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Your new movie Wolf
Manor/Scream of
the Wolf - in a few words, what is it about?
Wolf
Manor is about a group of low budget film makers on an extra night's
shoot. They don't realise that the full moon is about to unleash a flesh
eating werewolf and all hell is let loose! With
Wolf Manor
being a werewolf movie - is that a (sub-)genre at all dear to you, and
some of your genre favourites? I've been a horror fanatic my entire life! The werewolf
however has always been my favourite monster. Besides all the usual
classics like An
American Werewolf in London, The Howling
etc. I also love the
Paul Naschy werewolf films. Werewolf
of Woodstock is AMAZING! It's a
pity I can't find a decent copy of it anywhere. I also have a soft spot
for Monster Dog and Werewolf in a Women's Prison! Werewolf in England is
a really good recent British film as well. (Other) sources of
inspiration when writing Wolf
Manor? The main inspirations for Wolf
Manor were 80s slasher and monster
movies. I'm a hardcore slasher fan and this was an opportunity to show a
lot of love to films such as Madman, Friday the 13th part 2 and
also monster films such as Beast
Within, Spookies etc. The basic story
is also similar to House of 7 Corpses and Children Shouldn't Play with
Dead Things. What can you tell us about your co-writer
Pete Wild, and what was your collaboration like? Pete Wild and myself have been friends since 2008. We know each other
from the monthly film nights the Festival of Fantastic Films used to put
on in a pub in Manchester. As well as horror films we are both Man City
fans and binge drinkers! Over a few pints Pete's wife Wendy
revealed they had just bought a mansion so Pete said have I got an idea
for a film. I wrote 12 pages of notes. Pete banged a rough draft in 4
days, then I went to his house and we finished it properly in 2 days.
About 4 weeks later it was filmed. It had to be done insanely quickly to
enter Frightfest!
Do talk
about Wolf Manor's
approach to horror! With the film we wanted to make something gory with practical
effects, but also with some humour and a lot of nods to classic horror.
This is basically a loveletter to over 100 years of horror! Pete and
myself are both big fans of Amicus
[the Amicus story - click here],
Hammer, Universal etc. as well as
the old horror actors such as Lon Chaney jr [Lon
Chaney jr bio - click here] and Christopher Lee. We also
wanted to add some humour as we were both fed up with elevated horror! Wolf
Manor is more a Friday night beer and pizza film! Apart from writing the script, to
what extent were you involved in making Wolf
Manor, and what can you tell us about working with the movie's
director Dominic Brunt?
I was on set for 10 of the 14 shooting days. Besides a cameo in the
pub scene I mostly just helped out clearing the grounds, watched the
scenes being shot and drank beer with Pete. Our work had been done before filming so we
could relax. Dominic is a fantastic director and real horror fan. His
wife Jo was producer and is one of the nicest people you could meet. I
was a fan of their other films which I had seen at horror festivals, so
knew the film was in good hands. Any future projects you'd like
to share?
As for future projects, I have written a script called Hell Awaits
which hopefully Ian Serra will be directing. He was the star of classic
Spanish slasher Pieces and is now a horror director with his own
distribution label Trans Atlantic Productions. I'm also meant to be
stepping up to directing. All I can say is it's going to be a total
gorefest with practical effects and a fast pace! What got you into screenwriting in the first
place, and did you receive any formal training on the subject? I got into screenwriting just by being a horror/exploitation fan
basically. I've always hung out with other horror fans and know my stuff,
so people ask me to come up with stories. I'm self taught with the help
of a horror screenwriting book I bought from Forbidden Planet. Cheaper
than going university! What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Wolf
Manor? Prior to Wolf
Manor I worked on a horror film called Pandora. This is
a more serious creepy horror and the trailer can be seen on the Trans
Atlantic web site. Not sure when it will be released. Unfortunately the
director died before the editing was finished but it has since been
completed.
How would you describe yourself as a
screenwriter? As a scriptwriter I like to write violent,
fantastical horror with
lots of gore, few locations and a decent body count. Of course this is to
help with budget costs! But as a massive fan of micro budget horror I prefer watching films with
few locations where everyone can be slaughtered! Writers, filmmakers, whoever else who
inspire you? Writers I love are Richard Laymon, Edward
Lee, Shaun Hutson and Guy N. Smith. I love tons of directors including Lucio
Fulci [Lucio Fulci bio - click
here], John Carpenter, Jess Franco, Andy Milligan, Larry Buchanan, Andreas Schnaas and Olaf
Ittenbach. Your favourite movies? My favourite films include
Halloween, City of the
Dead, Django, Pee Wee's
Big Adventure, Superstition, Devil Rides
Out, The Howling and
Zombie
Flesh Eaters. As well as horror I love all sorts of exploitation films
and anything a bit off the wall. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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As for films I deplore, probably most films that are up for Oscars! I
have no interest in a lot of mainstream Hollywood films or socially
conscious drama! Even though I quite like some so-called elevated horror, some of the makers are complete wankers! I'm glad Andy Mitton
hated Wolf
Manor because he is the type of classist stuck up prick that
looks down on honest horror and exploitation films! I'm proud to be a
gorehound and as a working class key worker, I have no time for
champagne socialists! Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else? I personally am not on any social media. There is a
Wolf
Manor Facebook page and a Twitter account. Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I have nothing to add but would like to say you have a fantastic
website! Now I'm going to chill out and watch the Mr. Vampire sequels
Blu-ray! Thanks
for the interview!
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