Carrion Film animation ‘The Screaming Skull’ has won Best Animated Short film at this years ‘A Night Of Horror Film Festival‘ held in Sydney Australia. The award is the second accolade for the horror short which was nominated for Best UK Short film at last years Raindance Film Festival and adds to a clutch of awards picked up thus far by the Penny Dreadful project.
Director Ashley Thorpe told D+C Film yesterday: “It’s an absolute honour to be awarded. I was thrilled just for it to be seen by a new audience let alone this. It just goes to show that there really is a hunger out there for these sorts of traditional stories and that it’s time for British horror to reclaim its heritage.”
“I also think it’s important to remember that filmmaking is a team effort. Especially with Carrion Film. I’m not a one man band. I rely upon a group of dedicated and talented colleagues and friends to realise these things and a great deal of this film’s strength lies in its soundtrack, an exceptionally wonderful and daring piece of work by Mick Grierson. And of course this thing would not have been made at all if it weren’t for the Exeter Phoenix and all the dedicated staff at Animated Exeter.”
A Night of Horror International Film Festival is Australia’s premiere horror film festival, and has been said that it is ‘Australia’s first horror
festival’. It was originally a short film festival, but has since expanded to include feature films and horror themed music videos. Indeed, now that the festival runs for a longer duration, the festival’s name, “A Night of Horror”, is actually something of a misnomer (the 2008 festival actually ran for ten days and nights).
In addition to the principal annual event in Sydney, a “best of” program of films from the festival actually tours within Australia and internationally. Some of these screenings take place at other festivals under the “A Night of Horror” banner, and have included programs at: ‘It Came From Lake Michigan Film Festival‘, ‘Weekend de la Peur‘, and ‘Revelation Perth International Film Festival‘.
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR TO FANGORIA 294
Carrion Film Director Ashley Thorpe has contributed a retrospective piece on early 80’s sci-fi shocker ‘XTRO’ for new ‘Fangoria magazine‘ column ‘Trash Compactor’. The column is the culmination of 2 years of support and enthusiasm from the magazine, in particular Editor in chief Chris Alexander.
“I couldn’t be happier…honestly it was amazing enough to be mentioned, let alone featured, in the magazine, but then as a result to be asked to contribute an original piece of writing is just mind-blowing. It’s a childhood dream…and it’s difficult to convey to people outside the horror community who don’t read it how big a deal this is. When I first opened this magazine I fell in, never entirely to emerge again. Y’know, I’ve read this bloody rag since I was about 14, passing it round under the tables in class, and it really was a gateway into the wild 
and weird world of horror films…one of the things that I love about the Penny Dreadful projects is the sharing of an enthusiasm; specifically taking something that is pretty obscure and communicating to a new audience. So when I had the chance to write a feature of my own I tried to think of a film that was something of a curiosity – something that many people wouldn’t touch with a bargepole – specifically from the early/ mid eighties when my hunger for horror was at its height…and out came ‘Xtro’. What can I say, the runts of a litter tell as much about a family as its pride. I’ve got a bit of a taste for writing now so keep your eyes open for articles in future magazines.” – Ashley Thorpe
D & C Film will be publishing a specially written article by Ashley on his response to becoming a Fangoria contributor tomorrow (Sat June 5th) on : Devon and Cornwall Film