Newly appointed editor in chief of legendary ‘Fangoria magazine‘ (currently celebrating its 30th year in publication) – Chris Alexander – has interviewed Ashley Thorpe for the magazine’s regular column ‘Monster Invasion’. The issue (293) hit news-stands internationally mid April. Here is a brief excerpt from the published feature…
“Film is a dream, an impression of reality. And when it comes to fantasy, horror or science fiction, that dream should have license to play by whatever unnatural laws it chooses to, bending and abstracting its canvas to both engage the mind and stimulate the eye.”
“That’s this journalist’s opinion anyway. It’s also apparently the point of view shared by British horror enthusiast and experimental animator Ashley Thorpe. A painter by trade, Thorpe has been tirelessly advancing his own unique illustrated, living, breathing, Gothic fairy-tale style: a jittery, jumpy blend of photo-realistic images drenched in hand-etched colour, spilling across fantastical landscapes infused with the most evocative nightmare logic.”
“And while his multiple-award-winning short films ‘Scayrecrow‘ (screened at a recent FANGORIA convention) and its companion piece ‘The Screaming Skull‘ put him on the map and made higher-brow genre fans snap to attention, his latest effort, the partially animated, curiously titled ‘The Hairy Hands‘. demonstrates not only his progression as a manipulator of suspense, but as a genre fan who wears his influences on his blood smeared sleeve…” – Chris Alexander FANGORIA
Director Ashley Thorpe: “I’m so very proud to be part of it…a 
childhood dream come true really…this magazine was the catalyst for me as a young teen for my utter horror obsession. The magazine never left my side, riding to school with me camouflaged amongst my homework…back in the day when reading horror magazines in public was tantamount to being caught with pornography, ha ha…we’re talking around 1985 / 86, and the movies, the market and the magazine have changed a great deal since then, but I have a good feeling about Chris’ editorship and the new direction that the magazine is taking. The man lives and breathes film and his passion is infectious. Fangoria is definitely in safe hands.”
Producer Tom Atkinson: “Producing The Hairy Hands has been a roller coaster ride, from long hot shoots in dusty Devon barns to securing the Pinhead and Chatterer from Clive Barker’s Hellraiser the potential for the film has grown and grown. With the premier now behind us and The Hairy Hands entered in festivals around the world legendary Horror magazine Fangoria has thrown its support behind the film. Everyone who is anyone in Horror respects the opinions of Fangoria and to have no less than Chris Alexander the Editor in Chief praise the film is a mighty accomplishment.
“A tense, playful and ultra-stylized slice of modern gothic macabre..” – Chris Alexander, Fangoria.
The level of support for the film has further boosted our conviction here at Carrion Films to explore and develop British Horror. Director Ashley Thorpe is already scripting the next film in the Penny Dreadful series and we can promise it will be bigger, better and probably nastier! I am busy promoting the film in the UK and internationally and will report back with news as and when it happens but can exclusively reveal here that a copy of The Hairy Hands is currently sitting on Clive Barker’s desk at Seraphim Films in LA so watch out for exciting news from the US!”
‘The Hairy Hands‘, Directed by Ashley Thorpe and Produced by Tom Atkinson, was co-funded by the UK Film Council, South West Screen, Exeter Phoenix and Devon County Council and was completed in November 2009, receiving its premiere at Exeter’s ‘Two Short Nights’ Film Festival later that month. The film has subsequently been screened at the Arnolfini in Bristol and is now lined up for screenings in a variety of festivals both in the UK and internationally. Details of these festivals will follow shortly, but in the meantime here’s a small section of the interview, detailing future projects, that was cut:
CA: After Hands…tell me about the next wave of Thorpe’s world domination game?
AT: “…Well, 
I’m currently at work on scripting ‘Spring Heel Jack‘ my Victorian opus, which is pitched somewhere between Batman and Jack the Ripper – very dark psychological stuff, rich in period detail and based in part upon actual historical reports. He’s a devil that has haunted this spectred isle for over a century, from the frozen rivers of Devon to the rooftops of Liverpool. It’s elegant, horrifying and it’ll certainly press a few buttons. I’ve been waiting a long time to make something archly gothic like this…London fog, resurrectionists…This devil, having long been caged will come out roaring! It’ll be something probably a little closer to the textural qualities of ‘Scayrecrow‘ only in that I’d like to have the time to do a bit more hand painted work again. It’s one that I’ve witheld from some of the smaller grants because it’s a project that I feel very close to and I really want to do it justice. The previous films have been a little compromised by schedules, but I’m aiming for this one to be the next big step for Carrion Film, aesthetically and commercially.”
“I also have plans for a feature. Though I have been asked on numerous occasions about turning either ‘Scayrecrow‘ or ‘The Screaming Skull‘ into full length movies, and I’m not ruling this out as I think both of them have enormous potential for features, I’d like to make the Dartmoor portmanteau ‘Hell Tor‘ – which is pretty much an Amicus film for / of Dartmoor based ghost stories. As to whether this would be a live action film incorporating the animated elements or a completely rotoscoped feature I’ve yet to decide. Personally I’d actually like to see it animated, but funding and distribution will no doubt be a deciding factor.”
“I have a wealth of stories still to tell, a lifetimes work quite probably, and as long as people still watch and enjoy them, still aid their creation, I’ll continue making them...” – Ashley Thorpe
The full article can be read in ‘Fangoria‘ issue 293 (available in the UK via outlets such as ‘Forbidden Planet’ and ‘The Cinema Store). Everyone at Carrion Film would like to thank Chris Alexander and all the staff at ‘Fangoria Magazine‘ for their continued enthusiasm and support and wish them every success with the ‘re-launch’ of the magazine.