BUNHILL

THE RULES of The Gothic Game are simplicity itself.

Rule 2 says: "The Object of the Game is to kill every other player on the board." It comes complete with Dracula, dungeons, torture chambers, tower with cauldron of oil permanently on the boil and an Oubliette, out of which which no player ever emerges. Unsurprisingly it has become a cult, particularly among blood-thirsty youngsters (is there any other sort?).

Now it could become a film, largely thanks to Terry (Crusades) Jones, who found the game a lifesaver when he was stuck with his family during a wet week in Wales.

The twisted brain behind the game is that of Robert Wynne- Simmons, who wrote such masterpieces of cinematic horror as Blood on Satan's Claw, and is being helped by Jones to produce a film-script adaptation. The suitably Gothic designer is Angela White, who was responsible for the London Dungeon.

Leading the fund-raising effort for the film is a young Irish entrepreneur, Dermot Mulqueen (although he's anxious to play down his origins, since he fears that what he calls the "Paddy factor" could damage his efforts). But it shouldn't be too difficult to get the £3m or so required to produce the film.