Film Name: Blood Demons
Director: Kieran Edwards
Writer: Kieran Edwards
Starring: James E Taylor, Gary Baxter, Dani Thompson, Ross Mooney, Richard Rowbottom, David Clarke, James Underwood, Cameron Nathan Dean, Sarah Rutter, Alan Birch, Edd Littler, Kieran Edwards. (Special guest appearance) The Goldie lookin Chain (GLC).
Jake Wilcox grows Cannabis for the notorious Steam-punk Gangster Mr.P. When the entire crop is burnt, Jake with his accomplices Tony and Dominic go on the run. They are quickly captured, tortured then driven to the middle of nowhere to dig their own graves. Mr.P orders Jake to commit a heinous act.
To repay the debt owed to Mr.P, Jake must travel to the Isle of Baga to find his friend Harvie, who knows the whereabouts of a rare strain of cannabis called Saber-tooth. Professor Moses accompanies Jake to the Isle of Baga, where there is an annual rock festival held there. But, when Jake and Professor Moses’ search for Harvie he is suddenly pulled into a dark world of Ritualistic murder, Rune magic and an evil cult of Vampires, will they survive until Sunrise ?
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got a chance to ask writer-director Kieran Edwards a few questions about his film Blood Demons following the film’s premiere at Horror-on-Sea.
Q. Your film Blood Demons has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. Firstly I’d like to say it’s fantastic to be back at Horror on Sea!! Great chatting with you Phil.. Blood Demons is filled with Dark humour, violence, threat, Vampires, Gangsters, Blood, gore, drug use, hip-hop beats and Runic Magic.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script for Blood Demons?
A. The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), The Scars of Dracula (1970), The Lost Boys (1987), Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), my crazy imagination. And also, the holiday in India (Goa) with my lovely Wife Hollie.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. More of a traditional style of filmmaking, with tripods, drones, and sliders. As my last film, The Devil’s Familiar (2020) was handheld/found footage. I wanted the style on Blood Demons to look slick, professional, also the music is a mixture of Heavy Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Drum n Bass and Hip Hop, used mainly for ‘characters’ theme music’ and giving it an upbeat, sometimes dark vibe.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. I made sure I stuck to the script, but I added in the BAGMAN sub plot due to a continuity error which led to the sub plot being more cemented in the film, weirdly and wonderfully the error worked!
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. Filming with the Goldie Lookin Chain (GLC) was the highlight as they were so pleasant down to earth people, they were golden! (excuse the pun). Also filming at the fabulous ‘Glastonbudget Festival’, in and around the festival and also on the Main stage. Working with fantastic people!
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. The cast and crew members were all so dedicated, passionate and so lovely to work with. The issues were being let down by certain locations, which meant me speaking to lots of different people, some asking for ridiculous amounts of money, some being rude. When we arrived to film the standing stones scene (on the Isle of Baga) a drunken man was sitting on the stone alter feeding squirrels peanuts. I kindly asked him to leave, he got shirty and with my power of hippiness he left and drank somewhere else.
Q. What makes Blood Demons stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. I just want people to enjoy it, there’s loads of vampire films out there. The idea about the Vampires using their runic magic on cannabis plants/draining of blood, was different I suppose, but I’m sure it’s been used many times before.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I hope they’ve enjoyed the story and I hope people would like to watch it again, and the big question… is the Isle of Baga a real place?
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. At the moment I have an idea for a short film, some character arcs are buzzing away, but the next project will be with a smaller cast and a shorter running time. Blood Demons has been a long-haul flight. I started writing in 2010, several, several drafts later and a few other projects in-between, it was now 2021, so we went into Production August 2021 through to August 2023, released in 2024. 14 years in total.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Write about something you’re interested in. Make it simple, help out with other budding filmmakers on their films, get talking to script writers/editors, write a few drafts before you go into production. Get your creative juices flowing! Most importantly, have fun and be nice to people.
You can find out more about the Horror-on-Sea Festival here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
