Film Name: Horror-Scopes Volume One
Directors: Tony Sands, Maria Lee Metheringham, Dani Thompson, Davin Jeayes, Alexander Churchyard, Pablo Raybould, Anna Dixon, Luna Wolf, Martin W. Payne, Richard Elson, John Foxen, Annie Knox, Mj Dixon
Writers: Alexander Churchyard, Mj Dixon, Davin Jeayes, Annie Knox, Martin W. Payne, Pablo Raybould, Tony Sands, Dani Thompson, Luna Wolf, Anna Dixon, Eve Oliver
Starring: Pauline Peart, Stacy Hart, Jack Glanville, Peter Tilley, Claire Louise Amias
Horror-Scopes aims to bring 12 of Indie Horrors’ brightest talents together to tell 12 star-crossed tales of Horror Scope-based horror.
In a new interview leading up to the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, I got a chance to ask writer-director Tony Sands a few questions about what we can expect from her segment of Horror-Scopes Volume One.
Horror-Scopes Volume One will be showing at Horror-on-Sea at 8 pm on Friday 13th January.
Q. Your film Horror-Scopes Volume One has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film and your segment Aries?
I’ve yet to see the completed film, I’ll be watching it for the first time at Horror-On-Sea. I’ve seen a couple of the other segments, and based on those it’s looking promising. There’s a lot of talent involved, so I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone has come up with.
‘Aries’, will hopefully produce smiles. We had a great cast of Liz McMullen, Elena Mazzon, Julia Messina, James Wren and the voice of Damon Rickard. Damon helped produce too, on top of doing the post-production work. It was a quick shoot, thanks to the actors. They really brought the best out of my script, which is of course a totally brilliant, awesome script. Ahem. Seriously, it was a lot of fun to make and I’m really happy with the results.
Q. How did you get involved in the horror anthology and what attracted you to the film?
A. I’ve known MJ and Anna from Mychos Productions for a few years, and I really like them. Genuinely lovely people. MJ and I have worked together on a number of horror anthology books (‘Castle Heights’, ‘Sweet Little Chittering’, and ‘Unceremonious’ so far) which were a lot of fun to do, so when he asked if I’d be interested in doing a segment for ‘Horrorscopes’ I was more than happy to say yes. It is a great concept!
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script for your segment?
A. I wanted to play with the genre, and do something fun. Werewolf movies were the starting point. From there it was a matter of writing something that I wanted to see, and something that made me smile. I wanted to really focus on the characters, and see what we could create through them. I took some script feedback from Damon, and another filmmaker friend of mine, Bob Pipe, to improve it. Bob gave me the idea for ‘Aries’ ending. Then, on the day, the actors were bouncing ideas around and it became an even better piece.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. We had a small location space to work in, which helped the film as I wanted a claustrophobic feel to it. The aim was to give it a horror look and vibe, but with zippy, fun dialogue.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Yup. Due to space limitations, we had to rethink a couple of things, mainly one of the characters exiting a scene. Everyone was involved in making it a better film. The idea that resolved the ‘exiting the scene’ issue was a brilliant one, in my opinion at least. Wasn’t mine, but I can’t remember who did think of it.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. Loved all of it. I got to spend time with some talented people I really like spending time with, making a fun little film which I hope they’ll all be proud of and an audience will enjoy.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. Nothing the team couldn’t handle.
Q. What makes Aries stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. It’s sheer awesomeness. And, the modesty of its director.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. A smile.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Yes. Working on more books, I am involved in the early stages of another horror feature, and I’ll be involved in ‘Horoscopes: Volume 2’. Have a script for that…just need the location.. and crew ..and time.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Do it, enjoy it, and make the film you want to see.
Horror-Scopes Volume One will be showing at Horror-on-Sea at 3 pm on Friday 13th January. You can purchase tickets and merchandise for the festival on the website 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!
