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.