New Brit-Horror Rumblings: ‘Ghost of Slaughterford’ and ‘Thunderchild’
by Ben Bussey
Alas, by Brit-horror I do not mean our own Britt Hayes, but rather the British Isles, that proud nation I call home. The last couple of days have seen announcements relating to two of the most exciting filmmakers the United Kingdom has produced in recent years.
First off, hot on the heels of the recent Centurion trailer comes the news that Neil Marshall is set to produce a new horror movie called Ghost of Slaughterford, written by and starring Axelle Carolyn. The plot according to the Hollywood Reporter centres on “a recently widowed novelist who retreats to a rented mansion in the village of Slaughterford to compose a new novel. She is met by local residents, who all warn her against staying in the house, but she resolves to stay before encountering a ghost. But the locals become the ones to fear.” Directing will be Ian D Fleming, and Shock Till You Drop () adds that the script is from Axelle Carolyn, who will also star. Fleming was 2nd unit director on Centurion and has a fair few British soap opera episodes under his belt, whilst Carolyn has had a number of small roles in films including Doomsday and Centurion and is also the author of It Lives Again! Horror Movies In The New Millennium, pretty much the definitive history of horror films of the past decade. Largely untested talent, then, being overseen by Britain’s best horror filmmaker at present. Should be interesting at the very least.
Secondly, to another fairly new talent: Marc Price, director of last year’s phenomonal no-budget zombie film Colin, who looks to be on the way to getting his sophomore effort off the ground. Yes, there was a pun there, as this is to be a movie set on a plane: a World War 2 bomber, to be precise. Screen Daily reports that Price’s people are “negotiating the more substantial financing for Price’s next movie Thunderchild, a war/horror feature which will shoot in June and is being produced by Left’s Helen Grace.” Additionally, Bloody Disgusting reports that the plot of the film will focus on “a group of British airmen returning from a WWII bombing mission have to cope with a new enemy when they encounter a flesh-eating creature on-board their plane.” While I didn’t have the foresight to properly take down a quote at the time (don’t judge me too harshly, I was inexperienced), Price said as much at the screening of Colin I caught back in October, and seemed most psyched about the idea. It will certainly be a change of pace from Colin, which quite aside from being no-budget was also supremely quiet and understated. Hard to imagine a monster on a plane being so; but you never can tell…
A haunted house story with a twist, and a period monster movie; two kinds of movie we don’t get too often, from filmmakers we have yet to know much about. Sometimes, new movies like this are the most exciting kind; when there’s not too much expectation, and no clear idea of what the end result will be like. Here’s hoping both films take us by surprise in that good way. As ever, more as we get it.
