http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/business/media/chinese-investors-back-horror-film-that-may-never-debut-in-china.html 2014-11-17 03:03:16 Chinese Investors Back Horror Film That May Never Debut in China Several Chinese investors are funding a horror film called “Abattoir” that may not be approved by strict film censors in their home country. === LOS ANGELES — For better or worse, a small group of Chinese movie investors over the last few weeks crossed one of the last cultural barriers to full membership in the Hollywood club: They backed a bloody horror flick. The indie film, called “Abattoir,” is being shot in Louisiana by the director Darren Lynn Bousman, whose credits include “Saw II,” “Saw III” and “Saw IV.” Typically, “It would require a lot of changes,” said Robert Cain, an executive producer of the film. But, Mr. Cain said, the likelihood of a closed door in China has not dampened the enthusiasm of investors led by Horror is not an exclusively American taste. Mr. Bousman’s last two “Saw” films actually did slightly more business abroad than in the United States. But the genre plays unevenly in foreign territory, and, according to figures provided by Rentrak’s box-office reporting service, only one horror-heavy film — “Resident Evil: Afterlife,” in 2010 — cracked the annual global Top 20 list in any of the past five years. Blood, guts and a good haunt, however, are not to be ignored by producers who intend to turn a profit on a manageable budget — in this case, under $5 million. (Distribution rights to “Abattoir,” which stars Jessica Lowndes and Taye Diggs, among others, were on sale at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, Calif., last week.) And Mr. Niu, who is working on his doctorate in physics at Harvard, Mr. Cain said, plans to be become just such a producer. “He’s finishing his degree in nanotechnology,” Mr. Cain said, “and he’s going to go and make films.”