Tag: Ashley Thorpe

Carrion Films calender of terrors for 2013

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It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

It was a year that began with a feature in development with the Film Council, a Rondo award nomination, a short in pre-production and a new radio play with Glass Eye Pix.

The summer took us to Dartmoor for  Hell Hounds and Night Hags with Radio 4 and our animations ‘Scayrecrow‘, ‘The Screaming Skull‘ and ‘The Hairy Hands‘ hosted by FEARnet. That was 2012 …but what you can expect from Carrion Films in 2013?

 

Let’s start with the hotly anticipated new animated short ‘Borley Rectory’. 2011 came to a close with the voiceover recording with Julian Sands in London and 2012 looked to be the year that would almost certainly deliver a new animated short. “Glass Eye Pix stepped in with development money for the piece and we were ready to go,” explains Carrion director Ashley Thorpe, “We had a number of other funding sources set up for the actual shoot including by the early summer production money from Channel 4. Then, as is so often the case our main budget source simply, well… ‘vanished’ and Channel 4 decided that although they would still be happy to be part of the production they wanted to come in at post-production stage. Which is great of course, but, we’ve got to make the bloody thing first, ha ha. So ‘Borley Rectory‘ is now going to be a crowd funded project. The fundraiser itself will be not just a breakdown of the production but something of a study of British ghosts with contributions from a variety of authorities on the subject. And what’s more we’ve been approached by someone very special to work on the soundtrack. Very exciting. So, look forward to announcements of the kickstarter scheme early in the new year, it’s going to be something really special!’

2012 also looked to be the launchpad for Carrion Films most ambitious project – the animated feature ‘Spring Heel Jack’. ‘It should have been a big announcement when our project received the attention of  Creative England but from the outset it was clear that there were problems. It would be easy to say it was ‘creative differences’ but I don’t actually think that was the root of the problem at all. They were very keen on the material. The first revision of the script – delivered at very short notice – was very dense, overly ‘Dickensian’ actually, but as the scheme was first and foremost to develop the script I wasn’t overly concerned in fact I looked forward to working with a script editor to fully maximise the potential of the material. The general consensus initially was good, but we never really saw eye to eye after that initial meeting. I was only concerned about developing the script, whilst they seemed strangely preoccupied with the technical aspects of the animation itself which I found bizarre. A lot of of time passed, messages going back and forth, nothing really being resolved. We read the small print and finally backed out. I think it was early days for the scheme and they didn’t really have the infastructure in place, but for all the dissent it caused it hasn’t been a complete waste of time. I’m at work revising the script again into something far more bold, far more expressionist and gothic, and we’ve already had some interest from a couple of good solid names in the industry. So expect lots of new conceptual art and perhaps some very exciting news by the autumn.’

2012 also looked to be the year when a horror film festival would finally come to the South West. “It was to be called ‘Devon after Dark’ or ‘DeAD‘, ha ha. It always baffled me that a region like the South West that boasts so many tales of the supernatural didn’t have a festival to celebrate it. Dartmoor alone is at least worthy of a festival. I talked to various curators of different festivals and saw that this was a very real possibilty. So, perhaps naively, I submitted a proposal to Creative England / the Arts Council again…I know, you’d think I would have learned my lesson by now…and at first it was all wow, praise and enthusiasm. I managed to get a huge list of supporters who pledged support and even hoped to attend or be involved; People from Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Tim Lucas, Alan Lee, Stephen Volk, Peter Atkins, Julian Sands, Steven Severin…I even had support from Sir Christopher Frayling who was very keen on doing a lecture of how ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ had been depicted on film. Creative England passed us over. Even though it had huge industry support and was an obvious blend of  culture and commerce the powers that be were not interested. What can I say? If you want something done in the UK these days there’s really not much point in going through official channels.”

2012 also saw Carrion Films develop its close ties with local young filmmaking initiatives, Film/Video production company Cineon Productions aswell as the renowned animation festival ‘Animated Exeter‘ and this looks set to continue into 2013. Apart from the ‘Young and Animated‘  workshops run throughout the year, Carrion Film also worked with the ‘Freefall Youth Group‘ creating the horror short ‘Nightwatch‘ and has signed up to be part of the National Heritage project ‘Our Neighbourhood’ which will run throughout the early part of the year. Ashley Thorpe will also be providing the animations for Animated Exeter 2013’s ‘Time Winders‘ interactive experience that will run throughout the festival based upon a short story by acclaimed children’s author Philip Reeve.

Director Ashley Thorpe – ‘Carrion Films is ostensibly a very small unit and our output is determined by the same ebbs and flows of any industry. Through all the setbacks we’ve managed to maintain a nice presence in the industry this year; appearing at Frightfest with Glass Eye Pix’ Glenn McQuaid, the new radio play ‘Dead Man’s Shoes‘ (due to be released on CD 2013) set visits for Fangoria magazine, work with a number of British horror festivals aswell as the increase in local filmmaking initiatives. It has been a tough old year in terms of getting projects up and running but I still look back at what we’ve achieved and think – not bad for a production unit jump-started by a few animations made on a laptop! 2013 will be the year we focus on the ‘homegrown’ projects. Our terrors have been gestating nicely in the dark…now it’s time to let them out to play.’

All at Carrion Film would like to thank you for your continued support and interest and wish you all a prosperous and peaceful new year.

Ashley Thorpe’s ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ LIVE in New York

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Following the success of last years ‘The Demon Huntsman’, Carrion Film director Ashley Thorpe’s  new radio script for Glass Eye Pix – DEAD MAN’S SHOES – will be performed LIVE in New York City  with a cast boasting Larry Fessenden and Michael Cerveris.

Following the success of last years ‘TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE ‘ Glass Eye Pix, the fiercely independent film company behind STAKE LAND, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and I SELL THE DEAD, in association with Clay McLeod Chapman’s FEAR- MONGERS: FIRESIDE CHATS ABOUT HORROR FILMS, is taking its successful audio dramas out of the studio and onto the stage.

A new twist on the vintage radio shows of yesteryear, Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid’s TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE has already thrilled fans of the macabre with last year’s CD / Download release of Season One. Now they are upping the ante and recording 8 original audio shows before a live audience at New York City’s Dixon place the first four Tuesdays in October. Shows starts at 9:30pm.

Carrion Film director Ashley Thorpe follows his popular Hammer horror styled ‘The Demon Huntsman‘ with a contemporary gothic and – in somewhat of a departure from his previous work – a tale with what has been described by one critic as ‘comedic flair‘!

Ashley Thorpe: “It’s a chiller with a black comedic edge about what happens to people when they are utterly desperate to make ends meet. I’d initially pitched a couple of ideas to Glenn and Larry that were very much a continuation of what I’d been doing previously but they were too involved, too complicated. So I sat in a despair of my own on the back step trying to think of what to write and this idea just came to me of a man who uses ‘a little artistic license’ on his CV and as a consequence is thrown into a situation completely beyond his control. Although it’s contemporary, it’s actually desperately old fashioned. There’s a little Harker arriving at Dracula’s castle but from thereon in it’s totally EC comics, the tone the atmosphere, everything. Even the title is a Cryptkeeper style dime store pun.”

And what of the lead characters, were they written with any particular actors in mind?

“Yes, very much so. The majority of the story is ostensibly two men talking in a room, so character was very important. I wanted it to be a blending of eras, two characters that define specific types of horror, face to face. Now, the old man I very much imagined as Peter Cushing in a film like ‘The Skull’ and of course Peter had this very particular metre and inflection so writing his dialogue was wonderful, in fact I had to hold back from writing too much! The second character, Larry the lead protagonist, I imagined very much as Jack Torrance, overworked, underpaid, a desperate family man. I pictured Larry Fessenden! I even named him Larry for that very reason so for Larry to play the character is absolutely perfect!”

The season features the very special voice talents of: Sean Young, Michael Cerveris, Vincent D’Onofrio, James LeGros, Mark Margolis and MANY MANY others! The shows feature live music from Natalia Paruz (The Saw Lady), Dave Eggar (Cello), Julian Maile (Theremin) many more!
Live sound effects by John Moros and live foley from Shaun Brennan. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door, $10 students / seniors. Tickets available here:
https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/171/1349134200000

The first season of ‘Tales From Beyond the Pale’ is available from the official website, on Amazon and can be downloaded from i-Tunes.

Hell Hounds and Night Hags – Ashley Thorpe on Radio 4

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Carrion Film writer / director Ashley Thorpe has been interviewed by Ann Widdecombe for her BBC Radio 4 documentary ‘Hell Hounds and Night Hags’. The programme is an examination of Dartmoor legends; their origin, their influence and their continued fascination.

“No disrespect to you Sir, but the dangers of the moor are plentiful. We may have civilised the outskirts of the moor, but for all our wants, for all our faith, it’s still a wilderness out there Sir….if all the unclaimed bodies, scattered in their shallow graves rose from the moor, the dead would outnumber the living. The earth out there is alive with their stories.” – The Demon Huntsman

The BBC 4 team contacted a number of experts and witnesses from across the region and our very own Ashley Thorpe was chosen to recount the myth of the ‘Hairy Hands’, having been terrified by the grisly tale as a child and subsequently inspired to make the animated film in its honour. The interview was recorded whilst traversing the famed haunted road  between Postbridge and ‘The Two Bridges’ (the ‘B3212’ or ‘Carter’s road’ as it was once known) to lend the broadcast an air of eerie authenticity. ‘Hell Hounds and Night Hags’ is scheduled for broadcast on Radio 4 at 4pm, Monday 9th July.

Ashley Thorpe: “It was wonderful to be asked by them (BBC 4). The production team seemed very familiar with our work and our commitment to celebrate the regions mythology. I hope this sort of programming is the first of many as there’s a wealth of material. In fact after recording I was discussing with the producer how it’s about time that someone take another stab at something like ‘Westcountry Tales’… According to Ann they had – previous to my recording – interviewed someone who claimed to have been attacked by the Hands, so I’m looking forward to hearing the programme as much as everyone else! It’s a story that’s always been close to my heart having been terrified by it as a wee nipper so it was especially fun for the BBC team to interview my Dad (Robert Thorpe)  due to him actually ‘playing’ the hands. I bet when he was sat there roasting under the lights covered in latex and sugar puffs he didn’t think he’d end up on the ‘Beeb beeb ceeb’ …”

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.

Ann Widdecombe – ‘Hell Hounds and Night Hags’

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’, ‘The Beast with five fingers‘ and Oliver Stone’s ‘The Hand‘  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.

‘The Hairy Hands‘ was the first Carrion Film animation to focus on a specific Dartmoor myth and was created in association with the UK Film Council, South West Screen and the Exeter Phoenix. The short film stars Edward Berry and features voiceovers from Doug Bradley, Nicholas Vince and BBC Devon DJ Jo Loosemore. Subsequent forays into the regions legends have resulted in ‘The Demon Huntsman’ for Glass Eye Pixs ‘Tales From Beyond the Pale’ and an assortment of ghostly stories for mooted portmanteau ‘Hell Tor‘.