campy fun than the beautiful but turgid “Only God Forgives.”
While Refn is undeniably best known for the impressionistic, blood-soaked images he conjures onscreen, he’s also dabbled in producing over the last few years. He retained an Executive Producer’s credit on the slick 2012 remake of his drug thriller debut “Pusher,” he’s been talking about updating William Lustig’s unbelievably scuzzy exploitation movie “Maniac Cop” for a while now, and recently signed on for the redo of “Witchfinder General.” And it would appear the controversial auteur has yet another project in the works: a remake of Massimo Dallamo’s salacious Giallo flick “What Have You Done To Solange?” that will see the director returning to the city of Los Angeles, where he shot both “Drive” and “The Neon Demon.”
Refn will be partnering with Italian producer Fulvio Lucisano for the upcoming remake of ‘Solange.’ The alliance between the two was allegedly forged after Refn screened a print of the Lucisano-produced “Planet of the Vampires” at Cannes, after which the two got to talking and the seed for the idea was planted. Dallamo’s original film is a feverish erotic mystery set at an all-girl’s school where a vicious killer is picking off young students, and it feels like the kind of heightened story that would translate pretty seamlessly to Refn’s sensibilities (it will certainly be interesting to see how Refn and the creative brain trust behind the remake choose to reimagine Ennio Morricone’s famous score). Apparently, Refn and Fulvio had been circling the idea of a “Solange” remake for a while and agreed that the original’s juicy material was ripe for a reboot. Refn himself called Dallamo’s original “an absolutely incredible Italian giallo movie” and “one of the great horror films from the period.” Intriguing stuff, and one to keep an eye out for.
“The Neon Demon” sees a domestic release on June 24th. Check out the trailer for ‘Solange’ below. [Deadline]