Robert Englund to direct 'Vij'
U.S. actor/director Robert Englund, best known as Freddie Kruger in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, will direct “The Vij,” a dark gothic fantasy in which Christopher Lee is attached to star.
Based on an eponymous novel by Russian writer Nikolaj Gogol, “The Vij” revolves around an evil genie who conditions the actions of a young priest, leading him to commit murder and fall in love with an old witch who is actually not what she seems. . . .
Besides Christopher Lee, who will play a God-like character called The Father, “The Vij” will star Englund and Rome-based Russian actress Olga Schuvalova as Alina, the female lead. . . .
Variety, February 4

I haven't seen any of Robert Englund's films, but the original, nearly forgotten Soviet version is a minor classic. In that one, a young seminarian is enlisted to keep vigil over a recently deceased maiden, rumored to be a witch. For three consecutive evenings, she rises from her coffin to torment him. In a climax that prefigures The Devil Rides Out, she summons the demons of hell (including the title creature, which resembles a hulking lump of clay) while the priest takes refuge within the sacred circle.

There is a twist to his vigil in the original as I recall...I have a copy of the original on DVD...I always thought it would be an interesting film to remake. Though, in my idea I always thought about writing, it was a young seminary student who had pretty much given up on faith and was going through the motions.