'Viy' is a 1967 Soviet film based on the short story of the same name by Nikolai Gogol, in which a young man accidentally kills a witch and is then forced to spend three nights in a church with her coffin. At the end of the film, Viy appears, a hulking monster whose eyelids are so heavy that they have to be opened by accompanying demons.
"The shooting of the film will begin in Italy in 2009," a source involved in the remake of the Soviet classic told RIA Novosti.
The film, the source said, is also likely to be filmed in a village near Lazio.
The original film, the first horror movie to be made in the Soviet Union, has been the subject of a curse rumor since its release. Natalya Varlei, the actress who played the witch in the film, has spoken of a "bad period" in her life after the completion of the film. The original actress cast in the role fell ill after getting the part, and withdrew from the project.
The church in the film, located in present day Ukraine, burned down in 2006.
Englund has been reported by Italian media as saying he likes the film for its elements of "Gothic fantasy."
