"In the Grip of Terror" by Amicus Productions - Horror Movie

Exclusive Amicus Pics & James Wan Endorses Amicus & Black Chariot!
3 months ago – Wed, Jul 24, 2024 at 06:24:22 AM

Well, my dear friends, the shoot for the first segment of Amicus Productions' "In the Grip of Terror" is complete. After working with our incredible cast and crew these last few days on the segment "A Watcher by the Dead" by Ambrose Bierce, it was clear that the entire team embodied the spirit of Amicus Productions and that golden era of British Horror. This is precisely what we are championing with the British Horror Studio project.

On set, everything felt perfect. The atmosphere, the visuals, and even the sound were just right. Overhearing the crew discussing their favourite films from Amicus and Hammer made me smile.

Those days don’t have to disappear; that era of storytelling can come back. In an age where studios purchase brands and IPs—or, put it like this, our golden memories—only to ruin and destroy them in acts of corporate iconoclasm so they can be re-branded and re-constructed for their perception of today's audience, there’s a lot to fear. There was so much fear among some that the same might happen with Amicus too.

Well, I think any such fears can be put to rest. As I share these great photographs from our cinematographer Michael Brewster, with whom I am working in close consort on all the segments, it’s plain to see that Amicus is truly back.

Dorian Todd and Sam Barclay, both young men who share a passion for performance and indie filmmaking, have supported our efforts these last two years. When they're not acting, they're mopping the floors of our building—working with everyone as a team to make a British Horror Studio. Both of them are gifted and full of potential.

Our cast was joined by wonderful talents who played nurses and patients in our hospital setting. This includes the magnificent Michael Daviot, a friend of mine who might also be best described as our modern-day Christopher Lee. He is also a passionate devotee of horror and occult history, not to mention an expert on all things Hammer and Amicus. He is joined by the beautiful Miss Amicus (Megan Tremethick), who stars in her own segment inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's "Cool Air," and Jacklyn Calvard!

Michael Daviot, a distinguished actor with a rich, deep voice reminiscent of Christopher Lee, plays Helberson, a manipulative cad who enjoys gambling and being something of a ladies' man.

In our segment, a character called Jarret, who bears a striking resemblance to Mancher, also played by Dorian Todd, must spend the night alone with a corpse in a test of courage and medical science!

Our segment also features delightful and theatrical style ageing make-up, and other wonderful aesthetic elements that might not be utilised in the films of today... but return proudly in our Amicus Productions!

Not to mention plenty of police constables and a detective with a pipe (played by Tom Staunton) who starred in Hex Studios Ghost Crew.

Can We Do for Hitchcock What We've Done for Amicus?

As a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock and supernatural horror, it may come as no surprise that we’re putting preparations into a Kickstarter for a film that embodies those macabre qualities. "Black Chariot" is a spine-tingling film that aims to evoke the childhood nostalgia I experienced, watching black-and-white chillers that struck me to the bone.

Like our Amicus film, it represents the sort of project that nobody would make today without spoiling it for supposedly mainstream audiences. They are the kind of films that only a madman or a boutique horror studio like us would dare to make. It's also the type of film that would only get made thanks to your support.

Our film stars Laurence R. Harvey in his most serious and dramatic role to date, in a haunting and disturbing portrayal that will get under your skin and linger with you for some time.

He is joined by Dorian Todd, who gives a magnificent portrayal of a young and psychopathic Oxford student Edward (whom you saw in our Amicus update) in a performance comparable to those of Malcolm McDowell in his young heyday from films such as If....

He is joined by Sam Barclay, who plays a sentimental but unstable 50s teddy-boy also called Sam!

These wonderful young actors are joined by Miss Amicus (Megan Tremethick) and Novarro Ramon, who plays an aspiring gangster besotted by the mythology of the Italian mafia.

Novarro Ramon is the stage name of Shadi El Dah, and not only is that his stage name, but for this young performer it is a very personal tribute to the Latin American actor of the silent screen (Ramon Novarro) and a character and persona he plays behind the camera too.

I've never seen the like in my entire career, but it represents a profound commitment to a performance when the actor behind the character is a loving tribute, and a deeply realised characterisation of the sort of performer that lived almost 100 years ago.

There is so much more I can talk about for "Black Chariot"... it's a project that I feel all of you will love, and it's something that was in the can before we started the Amicus campaign. It speaks to my soul in the same way as our film for Amicus Productions does.

It's a reach to the past, for something more glorious than ourselves - for an age of timeless storytelling and style that should be championed and preserved. With "Black Chariot," and all our films, I'm trying to play my own small part in keeping that legacy alive.

I hope you will too, and support our new project by visiting the link, and hitting the "notified when launch" button. If we can reach 600 before launching in two weeks' time, we'll have a chance of knocking this out of the park.

With your help.

Big hugs - and expect more updates soon!

Lawrie Brewster

Amicus Productions

British Horror Studio

PS - James Wan liked our Instagram Posts and messaged us to wish us good luck! 

The First Day of the Amicus Shoot is Complete!
3 months ago – Sat, Jul 20, 2024 at 06:00:13 AM

The First Day of the Amicus Shoot is Complete!

Yes, the first day of shooting for Amicus is complete, and nobody perished—at least, nobody who wasn't supposed to in the script! Before I delve into how the first day went, remember this:

If you would like a more detailed report, with extra pictures and fun details, please sign up for the British Horror Studio on Patreon. There are both free and paid tiers, which will give you complete access to everything. I update it about six days a week, and it's basically our very own indie horror local newspaper, covering the making of In the Grip of Terror and our other retro-inspired horror films. You can find it here. I earnestly recommend that everyone join because I can't fit all my news into Kickstarter updates.

Okay, Okay, Back to the Update

The first segment we're shooting is A Watcher by the Dead by Ambrose Bierce. It features two young men training to be doctors who make a deadly wager with their flamboyant university dean. What could possibly go wrong? Filming took place yesterday and will continue on Sunday and Monday.

Here's our very own Christopher Lee (Michael Daviot) getting into makeup! Miss Amicus herself (Megan Tremethick) is the head makeup designer and designed the nurses' costumes you'll see coming up.

Here are our two young lads, Dorian Todd and Sam Barclay, who play Mancher and Harper respectively. They're gurning as they bear the pressure of hair clips on their heads (which will be removed before filming!).

We also can't forget our beautiful nurses, played by Megan Tremethick (who stars in the segment inspired by Cool Air). Here she is with a poor patient called Mr. Grimsdyke!

Soon, filming was underway, as we shot the scenes in which the wager takes place. In the segment, this cuts back and forth while the students set up for this medical experiment-turned-wager.

For more pictures (including a peek at the crypt location), pop over to the British Horror Studio, where you'll get a pile more of my half-drunk musings.

All of the pictures above were taken behind the scenes with my phone :)

Black Chariot

While filming takes place for In the Grip of Terror, our previously completed filming for our Hitchcockian-inspired horror film Black Chariot has led us to prepare a Kickstarter campaign. This campaign is an important part of our mission to champion traditional, atmospheric storytelling.

I'm very excited to share more news about this film, which is produced by Hex Studios. Imagine Hex as a bit like our Tigon compared to Amicus (and by the way, it nearly did become Tigon, but that's another story). Both Hex and Amicus form the foundation of our British Horror Studio project. We are developing and producing films that follow the project's spiritual and artistic goal to champion something special from the past.

We have an exciting new thumbnail that really expresses our film's dark Gothic leanings and 1950s British setting.

I urge everyone to please support this Hitchcockian supernatural horror by clicking the link and hitting the green "Get Notified When Launched" button. We're trying to reach 600 campaign followers, and if we can do that, then by god, we'll be proving the industry nay-sayers wrong all over again!

Ride the Black Chariot

ANNOUNCING Black Chariot - A Hitchcockian Horror Movie!
3 months ago – Tue, Jul 16, 2024 at 07:52:34 AM

"Ride the black chariot to doom... in this Hitchcockian horror, where a cursed car avenges a murder with chilling ghostly retribution."

Today, I am thrilled to launch the pre-launch Kickstarter page for Black Chariot, a film that has been shot and is now in post-production. This project ranks among the most disturbing and haunting creations of my career, with even the production itself having an uncanny atmosphere. Black Chariot stars the enigmatic black Wolseley 15/50 featured in our Amicus pitch video, alongside the stunning Miss Amicus herself, Megan Tremethick.

As a child, I was haunted by the macabre imagination of Alfred Hitchcock. His films, such as Rebecca (1940), Vertigo (1958), and Psycho (1960), held an unnerving grip over my fears and had a formative influence on my filmmaking.

Like Hitchcock, I have often favored the beautiful muse, placing them in the terrifying and labyrinthine realms of my own horror imagination. Romantic and terrifying...

Nowhere is this more evident than in Black Chariot, a black-and-white supernatural thriller that combines my inspirations from Hitchcock with noir classics such as The Big Sleep (1946) and Val Lewton's The Seventh Victim (1943) and Cat People (1942).

These films hail from a long-lost, classic, and beautiful era of visual storytelling that I want to champion and revive. There’s no better way to achieve this than by rolling up your sleeves and collaborating with like-minded artists and audiences.

I aim to produce beautiful-looking terror, and I believe Black Chariot delivers on this promise. The story follows a heist gone wrong, involving three young impressionable gangsters and a female hostage, led by a corrupt bank manager (played by a horror legend whose role will blow your minds).

At their meeting point in a dark forest, they encounter a mysterious red light, where they must deliver a red case to a horrifying client known as 'The Devil.'

I'm already saying too much... This is a film of whispers, nuance, and betrayal, and then... when it happens...

When it taps at the car window at night.

Pure Terror.

How You Can Help

My friends, we are developing gorgeous Blu-rays and goodies to help fund the completion of Black Chariot. With the launch of our Kickstarter pre-launch page, we're humbly asking everyone who might appreciate a vintage chiller and yearn for that period of filmmaking to return, to please sign up.

Because, with your help, we can do it: Kickstarter Pre-Launch

PS - That's all great but what about Amicus? Shooting begins on Friday, and rest assured I'm working my sweet ass on our movie! 

Free Gothic Photo-Set and We Begin Shooting next Friday!
3 months ago – Sat, Jul 13, 2024 at 08:24:52 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Free to Join Patreon for Daily Amicus Updates!
3 months ago – Tue, Jul 09, 2024 at 07:02:54 AM

Free to Join Patreon for Daily Amicus Updates! 

Greetings, my beautiful friends and appreciated backers of our "In the Grip of Terror" Amicus Productions Campaign! First, I want to draw your attention to over 30 articles about the work we've been producing for "In the Grip of Terror." These articles feature videos, photographs, and witty pieces written by yours truly, which you can enjoy absolutely free.

You can comment on them with your own witty remarks and engage with the community we're building to support our Amicus Project, called the "British Horror Studio."

Here is the link: British Horror Studio Patreon

What is the British Horror Studio?

The British Horror Studio is the name of the community we're building, aiming to create a positive and nurturing space for our audience and horror artists. We want everyone under the same tent, as we believe this is the future of indie filmmaking, continuing the collaborative spirit fostered by Kickstarter.

It's also the name of an alliance between Amicus Productions, Hex Studios, and a charity called Fife Creative Studios, which aims to promote creative works inspired by the golden era of British cinematic horror.

While there are paid tiers that offer bonuses and goodies, we've ensured there is a free tier that makes our British Horror Studio project accessible to everyone. On this platform, I've been providing almost daily updates on the progress of "In the Grip of Terror" and our other horror projects.

So, you know what I'm going to say, right? Get yourselves over to British Horror Studio Patreon and join me over a nice cup of tea! 

Updates on Our Amicus Film

Filming begins next week on the first segment of "Watcher by the Dead," and we're all very excited! The hospital ward is ready, and our creepy crypt set is almost complete—we just need a few stone skull ornaments for our plinths.

In the meantime, we're working hard on the creepy Victorian bedroom of our seaside villa for the "A Diagnosis of Death" segment. We've taken a disused space and built a set from scratch!

Above is our work in progress, but many more props have been arriving, including our magnificent cursed oil painting for the segment.

I'd write 5,000 words to tell you everything, but just today we've been taking pictures and videos from our costume fittings for "Watcher by the Dead." With our videos, there's a lot of fun to be had meeting the team!

Rest assured, we're working hard, and I do hope you pop over to join our community for free regular updates! British Horror Studio Patreon