Furnace is a 2006 horror film

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 written and directed by William Butler

William Butler (actor)

William Butler is an actor, writer, director, make-up artist, special effects technician and producer.-History:He is known for his characters being killed in many of the horror films that he appears in...

. It stars Danny Trejo

Danny Trejo

Dan "Danny" Trejo is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist, or anti-hero.-Early life:...

, Michael Pare

Michael Paré

- Early life :Paré was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Joan, a homemaker, and Francis Paré, who owned print shops. He had six sisters and three brothers. Paré's father was of French-Canadian ancestry and his mother of Irish ancestry....

, Tom Sizemore

Tom Sizemore

Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....

, Ja Rule

Ja Rule

Jeffrey Atkins , better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla"...

, and Paul Wall

Paul Wall

Paul Michael Slayton , better known by his stage name Paul Wall, is an American rapper. He is currently affiliated with Swishahouse Records, having released several albums under the label as well as...

.

Premise

A group of prisoners are assigned to assist in the re-opening of an old prison's closed wing. They find that the furnace room in the wing is the location of a murder, and the victim's spirit seeks death of those who enter the room.

Production

The original script for Furnace was written by Anghus Houvouras, and the project was brought up to director William Butler

William Butler (actor)

William Butler is an actor, writer, director, make-up artist, special effects technician and producer.-History:He is known for his characters being killed in many of the horror films that he appears in...

, who thought that the story was reminiscent of the 1988 film Prison. Butler signed to direct, and he and his writing partner Aaron Strongoni collaborated to polish the script to meet Melee Entertainment's budgetary concerns. The rewriting lasted six months and changed the story substantially. Butler said of the change, "This of course was no reflection on Anghus, but instead the team of people at Melee that sort of took the film in another direction."