Glass Eye Pix and Julian Sands join Borley Rectory
After months shrouded in secrecy Carrion Films is proud to announce the latest updates on the project, namely that the films narration will be provided by Julian Sands. The British actor, who has worked with Directors as diverse as Ken Russell, David Cronenberg and David Fincher, recorded the narration in December 2011 in London.
We are also delighted to announce that Borley Rectory will be a joint Carrion Film / Glass Eye Pix production with legendary Indie Producer Larry Fessenden and Writer / Director Glenn McQuaid acting as Executive Producers for the project.
“When l first came across Ashley Thorpe’s work as a film maker l was struck by his originality and passion,” states Sands. “The poetry and sensitivity of his images were compelling and extremely moving. When l heard he was developing a project based on the notorious Borley Rectory l had to be involved. Working on this astonishing piece has been immensely fulfilling and l am happy to have joined his reparatory…” Julian Sands on BORLEY RECTORY
Following the award winning Hammer horror inspired fictions SCAYRECROW, THE SCREAMING SKULL and THE HAIRY HANDS, BORLEY RECTORY is the next in a series of gothic shorts inspired by what British Director Ashley Thorpe believes to be the neglected aspects of British horror heritage. It’s an approach that has led to the Devon based artist being marked as leading something of a British Horror revival. Editor in Chief of Fangoria Magazine - Chris Alexander “This guy is going places and – although Hammer Horror is back in an “official” incarnation – Thorpe’s gothic miasma’s are the honest offspring of those “pure” supernatural melodramas that changed the face of dark fantasy cinema.”
Director Ashley Thorpe “Borley Rectory is essentially an animated documentary, inspired by a genuine haunting that caught the worlds imagination during the late 1920’s. It’s going to be something quite old fashioned, very textural, with a house very much a projection of the personalities within it – Haunted house as voyeur. It’s a subject that seized my imagination as a child after stumbling across the legend in the Usbourne Book of Ghosts at the local Library as a kid…”
“I’d recently interviewed Julian for Fangoria about his work with Ken Russell on ‘Gothic‘ and after seeing the previous animations he expressed a genuine interest in what was next. He’d heard of Borley previously so when I explained that we were panning to do a study of the haunting in our style he leapt into the project with total abandon, it was pretty incredible really… And I couldn’t be happier for the film to be made with Glass Eye Pix. I can’t think of a better, more like-minded group to make this happen. They’re so genuine about what they do. I’m excited about the future.”
States Fessenden, “It is a pleasure to see how much inspiration Ashley draws from his local myths and surroundings: I believe strongly that the sense of place is an essential character in any good story, and after his wonderful radio play THE DEMON HUNTSMAN captured the feeling of the Moors, I knew Glass Eye would want to get behind the next Thorpe production.” McQuaid adds, “Ashley is a unique and soulful voice within the horror genre, and having already collaborated with him on Tales from Beyond the Pale, it’s a logical and exciting step to jump into another project together.”
Exec Producer Fessenden’s production outfit Glass Eye Pix has been responsible for dozens of celebrated independent films including THE INNKEEPERS, I SELL THE DEAD, THE LAST WINTER, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and STAKE LAND, as well as the critically acclaimed TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE series of radio dramas.
BORLEY RECTORY is due for completion Winter 2012.
Borley Rectory Teaser to premiere at Buried Alive Film Fest
Whilst the production of the next Penny Dreadful animation is still in its infancy, attendees of this years ‘Buried Alive Film Festival‘ will be the very first to see a teaser trailer for what many are calling Ashley Thorpe’s most accomplished film yet – ‘Borley Rectory‘.
“BA!FF is proud to host the world premiere screening of 2010’s “Visionary” award-winning filmmaker’s teaser for his next short. Be prepared to get a taste of the most haunted house in Great Britain.”
The new short reassembles the team that made the award winning ‘Scayrecrow‘, ‘The Screaming Skull’ and ‘The Hairy Hands‘ with Exeter based Award winning filmmaker and Director of ‘Cineon‘ Productions Toby DeBurgh added to the mix. Specific details of the films production have been sparse and highly guarded, specifically regarding the films cast and choice of narrator.
Writer / Director Ashley Thorpe : “Borley Rectory 
is certainly in some ways a deviation from the previous films stylistically and in terms of content. It’s essentially an animated documentary, which I thought might be an interesting form to explore a subject like this. Borley Rectory, whether you believe Price or not regarding the validity of the haunting, was at least a place that attracted a wealth of quite eccentric characters over the years and each of them brought something of their personality to the house and by proxy to its reputation. I was talking to Stephen Volk recently and he commented about a haunting reflecting an absence in a person, a potentially fatal flaw in their character projected, and I find this a very interesting perspective…“
Borley Rectory was a Victorian era mansion located in the village of Borley, Essex. It was constructed in 1863, on the site of a previous rectory and destroyed by fire in 1939.
The house gained a reputation for being haunted after a series of residents reported unsettling phenomena. In 1929, the story of Borley was heavily covered by the Daily Mirror. Notably, it was investigated by paranormal investigator Harry Price in 1937, who described it as “The Most Haunted House in England“, a phrase which caught the imagination of the press. Price wrote two books on the subject, both of which were 
bestsellers.
The choice of BA!FF for the World Premiere was an obvious one according to the Director. Last year Ashley attended the festival where Curator Philip Nutman chose three Carrion Film animations to be a part of his ‘Philip Nutman’s Nightmares‘ slot. Ashley was subsequently presented with the festivals very first ‘Visionary Award‘ . Though both Ashley and Edward Berry were planning to attend this year’s festival in person they have unfortunately had to decline due to scheduling conflicts.
‘Borley Rectory’ is due for release in 2012 and all future developments will be announced here.