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The fourth animation in the ‘Penny Dreadful’ series – The Hairy Hands – is now complete and  received its premiere at the ‘Two Short Nights‘ festival in Exeter, UK, on the 28th of November.

The film, produced with the assistance of the UK Film Council, South West Screen, Devon County Council and the Exeter Phoenix features – amongst others –  the talents of Doug Bradley, Nicholas Vince, local BBC DJ Jo Loosemore and another star turn from Carrion Film regular Ed Berry.

Though the film was initially screened in an unfinished cut, response to the screening was extremely good and the evening, hosted by the Exeter Phoenix, was a lively showcasing of Devon talent. The final mixed version of the film will subsequently be screened at the ‘Arnolfini‘ Arts centre ( a fantastic waterside location at the heart of Bristol’s harbourside)  on December the 16th as part of the ‘Digital shorts‘ Cast and Crew evening with ‘The Hairy Hands‘ ending the nights screening. Subsequent screenings of the film will be posted here over the next few months and the trailer for the complete film, very much inspired by the ‘Britsploitation‘ horror films of the 1970’s, will be available to view on this site in the very near future. Watch this space!

“‘The Hairy Hands” came pretty hot on the heels on ‘The Screaming Skull‘. Originally it was planned to be the bookend story for ‘Hell-Tor‘ where the protagonist holes up at the Warren Inn on Dartmoor because of bad weather and then in classic Amicus fashion hears these ghost yarns before setting off again with one of the featured ghosts in his car. When the Digital Shorts commission came through I had very limited time during the ‘fallout’ of making the last film to come up with a story that was realistic to shoot and animate in keeping with the deadline. ‘Hands‘ sort of fitted the bill. The other stories I’d planned to start later in the year (‘Spring heel Jack‘ and ‘The Lambton Worm‘) were too ambitious in terms of production design, so I took the bookend story idea and gave it a touch of ‘Vault of Horror’. It’s a nice little story and I’m quite proud of it.  It’s lean yet has some nice subtexts and some fun generic quotes. It’s also a bit of a departure from the previous films in that it’s ‘contemporary’, which I was initially hesitant about as I have little to no interest in being contemporary purely to be more accessible. But by constantly referencing Hitchcock and John Carpenter I believe we managed to fulfill that criteria whilst actually not really being very contemporary at all! That goes for the music too. Though the score is far more contemporary than the previous films it’s actually referencing music from the sixties, John Barry certainly,  and the early synth work of Carpenter and artists like John Foxx (circa 1979). And like the images, this wasn’t done necessarily as a gimmick or any kind of ‘post-modern’ stance, rather trying to draw together what initially appeared to be rather disparate elements and unifying them, due to a sincere love of the material and its textural qualities.”

“It’s been an extraordinary year for the films: starting with recognition in the local press through Cannes, the Media Innovation award, the reviews in Fangoria and the subsequent screenings in New York during the summer, the Raindance nomination for ‘Best UK Short’ and now ‘The Hairy Hands‘ and the participation of  not only the UK Film Council but also BBC DJ Jo Loosemore and Doug Bradley, for a small British Independent adapting local myths you couldn’t really ask for more. Now, in 2010, Carrion Films will be pushing forward with a number of projects of varying complexity and length and seeing where it takes us. I have high hopes for ‘The Hairy Hands‘ – I believe it to be a good indication and celebration of where we’ve come from… and potentially where we are going.” – Director Ashley Thorpe

‘REAL HORROR SHOW’ – CHAPEL SCREENING FOR THE MORGUE

In  the wake of a recent interview between ‘Rue Morgue Radio‘ host Stuart Feedback Andrews  and Carrion film Director Ashley Thorpe (more to be posted on this site early next year), a special screening of ‘Scayrecrow‘ was held at the Rue Morgue offices…

Stuart Feedback Andrews – “We had an annual Rue Morgue contributors Christmas party a couple of weeks ago and I treated everyone to a screening of  ‘Scayrecrow’ which went over very well. Rue Morgue is situated in an old funeral home and what formally the chapel is now a screening room with a large screen and a video projector – so it was great to see your mini-masterpiece on the big screen.”

Stuart, a massive Hammer, Amicus and dark animation fan (especially Ray Harryhausen and Jan Svankmeyer) was born in Liverpool, England in the same maternity ward where some of the more cheerful members of the Beatles first came into being. But unlike his loveable moptop brethren, Feedback did not enter the world kicking and screaming, he came in black and blue and barely breathing, with the umbilical cord wrapped firmly around his neck so it’s no surprise that he ended up writing for RUE MORGUE. Feedback produces weekly interview segments for RUE MORGUE Radio and forms one half of The Caustic Critics. Feedback also hosts CKLN Radio’s weekly film show Cinephobia and is the director of the infamous sub cult classic, The Goldfarb Variations, the film that does for latent homosexuality what Gary Glitter did for child pornography.

Further details of the interview between Stuart and Ashley will be posted here early next year. Between Dec 4th – Jan 7th Rue Morgue Radio is podcasting an interview  with horror legend Roger Corman, and by going to Cinephobia radio you can hear an interview with animation legend Ray Harryhausen.

“I am thrilled to welcome to Cinephobia Radio, legendary visual effects genius and the man responsible for igniting the imaginations of kids all over the world, Mr. Ray Harryhausen. At the tender age of 13, Ray fell madly in love with the 1933 classic King Kong. From that moment on, all his thoughts were bent on a career in stop motion animation. Back in March, Mr Harryhausen and his co-writer Tony Dalton were kind enough to chat with me on the phone about their fantastic new book. So join me as we celebrate the career of a geniune living legend and one of the most beloved figures in American cinema.” – Stuart Andrews. Be sure to tune in.

Respected British genre actor Doug Bradley, perhaps most renowned for portraying the lead Cenobite – or ‘Pinhead’ in the ‘Hellraiser‘ franchise,  has joined the cast of Carrion films fourth animation ‘The Hairy Hands‘.

Doug Bradley provides the voice of of ‘Mr Brook’, the suspicious boss of the film’s protagonist that rumbles Cole’s betrayal and instigates his pursuit. Recording was completed in Soho on November 4th with Actress Sam Burgess as the voice of ‘Susie’ the secretary.

“The part of Mr Brook required someone who could evoke a certain authority, a certain dreadful gravitas…someone that when the audience heard them would instantly understand that Cole’s crimes would have dire consequence…and  I kept thinking of Doug Bradley – partially because of the ‘Pinhead’ thing but actually more because of his portrayal of  Elliot Spencer, the Cenobites human counterpart.  For all its bizarre Americanisms, I love ‘Hellraiser’ ironically for its strange English subtleties…I like its gothic sensibilities, I love Julia’s sordid seductions to murder – crimes that evoke a peculiar British grubbiness… Also, I have to say that, perhaps naively, from the outset I desperately wanted a respected genre actor to play a part in this film, but I never really genuinely thought that something would actually come out of it. I think that’s hats off to Tom’s (Atkinson) professionalism  and also testament to Doug Bradley’s commitment to independent Cinema and the sincerity of his love for the genre.  It was fascinating talking to Doug about his experiences in the horror field and especially hearing his passionate views on the current state of the horror genre. It’s always a worry to meet someone that you’ve  had a great deal of admiration for, but Doug was an absolute gentleman, expressing a sincere interest in Carrion Film’s ongoing horror projects. And Nicholas Vince is absolutely one of the most friendly and charming people I’ve ever met. I’m very proud to have worked with Doug and Nicholas and sincerely hope to do so again in the near future. ” – Ashley Thorpe

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Doug Bradley was born in Liverpool, England, and is a longtime close friend of horror/fantasy novelist Clive Barker, the two having met when they attended secondary school, and has worked with Barker in various capacities (from the ‘Dog theatre company’  to the Hellraiser films) since the early 1970s. As well as the ‘Hellraiser’ series, Doug has starred in Clive Barker’s ‘Nightbreed’,  and in two award-winning short horror films ‘On Edge’ and ‘Red Lines’.

Bradley is also the author of an autobiography, as well as a volume “Sacred Masks: Behind the Mask of the Horror Actor“ which explores the history of masks in society, and their applications in Horror Movies. In 2010 apart  from ‘The Hairy Hands‘  he will also feature in the British/Spanish horror film ‘Exorcismus‘. Doug is also working on a series of classic horror audio readings which intend to revolutionise the medium. The following is taken from Doug’s official site: http://www.dougbradley.co.uk/

“…We have produced what is planned to be the first in ongoing series which we’re calling ‘Doug Bradley’s Spine Chillers’ and the first of these is now available. It’s H P Lovecraft’s short story ‘The Outsider’. At the moment we’re making it available as a download. You can check out a free preview or pay for the whole thing:www.renegadeartsentertainment.com/spinechillers

It started life as a half-baked idea from me which popped into my head while recording ‘Mr B Gone’ and was essentially no more than the feeling that the ‘talking book’ hadn’t moved forward since the days of the cassette tape and that it really should be possible to offer more in the digital age. And it sprang from that to a finished product in pretty short order. Through the good offices of Digital Deli it was recently screened at BAFTA and I was delighted by the response. We will soon be making it available in hard copy and will present it in multiple platforms, the idea being you could play it as a DVD, mount it on your PC/iPod/phone in audio-visual form or listen to it as a good old audio book in the car on your way to work.

When Renegade’s present project is finished – the video to accompany a track from Judas Priest’s new album ‘Nostradamus’, we will commence work on the second Spine Chiller which is slated to be Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Tell Tale Heart’. If the series takes off, I hope to expand it to use other actors and contemporary and unsigned authors.” – Doug Bradley

Aswell as Doug Bradley, ‘Hellraiser‘ actor Nicholas Vince has also joined the voiceover cast of ‘The Hairy Hands‘. Nicholas portrayed the ‘Chatterer’ Cenobite in ‘Hellraiser‘ aswell as Kinski in ‘Nightbreed‘ and has lent his vocals to that of the radio caller on a supernatural phone-in (hosted by BBC Radio DJ Jo Loosemore) that forms the film’s expositional frame.

Apart from acting Nicholas has also written (though not exclusively) for comics; writing stories for the ‘Hellraiser‘ and ‘Nightbreed‘ comics plus the series ‘Warheads‘ and ‘Mortigan Goth‘. He also modelled for the art of John Bolton, Dave McKean in ‘Cages‘ and was the model used by Clive Barker for the covers of the seminal ‘Books of Blood’. He served as both secretary and chairman of the Comics Creators Guild. One of his short stories features in the new Hellraiser universe based anthology ‘Hellbound Hearts‘.

“Nicholas was a wonderful person to work with: very friendly, very charming… we actually spent a lot more time talking about both the Carrion film projects and ‘Hellraiser’ than actually recording anything! A very generous and charming man, with an infectious laugh!”

The finished film, made in association with the UK Film Council, South West Screen, Devon County Council and the Exeter Phoenix, will make its premiere at this years ‘Two Short Nights‘ festival to be held at the Exeter Phoenix, November 28th.

Fangoria journalist Chris Alexander, straight from interviewing genre legends Roger Corman and George Romero, has interviewed Carrion film director Ashley Thorpe as the eagerly awaited Penny Dreadful number 4: ‘The Hairy Hands‘ nears completion. The interview also reflects upon all that has transpired with the previous films (‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘) since the previous interview held with Chris back in March 2009. The interview also gains an exclusive first mention of the proposed future short ‘Night of the Kraken‘. Here is a brief excerpt from the interview:

Chris Alexander – “… visionary UK based filmmaker Ashley Thorpe, an artist whose carefully controlled, creepy and rapturously gothic short films SCAYRECROW and THE SCREAMING SKULL (which screened at this years NYC Fango Con) really left an impression on me.

The man is a stylist supreme, his weird rotoscope approach matched by his respect for myth and I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Both pictures have gone on to win a multitude of awards and earn a plethora of accolades (you can see them for yourself at Thorpe’s site) and I thought it was high time to play catch up with the man.

See, I’m still convinced this guy is going to be a huge influence in horror for years to come and it appeases my ego to know that I was one of the first genre journalists on these shores to say so.

Are you ready, then? Good. Here we go.

Ladies and lads Ashley Thorpe…
CA: Tell me about your next film THE HAIRY HANDS. What’s the premise?

AT: Well, THE HAIRY HANDS, as daft or odd as the title may sound, is based on a Dartmoor ghost story. It tells the tale ostensibly of a haunted stretch of road that cuts straight across the moor. Travellers on this road have, since the early part of the last century, told of the sudden manifestation of a pair of disembodied spectral hands that suddenly seize the wheel and violently steer their vehicle off the road. It was a story that gained notoriety nationwide in Britain during the 1920’s when a Dartmoor prison officer died on that road, and his surviving daughters reported ‘strange phenomena’ at the time of the crash.

CA: Is it straight horror? How would you classify it, or do you even bother doing that?

AT: Straight horror, yeah, absolutely! It would be easy to take the Evil Dead 2 route with this one and play the creeping hands for laughs, and as much as I love that movie it’s not the approach that I want to take with it. I remember being particularly taken – hell, haunted –  by a sequence in the Amicus studio film DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS wherein Christopher Lee is an art dealer who is stalked by the severed hand of an artist he’s maimed. Ok,  the effects are a little suspect now, but it was played straight and that idea of a severed hand crawling round the house, or in my case your car, like an unseen spider, still gives me the shivers.

I don’t personally like to classify the films. I hate all that nonsense about whether PSYCHO is really a horror film – please! Unlike the previous two, this one actually has many aspects of the thriller, they’re stylistic devices to lead us into the story, but it’s still ultimately – and quote unashamedly – a horror film. If anything the thriller elements used in this one have made it resemble the EC horror comics. It’s very TALES FROM THE CRYPT actually, pulp horror at its finest, with a smattering of HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR and the odd nod to Hitchcock…

To read the complete interview visit Chris Alexander’s ‘Blood Splattered Blogs’ on the Fangoria website.

‘The Hairy Hands‘, produced with the assistance of South West Screen, the UK Film Council and Exeter Phoenix,  is set for completion  Halloween 2009 with appearances at festivals and interviews scheduled to coincide, full details of which will be posted here.

Chris Alexander recently, and in a bizarre co-incidence,was involved in a serious car crash (read his blog at www.fangoria.com: ‘TIFF 2009 ends with a bang and a screech, a crash, a crush, screams, sirens etc‘). Miraculously Chris only suffered relatively minor injuries. Ashley and all at Carrion Film would like to personally wish Chris Alexander a speedy recovery and also extend him and all at Fangoria magazine sincere thanks for their continued enthusiastic support.

BEST ANIMATION AWARD NOMINATIONS AT HORROR UK

In an extraordinary stroke of good fortune, both selections – ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘ have  been nominated for ‘Best animation’ at this years Horror UK festival. The films are both set to be screened as part of this years ’28 Hours later’ Horror Marathon.

“This festival is a little different to most horror film festivals.  Some smaller festivals show all their films in one go on one night, other festivals show a large number of films over a number of nights.  We have combined the two, and show a large number of films in one go, only this one go lasts for twenty eight hours.  Think of us as the longest horror marathon that you have ever attended.”

“The good news for horror fans, is that it is free entry to come along and watch the films.  If you feel that you would like to pay something for watching the films, then you can make a donation on the night to our selected charity, the Pam Brown childrens cancer ward.”

Full details for the event – programme, tickets and local accomodation – can be found via the official website : www.horroruk.com/28

SCAYRECROW NOMINATED FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT – B-MOVIE FEST NYC 2009

Announced today (25th September) Penny Dreadful number 2 – ‘Scayrecrow‘  has been nominated for Best Animated Short 2009 at the B-Movie Festival in New York City.

“The B-Movie Festival began in 1999 and in the last few years has grown into a major North East event! We have helped bring exposure to over 10,000 movies, shorts and documentaries from around the world. Many of the movies that have played at our festival have gone on to distribution success with companies like Maverick, Image, Barnholtz, and are available in place like Blockbuster, Best Buy and Walmart. Be a part of the one film festival that showcases the underdog movies!”

The festival runs November 06, 2009 to November 08, 2009. More updates will be posted here as soon as the press releases appear.

“The Screaming Skull” has not only been officially selected for screening at the 17th ‘Raindance Film Festival‘ London but has also been nominated for Best UK Short 2009.

“Record breaking crowds, sold out screenings, live music, loud raucous parties and great films. This is what an independent film festival should be. Raindance has become what Sundance used to be fifteen years ago.”

Raindance is the UK’s leading independent film festival and each year more and more films achieve success after Raindance screenings. Recent triumphs include IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS (Independent Spirit Award-winner, 2009), TOYLAND (Oscar-winner, Best Short 2009) and ONCE (Oscar-winner, Best Song, 2008).

“Over the years, the festival has hosted such guests and filmmakers as Christopher Nolan, Shane Meadows, Ken Loach, Marky Ramone, Iggy Pop, Anton Corbijn, Mick Jones, Andrea Arnold, Adam Yauch, Quentin Tarantino, Faye Dunaway and Lou Reed.

But we’re here for the little guys too. Our big-name successes ensure that attention is on the whole programme. Everyone’s looking for the next big indie hit. Our audience of film fans, journalists, acquisition executives, actors, producers and directors know that a screening at the Raindance Film Festival is a sign of quality.”

This is the first time that the film has been screened in an official capacity in the capital, following its warm enthusiastic reception when screened in Manhattan in June as part of the ‘Fangoria Weekend of Horrors‘. Director Ashley Thorpe has high hopes for the screening – “In the light of all the – wonderful – exposure  ‘Scayrecrow’ has received recently, its eerie cousin has been somewhat relegated to the shadows a little. It’s a very different animal: its purposely slower paced,  funereal almost and has that long POV sequence that borders on abstraction, so I’m personally thrilled that ‘Screaming Skull’ is garnering interest and finding its audience…and its inclusion in Raindance this year, and of course the nomination for best UK short, is just beautiful. I am absolutely thrilled.” – Ashley Thorpe

Ashley Thorpe - on set 'The Screaming Skull' 2008.

A brief history of Raindance (taken from www.raindance.co.uk) : – Raindance founder, Elliot Grove, found himself at odds after crashing out of the London property market in the 1990 recession. After two years of thumb-twiddling, his neighbour, a part-time farmer, reminded him of his roots and said: “As long as you are feeling sorry for yourself, no doctor in the world can cure you.” Thus, Raindance was born, with Elliot casting back to his long exprience as a sceneic artist and set designer on some 700+ projects, his inherent Canadian organisational ability, and good, old-fashioned PMA (Positive Mental Attitude).

The first Raindance event was a Dov S-S Simens class in early April, 1992 – on the weekend before the last general election that John Major won. A few months later, with friends of Raindance making movies, Elliot launched the festival in the heart of London, during the pre-MIFED week mid-October. With MIFED long gone, it’s hard to remember that during the first 9 years of the festival over 1,000 international acqusision executives attended the festival each October. During that period, over 63% of the films screened at Raindance found an international distributor.  MIFED died a death post 9/11, and the festival has developed from a trade and industry event into a bell-weather festival.

UPDATE: ‘The Screaming skull‘ will be screened on Thursday 8th October ( which commences at 16:45pm) at the Apollo West End Cinema, Lower Regent street, London.

Click here for Raindance page and trailer.

SCREENING AT SPACEX GALLERY

‘The Screaming Skull‘ has also been selected to be screened as part of the Open Film Screening Night at the Spacex Gallery in Exeter, Devon. The event is due to be held on Thursday 3rd September, with all screenings commencing at 7pm. For more details, and bookings,  please contact the gallery on 01392 431 786 or email mail@spacex.org.uk.

Spacex is a public-funded contemporary art space and registered educational charity. It works to encourage public engagement with the latest developments in contemporary art through commissioned projects, exhibitions, events, talks and activities for all ages. Spacex became a registered charity in the early 1990s and is now recognised by Arts Council England as one of the UK’s leading international contemporary art spaces. Spacex presents the work of emerging artists as well as those who are internationally renowned. Spacex has presented exhibitions at the last three Liverpool Biennials, including He Yun Chang this Autumn.

Spacex was established in 1978, in a 19th century warehouse building between Exeter High Street and Quayside, extending the SPACE philosophy of artist-led studios and exhibitions initiatives for the first time beyond London. Supported by Arts Council England, Exeter City Council and Devon County Council.

Today at 2:15pm BCFM radio (93.2 FM) D.J Mark LeLeivre will be interviewing Carrion film Director Ashley Thorpe. Though the director is unfortunately due to go into hospital due to ill health on Monday, Ashley was determined to honour the interview.

“I’ve been looking forward to it. First and foremost it’s an important station that responds to to the interests of  its community and  I also happen to know that Mark is a keen fan of Horror and all things Hammer. On top of this I also found out that…believe it or not, and this  is spookily relevant to our particular company ha ha, that Mark has a pet Crow that he rescued and subsequently reared called ‘Russell’, which  although I have yet to meet the fellow, I wish so dearly that we’d met around the time that we were making ‘Scayrecrow‘.  Instead of painting in all those damn crows, Hell, we could have had the real thing!… Well, who knows, “Scayrecrow II” ? …It’s a rare thing for a show to dedicate itself so devoutly to film and its celebration: whether high art or popular culture or that exciting rarely tapped no-mans land where they meet. It’s an honour to talk to people who care enough to listen.’

The interview will touch upon  a general overview of the Carrion film project, finance for the films, aswell as touching upon some of the specific influences that have led to their creation. As with previous interviews, expect some genuine insights and informal fun.

BCfm is the first community radio station in Bristol. Offering access to air time, direct community involvement, training and the desired community led output of the audience. BCfm gives the city of Bristol the choice and the voice to get involved and make a difference.

BCfm started broadcasting on March 26th 2007 to the city of Bristol. This was the culmination of many years of community development and radio projects in Bristol, such as radio19 (the New Deal for Communities), Commonwealth fm and B200fm (Celebration of Brunel’s life).

Mark LeLeivre – “On to this weeks show proper, the usual mix of new and old film soundtrack music, so get those Real Players recording and I promise not talk over them! Some film news, what’s on and where to see it, a bit of film fun in the form of a trailer or two and then two phone-ins. Firstly at 2:15pm

Ashley Thorpe will be speaking from Devon about his film company “Carrion Films” And his two recent award winning short Horror Film Animations, “The Scayrecrow” And “The Screaming Skull”.

Moving from Graphic Art and Comic Illustration into Directing and Filmmaking would seem to have been the logical progression for Ashley as his visually interpretive style owes a lot to Graphic Novels and Comics, a type of  “Photo/Film Flicker Book, Pixelation/Animation” is used, which The Bolex Bros here in Bristol turned into a fine art with their incredible “The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb” (available on “Manga”dvd). The art of acting very, very slowly while individual frames of facial expression and movement are captured literally frame-by-frame and then run in sequence to give the impression of movement. Ashley will be talking to us Live at 2:15pm London Time. “

To link to the BCFM site and listen online : http://bcfm.org.uk

INTERVIEW WITH PHONIC FM

Today, 20th August, Director Ashley Thorpe was interviewed by Exeter based radio station ‘Phonic FM’, primarily to discuss the ongoing production of ‘The Hairy Hands‘ but also to play a selection of his favourite records. He was joined by his step-son Josh Taylor who discussed his cameo in the upcoming film.

Phonic FM hit the airways in February 2008 when it began broadcasting during Exeter’s annual Vibraphonic festival.

Phonic FM evolved out of a radio station set up five years ago called Vibraphonic FM that broadcast for one month each year to support the annual Vibraphonic festival.

The output of Phonic FM is largely music, both live and recorded, focusing on those tunes and genres you won’t often hear on mainstream radio. Phonic FM is charged with supporting the arts (in the widest sense) in and around the Exeter area, and with encouraging innovation and participation. Phonic FM has only been on the airwaves a short time but once it has got to grips with its music output the speech lead broadcasting will increase.

Phonic FM is committed to encouraging participation with its broadcasts (see the Skills page for more information) and is always seeking new approaches to both content and output. Phonic FM also has a growing relationship with the Sound Gallery studio which is based near the Phonic FM studio and has the facility to broadcast musicians ‘live’ or ‘as live’.

Phonic FM has a five-year license to broadcast on 106.8 FM within a five-kilometre radius of Exeter from its studios at Exeter Phoenix.

The Phonic FM website supports all aspects of the stations output. It has an up to date schedule so you can see when your favourite shows are being broadcast along with presenter and show profiles. The website also has comprehensive news and features sections letting you know about all the important happenings within Phonic FM.

Apart from a few candid reminiscences  about the films and the music scenes in in his home town growing up, Ashley chose three tracks to represent his musical enthusiasms: “Never trust a man with egg on his face” – Adam Ant, “Spellbound” – Siouxsie & the Banshees & “Blackout” – David Bowie.

To listen online go to: http://phonicfm.com/

I have long been a champion of British Horror and from a worryingly young age fanatically watched any such films I could lay my under-age hands on. Relaxed parenting, late night TV re runs and a battered but functional VHS recorder ensured that I grew up destined to work in film and not on gay musical movies but on dark, dripping and foetid films that pick at your soul like a buzzard and batter your humanity down into a pit of fractured nightmares and slippery awakenings.

I was drawn to the core ideas behind much of the Director’s previous work ‘Scayrecrow’ and ‘Screaming Skull’ and love the way Ashley blends the look of film with the texture of animation to produce films that champion the old Hammer aesthetic while breathing new life into the myths and legends of Britain. It has been a meeting of minds and drawing on experience from my established career producing documentaries for television I have streamlined the production process and enabled Ashley to focus on his vision for the film. The shooting schedule has been a great success and we’ve steamed through the work not forgetting (as Ashley will admit) to enjoy the process.

I have long felt this country’s great history of Horror has been undervalued and under appreciated over the years, cheated of its rightful place on the world stage and reduced to its current state of extreme Americanisation. Many great British Directors have had to go to Hollywood to realise their ambitions and find the budgets to make such classics as ‘Alien‘ … As a producer I am determined to ensure that the best of Britain’s film making talent get the chance to make films that are undeniably British and yet dominate the world stage and draw attention to the film industry in this country for something more than Costume Dramas and Rom Coms. Don’t get me wrong they are very worth while but seem to dominate the UK’s output and, I think counter productively, play to long held stereotypes about the British.

This country has as fine a history of film making as the US yet seems to have been left behind in the current market place. With ‘The Hairy Hands‘ and my other production www.the10poundhorrorfilm.com I aim to refocus Britain’s eye on its legacy in the Horror genre and take our films to the rest of the world. Ashley’s success in America with ‘Screaming Skull‘ being selected to screen in New York at ‘Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors‘ in New York this year shows the appetite is there so I am confident that with these productions I can feed that hunger!

T Atkinson on Edward Berry:

Edward is a very fine actor and because of his experience working in this unusual way with Ashley on his other animation productions requires only minimal Direction to fill the role of Cole in ‘The Hairy Hands‘. I have been very impressed by his professionalism and determination not to shirk from the task at hand even when required to crush his face into an oily and suspicious smelling floor. He is a jovial young man and never fails to brighten up the set with his unique and pithy humour.

T Atkinson on Ashley Thorpe:

Director Ashley Thorpe and I were classmates many years ago and shared this passion for all things gory and terrifying but have only just started working together via his latest film ‘Hairy Hands‘. Being familiar with Ashley’s work and sharing his enthusiasm for Horror has ensured this production has been a pleasure to work on. He has a bright future in film and the no nonsense attitude that gets things done on set or in script development when circumstance gets in the way. I was very happy to be invited to produce ‘The Hairy Hands‘ and will do my utmost to ensure it gets the exposure it deserves and Ashley, I think, will agree that there is a bright future for this dark art of Horror film making and that Britain’s thirst for blood will not be easily slaked.

Carrion Films would like to thank Tom for his insights into the production. For more information on Toms long term British Horror Renaisance project please visit www.the10poundhorrorfilm.com.

As the fourth ‘Penny Dreadful‘ animation  ‘The Hairy Hands‘ veers from production into post, Carrion Film took the opportunity to conduct a short candid interview with regular contributor Ed Berry. Ed’s first role was a cameo as the cowardly Fop  in 2008’s award winning ‘Scayrecrow‘ . Impressed by Ed’s enthusiasm and adaptive acting techniques, Director Ashley Thorpe insisted that Ed should take the lead for the follow up: the gothic ghost story ‘The Screaming Skull‘. Now with another lead in ‘The Hairy Hands‘ (and an  H.P Lovecraft inspired twist on a classic Cornish myth  in the pipeline) we gave the silent star a chance to speak…

“I’ve known Ashley for about six or seven years but we lost touch for a long time… and then a few years back we bumped into each other again by chance. He had just got the budget (Exeter Phoenix Project Greenlight) to make ‘Scayrecrow’ and a mutual friend of ours was due to be in it but he had to drop out close to filming, so to fill the slot Ash asked me if I’d like to play The Fop. The funny thing was that the part our mate was meant to play didn’t make it in the final cut and mine did. With ‘Skull’ Ash and his wife to be Sue, were watching a film with a very famous and talented actor in while they were discussing who was going to take the lead for ‘Skull’ and for some reason this actor reminded them of me. So Ash offered me the part. A pretty odd way to get the role. I was surprised because personally I can’t see any resemblance in looks or acting talent on my part to that actor. Who was he? I ain’t gonna say!”

“The one that always comes up is the days shooting we did at The Two Bridges Hotel on Dartmoor for ‘Skull’. There was only three of us –   Ash, Sue and myself. We went up the room along with the tripods and camera’s and lights… which got a couple of odd looks at reception. We got started but the shitty light Ashley was using kept frickin’ dying on us and it needed a good shake to get it going, so Sue asked Ash if he wanted her to ‘waggle it’. And then there was Ash telling me what position he wanted me in, what face to pull while I was in bed, telling me not to do it so quick, me complaining that my foot was stuck and that my trousers were too damn tight around the crotch area. We could hear people walking around the corridors outside who must have wondered what the hell we were doing!

“The biggest thing for me was being able to act some of the longer scenes in almost real time. The more advanced equipment being used has allowed much more freedom. ‘Skull’ was done with painstakingly slow movement and photography but because Spencer was almost robotic it worked very well and it really suited the film. After the first day doing ‘Hands’ I was having motherfucking kittens, big time! Because Ash was using those same methods, but thankfully we were able to shoot the longer scenes much faster. I was deeply relieved because there was a lot of stuff I was able to do that I don’t think I could have done if we used the old methods.”

‘Scayrecrow‘ was to all intent a Hammer style romp, but the last film and indeed the new film – The Hairy Hands – have a darker psychological ambiguity to them…..

“For me ‘Skull’ touches on feelings of isolation, loneliness, anger and someone who is trapped by the circumstances he finds himself in. I think most people can relate to those feelings. Mystery is a very good thing because it keeps the film… the dream going after it’s finished. Confusion is just fucking pretention…”

The past two weeks have seen Penny Dreadful 4 : ‘The Hairy Hands‘ launch into production full throttle; with all of the Dartmoor location shoots complete and a number of the interior car matte shots filmed and subsequently in the rotoscope / animation stage.

Although hampered by illness (on the part of the director) the shoots have gone not only well, but  faster than initially expected. “I’m very happy with our progress” said director Ashley Thorpe, “we’ve not only launched into production but,well, flown into it! It’s a great team. It’s so nice to be surrounded by like-minded people who not only understand the project but are enthusiastic about it. Previous Penny Dreadfuls have been made by an absolute skeleton crew with the majority of the actual production performed by myself and usually one or two others at most. Some days it’s been me , a camera and an actor! Bloody hell, some of ‘Scayrecrow’ was just me and a camera ha ha! This time I’ve been lucky to have  Tom (Atkinson) on board who has not only been present but has mucked in and helped with all the time consuming side of art direction – moving lights about, set-up – the nitty gritty that can all so often devour your time on set.”

” Another aspect that has really sped up the process of creating this one is actually having some genuine locations and vehicles for the actor to ‘interact with’. Although ‘Screaming Skull’ had a number of scenes set on a real location (the bedroom sequences were all filmed at the Two Bridges Hotel) the majority of it was still generated from scratch with the actor added to the shot in post. ‘Scayrecrow’ was almost all done as a matte – as very few of the locations actually existed, they were painted or a collage of things. That also goes for the carriage sequences and any scene involving a horse: Very few people are actually aware of this but at no point did any of the actors physically enter a carriage or sit on a horse, that was all shot at different times in seperate locations and then faked in post. That’s obviously a massive amount of work. This time we at least have a real car for the actor to sit in and real locations. Thankfully I also don’t have to animate anything going off a cliff! “

“Apart from the shoot being very successful in terms of capturing what we want and need, I’m also happy to report that the shoot has been – thus far – tremendous fun! Which is something that I’ve always taken great pride in – that apart from working to a  necessary level of professionalism the process should be spontaneous and above all fun. I’m glad that a larger budget hasn’t effected the creative process at all at this stage and has actually enriched it. However, though the shoots are going even better than planned – we still have a huge amount of work ahead. Though the styles and influences may fluctuate from film to film, I want there to be a line running through my work – a progression – and to achieve that involves a honing of approach and technique. Or in other words I’ve got to work bloody hard.” – Ashley Thorpe

‘The Hairy Hands‘ is currently set for an rough cut hand in date of Halloween 2009 and is on track to be premiered (in final cut) at the ‘Two Short Nights festival‘ 2009 (currently scheduled for early December), full details of which will be posted closer to time of release.

Hitting news-stands this week is issue 2 of Film periodical ‘Filmstar‘ – from the creators of ‘Deathray‘ magazine – which this month features an interview between Thom Hutchinson and Carrion film director Ashley Thorpe.

“For Filmstar’s inaugral choice from the huge and expanding universe of short film, we got talking with Ashley Thorpe, the man responsible for the Penny Dreadful shorts produced by Carrion films…’Scayrecrow‘ is ten minutes of horror and scandal on the 18th – century highway. Made through a painstaking combination of still photography, rotoscoping, hand-drawn art and collage, the result is an expressionist nightmare, partly evocative of Hammer and Amicus productions, thick with period detail…” Filmstar

The article primarily focuses on ‘Scayrecrow‘ – its techniques and influences, but also touches upon the director’s childhood fascination with the genre, the animation techniques and hints at future projects. Here is the full interview in unedited form –

•Many filmmakers make shorts as a stepping stone (both in terms of their technique and their career) on the journey to features. I suspect this isn’t the case with you; these films are so perfectly formed. But do you have feature-length ambitions?

Yeah, absolutely. I never really thought of them as anything other than what they were. I suppose if I distanced myself from them you could see them as being almost ‘animatics’ for a feature project. There were certainly never conceived as such. I like the form of the short, just like I’ve always loved the form of the short story. I think it’s a perfect canvas and also a great training ground. For the time being I aim to continue making Penny dreadful shorts – ‘Spring Heel Jack’ and ‘The Lambton Worm’ being the most significant.

I suppose if the interest came along to develop one of the shorts, then I suppose they could actually be developed in pretty interesting features, and I think that goes for ‘Scayrecrow’ and ‘Screaming skull’. ‘Scayrecrow’ had quite a chunk lopped out of it for time constraints dealing with all sorts of juicy details about Rookwood, his background, crimes and his love for his beau Eleanor, so it could certainly be fleshed out without being stretched thin. As much as I like the idea of developing the shorts to features I’m also a massive fan of the E.C comic thing and the ‘portmanteau’ stlye that had a brief ascendancy in the seventies. Perhaps that’s a way forward. In fact I have a project on the back-burner called ‘Hell-Tor‘ – an anthology of Dartmoor ghost stories…” Ashley Thorpe

‘Filmstar’ issue 2 is out now and available from all good newsagents – £3.99

Continuing to actively promote animation in the region, Animated Exeter has secured a spot at the Glastonbury festival 2009 for films shortlisted for its competitions (reminding all that its work goes beyond the annual fortnight of festival).

Carrion film animation ‘The Screaming Skull‘ is one of  the  films to be shown due to its part in Animated Exeter 2009 and also for being being shortlisted for the Screen out loud 2009 competition (it was also screened as part of ‘The Best of the West‘ this year). The film recently received glowing praise at its screening in New York as part of the ‘Fangoria Weekend of Horrors‘ and is starting to gather interest, and a reputation  within the horror community.

Festival co-ordinator for Animated Exeter, Rosie Jones said: “This is a great result for our festival and a real achievement for many of the local young filmmakers involved.”

At Glastonbury, there will be two 25m square digital screens, back- to- back, which will broadcast a mix of short films, archive footage, gaming sessions, classic pop and highlights of the BBC’s coverage of the Festival from 10.00am to 3.00am every day.

The content has been gleaned from across the UK via the Regional Screen Agencies. 10 hours’ worth will be supplied by artists from the South West, after South West Screen launched a call for content to filmmakers across the region last month. A mixture of short films, animation, documentaries, virals and pop videos were submitted and project co-ordinator, Cathy Gremin from South West Screen was on the panel to draw up the final list. She says:

‘We had a huge amount of content sent in from across the SW so it was a tricky job to whittle it down to just ten hours. The kind of content that will work best has a strong visual impact to be able to stand out against the fairly noisy background of the festival.

‘This is a terrific opportunity for all the filmmakers and content producers, and we’re delighted to be involved. Glastonbury is an iconic festival, which hosts a mixture of arts, but this is the first time there has been a screen programme dedicated to promoting the work of new and emerging filmmakers and games developers.’ – From South West Screen.

‘The Screaming Skull‘ director, Ashley Thorpe – ” I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for local filmmakers and artists…though it has always been famous for being primarily a music festival it’s actually a festival of –  and a showcase for –  all contemporary arts. I mean that’s an audience of what,  150.000 people. Extraordinary really. I have to say though that if I had been partying all weekend, I’m not sure if ‘Screaming skull’ is the first thing I’d want to see, ha ha..”

The Glastonbury festival  is held at Worthy farm, Pilton in Somerset and runs from Wednesday 24th to Sunday the 29th June 2009.