Category: Carrion Films

HORROR UK, Fareham UK : October 29th – November 1st

A Halloween screening has been announced for  ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming Skull’ at  Horror UK 2009 (a 28 hour horror marathon) – a festival that “aims to bring new and accomplished horror film makers and writers together, providing an avenue for those who want their films to be seen and those who want to get exposure.”

“For those wanting to give a purpose, other than your enjoyment of horror, to this event, then we are working with a children’s cancer ward.  Allowing you to be sponsored to stay for 12, 18, 24 or the full 28 hours.”

Aswell as  the double bill screening the films have also garnered the ‘Bloody Good Film Award‘ from the judging panel. “This is an award given out during the reviewing process of Horror UK, It is only awarded to films that we feel are an overall good watch. We take into account plot, script, acting, music etc and award those films which we feel are deserving.”

Initially expected only to be a screening of ‘Scayrecrow‘ a curious coincidence led to a double bill screening. The Director of the festival – Joe Jenkins –  happened to have spent much of his childhood in one of the notorious sites that housed a ‘screaming skull’…

During his illness, he was given a hiding place in the farmhouse at Higher Farm, Chilton Cantelo.  He died whilst in the farmhouse and was scared that the Roundheads would get hold of his head and stick it on top of a spike.  Due to this, he asked for his head to be removed and kept in a box, which was done.

"The Screaming skull" - Ashley Thorpe

For Official site visit: http://www.horroruk.com/

LOCAL NEWS UPDATE

Devon newspapers ‘The Western Morning News‘ and ‘The Express & Echo‘ have printed their reaction to the news of the Short Film Corner screening in Cannes. Apart from a general potted history (and some slight confusion by the Echo between ‘Short film corner’ and the main site festival) Stuart Mitchell, Digital media co-ordinator at the Exeter Phoenix commented –

“We are obviously delighted that the work of one of our emerging film-makers has been selected for the Short  Film Corner  at the Festival de Cannes. It is a great opportunity for Ashley, which will hopefully also raise awareness of the myriad talent in our city.”

“We hope that it will encourage more and more of the many creative people in Exeter and the rest of Devon with innovative ideas to come forward and work with us to develop their projects.”

For details on how to apply for grants / competitons or production advice visit the Exeter Phoenix Media site here.

“If it weren’t for the Exeter Phoenix and that first Project Greenlight bursary, I’d still be bumming round looking for illustration work. They’ve had their eyes open every step of the way for ways and means to get my work out there. I’ve got a lot to thank them for.” – Ashley Thorpe

The second D+C Film Show, created by Devon film maker Alex White, has in-depth interviews with two of Devon’s renowned filmmakers: Elizabeth-Jane Baldry and Carrion film Director Ashley Thorpe, in a ‘Fairytales and Nightmares‘ Special.

“Elizabeth-Jane has been inspiring the whole town of Chagford to get involved in filmmaking while giving new life to traditional tales – specifically Victorian fairy tales. A classically trained harpist Elizabeth has also been collaborating with Oscar winning artist Alan Lee (Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy) in designing the costumes.

And Ashley Thorpe this year picked up the best independent filmmaker award at this year’s media partnership awards and has been hailed as leading the British Horror revival with his Victorian inspired Penny Dreadfuls.”

The in depth interview with Ashley touched upon such subjects as the methods used to create the  animations, the scoring (by Mick Grierson), self-distribution (the downloads), the recent Media innovation award  and the inspirations and reasons for making them – “I got to this point where I almost felt exhausted…that most of the films out there are regurgitating similar things. So, to re-invigorate my enthusisams, so I went back to the beginning of horror as populist entertainment and naturally looked to the Victorian penny dreadful’s.”

“And most of the things, Scayrecrow especially, are based upon the ‘chapbooks’ which used to be sold pretty much by the gallows – as these guys were being hung – it was like : ‘There’s Dick Turpin….now read the comic!’  and they’d hang this guy as people were reading his life story, y’know…so Highwaymen and neglected ghost stories…

Ashley Thorpe interviewed by Alex White

especially the screaming skull, very famous ghost stories but no one has really made films about it…so it’s basically going back to the beginning and looking at the stuff that’s been left behind really, and trying to take those things and try to stay true to the original story and at the same time trying to give them a spark and hopefully make them entertaining for the 21st Century audience.”

The complete interview can be viewed via the Devon and Cornwall film site and is vieweable in HD via vimeo here.

“Just sit back and take in the fairytales and nightmares of the Devon filmmaking experience” – Lee Morgan

‘Scayrecrow‘ / ‘Epouvantail‘ – is to be screened at the auspicious Festival de Cannes 2009 as part of the ‘Short films corner’.

“Inspiring, independent, in the fringe short films are at the heart of the film creation.
Organized by the Festival de Cannes, the Short Film Corner is the essential rendez-vous for short film makers.” – Short Film Corner

The Short film Corner is organized by the Festival de Cannes, and is is the essential rendez-vous for short film makers from all over the World. Last year more than 80 countries were represented, including Northern America (32%), France (24%), UK (16%), other European countries (18%). There were 1830 registered short films and 22 000 viewings. The Short Film Corner’s aim is to stimulate new cinema talents and throughout the Festival thematic programs, competitions and workshops create a privileged meeting place for international professionals.

Synopsis in French: “Nous sommes en 1742 et tout le monde ne parle que des brigandages de Joshua Rookwood. Il parait que personne sur les chemins ne peut s’échapper au bandit notoire et son alter-ego effrayant, le Scayrecrow (l’épouvantail). Bien que la plupart des gens font l’amalgame entre Rookwood et Turpin*, le mobile de ses actions n’est pas basé ni sur l’avidité ni sur la brutalité. A chaque pleine lune, après avoir volé les biens à la bourgeoisie, Rockwood se faufile rapidement pour donner les biens à sa chère et tendre, une serveuse Eleanor Tawney. Comme la récompense contre la capture du hors-la-loi augmente, les rendez-vous des amoureux attirent des attentions inopportunes. Lentement mais sûrement quelques-uns vont à l’encontre des amants.”

*Le bandit le plus craint d’Angleterre

The festival runs between the 13th and 22nd of May and any further developments will, as always, be posted here!

www.shortfilmcorner.com

After the success of ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘ – Penny dreadful number 4 : The Hairy hands has been awarded a budget of £10,000 to begin production by South West screen and the Arts Council of England. The film, as with previous entries, will be directed by Ashley Thorpe, music and sound design by Mick Grierson and will star ‘dreadful regular’ Ed Berry. The film will  be produced by Tom Atkinson – the man behind the ‘10 pound horror film‘.

Director Ashley Thorpe – “The primary aim of ‘THE HAIRY HANDS’  is for me to find a way to set an atmospheric horror short in a moving vehicle. I love Hitchcock, I especially love that sequence in ‘Psycho’ when Marion has stolen the money and is racing out of town with all that character voiceover – its a very clever way of doing exposition, and all the while you’re getting to see her reactions, the camera just cutting between her car and the road. Pure drama. ‘Psycho’ is also a good example of a film that sets the audience up going in one direction and then completely turns it upside down just as you’re getting comfortable, and I’m hoping to do the same with this one.”

“Though ‘The Hairy hands’ will be a technical advance upon previous shorts ‘Scayrecrow’ and ‘The Screaming skull’ –  I am aiming for the technology not to rule the aesthetics of the piece. Though cleaner, the look of the new film will still have a ‘painted’ look and though more polished the film will still retain a textural hand made quality, highly stylized, but still retaining all the hallmarks of the previous animations – albeit this will be a lot more noirish. It’ll be a little shorter, a little tighter than the previous entries but it’s packed full of ideas, references and little asides…It’ll also have a few surprises…something you probably won’t have seen before…which I’m not going to tell you about…” – Ashley Thorpe

Fangoria journalist Chris Alexander, hot from interviewing genre fan Nicholas Cage, Alex Proyas (‘The Crow‘ & ‘Dark City‘) and UK ‘national treasure’ Kenneth Branagh, has interviewed Carrion film director Ashley Thorpe about last years animated shorts – ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘. Here is an excerpt :

“If I see another low budget indie horror film about some shmos getting stranded somewhere and running afoul of some class of homicidal skin snacking shmuck, I shall most assuredly scream and shoot holes in my home screen. Yes, yes, yes, the phrase “indie horror” is more often than not a real deal red flag to stay the eff you see kay AWAY. That’s why it is my pleasure, as both a lover of horror films that break rules and refuse to behave and gothic, stylized shockers that bow and kiss your hand before they cut your throat, to wax rapturous about Ashley Thorpe.”

“Thorpe’s visionary and reverent animated gothic melodramas SCAYRECROW and THE SCREAMING SKULL are throwbacks to a gentler age of terror, especially that of Hammer Studios, the Victorian terror machine that I live and die by and that from 1957 – 1975, pumped out the sort of swoony stiff collared horror films that, well, just aint made no more…But Englishman Ashley Thorpe aims to change all that. And he’s altering the face of fearsome animation to boot.”

“So please…if you give a rabid rats rump about the art of terror than take a few minutes, read the interview with Thorpe below and then follow his instructions to watch his little slabs of slick, stylish bloody bliss. Write me into your will later…”

– Chris Alexander, Fangoria.

This amazing introduction then leads into an in depth interview with Ashley which touches upon how he became interested in the genre, the influences, the animations and what may lie ahead. The complete article can be read here: http://www.fangoria.com/blogs/chris-alexander

Chris Alexander is a world respected genre journalist who has written for ‘Rue Morgue’ magazine, ‘Fangoria’ and recently submitted an interview with ‘Ogre’ from seminal industrial outfit ‘Skinny Puppy’ for ‘Darkside’ magazine. He also serves as Film History teacher at Toronto Film & Media College. To read all about the great man, and to check out his interviews with Nicolas Cage, Kenneth Branagh and Alex Proyas visit: www.chris-alexander.ca.

So…In the words of Chris Alexander himself – “What are you waiting for?”

A gala dinner held in Bristol last night celebrated and recognised the innovative use of media and design in the region. The evening was introduced by Mark Hawkins, chairman of the awards and hosted by international sports reporter Rob Walker.

Carrion Films  took the award for the independent film/video category for the production of ‘Scayrecrow’ directed by Ashley Thorpe with funding from Exeter Phoenix in association with Devon County Council.

The film was judged “a visually rich, innovative and atmospheric production that held the viewers’ attention to the final frame”.

Upon accepting the award Director Ashley Thorpe remarked – “Wow…what do you say? The British horror revival begins here in the South West!”

Footage of the acceptance speech can be viewed here : Ashley Thorpe – Media innovation award or by visiting the main award site at : http://mia.silverstream.tv/

Karen Stockdale of the Media Innovation Awards said, “There was a very strong response from the creative media industry in Devon and the fact that so many nominations have been successful in such a wide range of categories demonstrates the wealth of talent in the area.”

‘Scayrecrow‘, for the un-initiated, is a Hammer inspired animation about a ghostly Highwayman, written and directed by  Ashley Thorpe. It is set in England in 1742 – wherein the daring robberies of Joshua Rookwood are the talk of all of England. No-one it seems is safe on the Kings highways from the notorious highwayman and his fearful alter-ego ‘The Scayrecrow‘. Rookwood’s motives however are not mere brutality and greed. Every full moon, after robbing the gentry of their riches, Rookwood steals away to deliver the choicest of the booty to his love, the serving girl Eleanor Tawney. As the reward for his capture grows ever large, these moonlit rendezvous attract unwanted attention…and slowly and surely plans are drawn against them…

“In some ways ‘Scayrecrow’ remains my favourite – mainly because of my childhood love of Dick Turpin and the highwayman as character in general. I’m also completely obsessed by that period; the bawdy stories, the fashions…and ‘Scayrecrow’ gave me the chance to share these obsessions whilst simultaneously taking everything I love about Hammer and gothic horror and putting my own spin on it. It’s certainly the most romantic thing I’ve ever done and I’m thrilled that people love it so much. The Innovation award is amazing…it’s really satisfying to receive that kind of acknowledgment – y’know ,recognition from your peers…and for a jury that included representatives from Channel 4 to acknowledge and reward an independent company that is essentially only a couple of years old is extraordinary. It’s amazing!” – Ashley Thorpe

Carrion films is supporting the UK Horror revival project: the “10 pound horror film“. Their press release reads as follows:

“Between the mid 50s and the early 70s, Britain was the undisputed king of the Horror Film. Before American horror maestros like Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and John Carpenter came along British horror films were painting the screen red with what affectionately became known as ‘Kensington Gore’. Off the back of these films actors such as Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price became stars and household names…”

“Then, just as quickly as the revolution took hold, the British Horror Film vanished…”

“Now, two British filmmakers – Luke Dormehl and Tom Atkinson – are helping to bring back British horror with an exciting and groundbreaking new project called The 10 Pound Horror Film. The idea behind the concept is simple: through contributions of £10 (far less than the cost of an average night out!), to take audiences on the journey of creating a 21st century British Horror film.”

“Contributors, (nicknamed 10 Pound Horror Fiends) can subscribe to the website at www.the10poundhorrorfilm.com. Every penny raised will go into funding the making of the film. So far, The 10 Pound Horror Film has won support from international horror film icons such as John Landis (American Werewolf in London), Kane Hodder (Jason from the Friday the 13th saga), Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Spaced).”

Initial interest in the production has been huge. The teaser trailer has had over 70,000 views on YouTube and in its first weeks online the website has already attracted thousands of hits from around the world. For more information on this project and how to get involved with the UK’s most exciting independent film production, visit
www.the10poundhorrorfilm.com

GOREZONE review

“Original and fresh…definitely check out ‘Scayrecrow’ for something original.”

The UK based horror magazine ‘Gorezone‘- the UK’s highest selling horror magazine – has published a review of ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘.

Describing itself as ‘Vogue for horror fans’ ‘Gorezone’  generally concentrates upon the harder edge horrors unleashed upon the market. ‘Scayrecrow’ received a glowing review, whereas its bleak M.R James inspired cousin – ‘The Screaming skull’ – did not fare so well, being criticized for its understated psychological horrors.

Issue 42 of ‘Gorezone’ will hit newsagents and stockists on  March 12th. The striking  advert for the downloads (featured left) will appear in the subsequent issue due to hit news stands in April.

As of March 4th 2009 the first three ‘Penny dreadful’ animations from Carrion film – the rarely UK seen  ‘The Vampire‘ (2004), the award nominated ‘Scayrecrow‘ (2008) &  new festival favourite ‘The Screaming skull‘ (2008) –  will be available to download for the very first time.

Each film will be available from the shop as an mp4 video; an ideal portable format and compatible for iPod, iTunes and laptop viewing. For a limited time each animation will cost only £2.99 to purchase and keep, that’s less than the cost of a screening ticket.

Director Ashley Thorpe had this to say: “I’m very excited actually, this is the first time that these films have truly been let loose and this style of commerce, the inexpensive download, is the closest thing to a modern ‘Penny dreadful’ type of distribution. The Penny dreadfuls would be bought for pennies and then handed round, increasingly dog-eared reader to reader, but the stories – the good ones at least – would spread like wildfire. Now the devoted or just plain curious can dowload and share these in much the same way. It’s fantastic and it’s just scraping the surface. We’ve got some very special things on the horizon…”

Details of ‘Scayrecrow‘ and ‘The Screaming skull‘ can be found posted throughout our archives, ‘The Vampire‘ however may be new to many. Ashley Thorpe explained:  “It was my first attempt of tackling this kind of material in this way. I was trying to find a way of combining  still images with a dynamic soundtrack, like a musical storybook. It was first and foremost going to be a comic that had an animation as an extra. It has animated elements, but it was a test really and people were very supportive…I was especially lucky – and I don’t think it hurt getting this one into festivals – that my photographer knew Derren Brown and he persuaded him to cameo as a vampire! Blink and you miss him…but he’s there.”

After the initial run of downloads further releases can be expected later in the year, including further vintage material from the vaults and subsequent ‘Penny dreadful’ releases such as ‘The Hairy hands.’

Carrion film is celebrating ‘Scayrecrow‘ being nominated for the 2009 Media Innovation Awards as part of the ‘Best independent Film / Video category.

The awards recognise the innovative use of media, music and design across the South West region. Entries were invited from companies across the whole of the South West (including collaborations with the BBC and the Open University) and Karen Stockdale of award organisers, the Plymouth media partnership, says she’s delighted at the quality and diversity of the submissions this year, “The judges really had their work cut out deciding which entries to shortlist.

The quality of entries was very high and the fact that the short-listed companies come from all over the region, from Poole to Dorset to Falmouth in Cornwall and from Bristol to Plymouth proves that the South West region is a centre of excellance for media and design.”

‘Scayrecrow‘, for the un-initiated, is a Hammer inspired animation about a ghostly Highwayman, written and directed by  Ashley Thorpe. It is set in England in 1742 – wherein the daring robberies of Joshua Rookwood are the talk of all of England. No-one it seems is safe on the Kings highways from the notorious highwayman and his fearful alter-ego ‘The Scayrecrow‘. Rookwood’s motives however are not mere brutality and greed. Every full moon, after robbing the gentry of their riches, Rookwood steals away to deliver the choicest of the booty to his love, the serving girl Eleanor Tawney. As the reward for his capture grows ever large, these moonlit rendezvous attract unwanted attention…and slowly and surely plans are drawn against them…

The animation was co-funded by the Exeter Phoenix and Devon County Council, and was made during 2008. The film features a dynamic score by composer Mick Grierson. Ashley recenly commented on the film in an interview with Lee Morgan (D & C Film):

“I’ve always been completely fascinated by highwaymen,” says Ashley, and he recalls ’70s National Trust ads for historic sites, which would have the highwayman rushing past in all his regalia. But the spectacle has largely been overlooked, Adam Ant aside. “In theory they are the closest thing to a British Western.”

As of March 4th the film will be available as a download directly from www.carrionfilms.co.uk (more to be announced shortly!)

The winners of the Media Innovation Awards will be announced at a gala award ceremony to be held at the Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol on the 12th of March.

If you cast your mind back to the shoot of ‘The Screaming skull‘ you may recall that all of the Penraddon manor bedroom sequences were shot at the beautiful ‘Two Bridges hotel‘. Yet, as one ghostly legend was being crafted therein, a little further down a nearby Dartmoor road, a quite different supernatural visitation was believed to befall the unsuspecting traveller…’The Hairy Hands‘.

Comic asides, since the early twentieth century, drivers and cyclists have reported suffering unusual accidents whilst travelling the stretch of road (the B3212) between Postbridge and Two Bridges. In many cases, the victims reported that their vehicle had swerved violently off the side of the road, as if something had taken hold of the wheels and wrenched it out of their control.

In most instances, the victims ran into a verge and survived. Their experiences remained a local curiosity, until June 1921, when Dr. E.H. Helby, the medical officer for Dartmoor prison was actually killed when he lost control of his motorcycle and sidecar. His two daughters survived. Shortly after Dr Helby’s death, there was another incident in which a coach driver lost control, injuring several passengers who were thrown out of their seats. Then, on August 26 1921, an army Captain reported that a pair of invisible hands had taken hold of him and forced his motorcycle off the road. After such a bout of such bizarre ‘attacks’ it didn’t take long before the story was picked up by the London newspapers and the story became a nationwide sensation.

Though horror cinema has had its share of disembodied creeping hands (Amicus studios ‘Doctor Terrors house of Horrors’ and Oliver Stone’s ‘The Hand‘ starring Michael Caine are but two notables) the actual story of ‘The Hairy Hands‘, and its core myth (often linked to a mining explosion or a local murder on the particular stretch of road) has hitherto largely been ignored outside the region that spawned it….until now.

Whilst ‘Spring heel Jack‘ continues its ambitious pre-production, Ashley Thorpe will shoot ‘The Hairy Hands‘ until finance  is secured. “Don’t fret, ‘Spring heel Jack’ is absolutely in pre-production, but it’s the most ambitious one yet and it needs more time and love than the previous two to make it work and really do the script justice.”

‘The Hairy hands‘ will star Carrion film regular Ed Berry and aims, according to its director, to be “a chilling horror short that takes place entirely within a moving vehicle…”