Patricio Valladares Descends Into Dante’s Hell With Horror Adaptation ‘The Divine Comedy’

Patricio Valladares will reimagine Dante’s Inferno as a fantasy-horror film with production beginning in Rome this September.

Patricio Valladares Heads Into Hell With Horror Reimagining of Dante’s ‘Inferno’

Chilean filmmaker Patricio Valladares is preparing to descend into Dante Alighieri’s vision of Hell with The Divine Comedy, a new fantasy-horror adaptation scheduled to begin production in Rome this September.

Valladares, whose genre work includes the found-footage horror film Invoking Yell, will direct the project for Italian production company Anxur Films in collaboration with Ireland’s Skincrawl Studios. Skincrawl is also handling international sales.

Inspired by Dante’s Inferno, the film follows Dante, a grieving writer who ventures into the realm of the dead alongside Virgil, a former priest. Their journey takes them through Hell in search of Dante’s wife, Beatrice.

As the pair move through its different circles, they encounter souls condemned to punishments connected to their fears, desires and regrets. The journey also brings them into contact with monstrous entities and manifestations of human suffering as they move deeper into the underworld.

Christopher Rygh (Vikings: Valhalla) leads the cast alongside Matthew Metcalfe, Tilda Metsola and Fadhillah Othman.

Valladares intends to approach the familiar literary material through a more physical strain of horror, pointing to Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Xavier Gens’ Frontier(s) when discussing the film’s depiction of pain and torture.

“What drew me to The Divine Comedy was the opportunity to create visions of hell that feel physical and painful,” Valladares said. “But at its core, it’s a very human story about grief, guilt and how far you’re willing to go for love when you have nothing left to lose.”

Production on The Divine Comedy is scheduled to begin September 7 in Rome.

Before cameras roll on the project, Valladares will have another film making its debut on the international festival circuit. His latest feature, Invoking Scream, will hold its world premiere August 28 at FrightFest in London.

The film is a sequel to Invoking Yell and continues Valladares’ combination of supernatural horror and extreme music. Invoking Scream follows three metalheads whose discovery of a buried box containing a VHS tape and a mysterious book of witchcraft at the gravesite of Invoking Yell singer Andrea Fernandez leads them toward a supernatural threat.

María Jesús Marcone, Luna Martínez, Teresita Rios and Matías López star in the sequel.

Valladares is also expanding into interactive horror through Vallastudio Films, where he is developing an FMV game combining analog filmmaking techniques with interactive storytelling.

With Invoking Scream arriving at FrightFest and production on The Divine Comedy following shortly afterward, Valladares’ next feature will take his work from found-footage and supernatural horror into a considerably larger interpretation of one of literature’s most enduring depictions of Hell.