Bafflegab Productions
has just announced the first day of recording has happened on a new audio
production of Blood on Satan’s Claw, starring Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith.
The original film was released back in 1971 and starred (amongst others) Linda
Hayden, who also returns for this production. The new cast also includes Alice
Lowe (Sightseers, Prevenge), John Heffernan (Ripper Street, Jonathan Strange
and Mr Norrell), Ralph Ineson (The Witch, The Office) and Philip Hill-Pearson
(Shameless, Good Cop).
Although some recording has happened, Bafflegab will be
launching a crowdfunding campaign with details announced on their website and Facebook
pages.
Mark Gatiss is a big fan of the original, and says: “I
first saw Blood on Satan’s Claw in the Friday night horror slot on Tyne Tees
television, when I was a kid. I remember it vividly because it scared the life
out of me. It’s so distinctly different. The pitch for the film is so strange,
and it’s very much in that folk horror tradition: dark, bucolic, earthy and
genuinely disquieting. It’s a fabulous tale.”
Scriptwriter Mark Morris adds: “I was first captivated by its
unsettling, nightmarish atmosphere at the age of 12 or 13, since when it’s been
one of my favourite horror films. I leaped at the chance, therefore, to adapt
and expand the original screenplay for this new audio version, and from day one
this has been a real labour of love. The calibre of the cast we’ve been able to
attract to the project is phenomenal, and a testament to the film’s enduring
impact. Blood on Satan’s Claw is back – and I’m incredibly proud, this time
around, to be a part of it.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the original, Blood on Satan’s Claw sits alongside Witchfinder General and The
Wicker Man as one of the three films which make up the subgenre known as
folk horror. In it, a village in 17th Century England is overcome by a Satanic
plague after a hideous skull is found in the furrows of a farmer’s field. The
village youth fall quickly under the devil’s spell and retreat to the woodland
to conduct games of sexual violence and sacrifice.
Fans of the original should rest assured this new audio
adaptation is true to the film. As Linda Hayden concludes: “It’s lovely working with Reece
Shearsmith and Mark Gatiss, as they’re huge fans of the film. I’m really
honoured. It was always a really atmospheric piece, and the script to this new
audio really captures that.”
More details can be found at bafflegab.co.uk.
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Bafflegab Productions
has just announced the first day of recording has happened on a new audio
production of Blood on Satan’s Claw, starring Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith.
The original film was released back in 1971 and starred (amongst others) Linda
Hayden, who also returns for this production. The new cast also includes Alice
Lowe (Sightseers, Prevenge), John Heffernan (Ripper Street, Jonathan Strange
and Mr Norrell), Ralph Ineson (The Witch, The Office) and Philip Hill-Pearson
(Shameless, Good Cop).
Although some recording has happened, Bafflegab will be
launching a crowdfunding campaign with details announced on their website and Facebook
pages.
Mark Gatiss is a big fan of the original, and says: “I
first saw Blood on Satan’s Claw in the Friday night horror slot on Tyne Tees
television, when I was a kid. I remember it vividly because it scared the life
out of me. It’s so distinctly different. The pitch for the film is so strange,
and it’s very much in that folk horror tradition: dark, bucolic, earthy and
genuinely disquieting. It’s a fabulous tale.”
Scriptwriter Mark Morris adds: “I was first captivated by its
unsettling, nightmarish atmosphere at the age of 12 or 13, since when it’s been
one of my favourite horror films. I leaped at the chance, therefore, to adapt
and expand the original screenplay for this new audio version, and from day one
this has been a real labour of love. The calibre of the cast we’ve been able to
attract to the project is phenomenal, and a testament to the film’s enduring
impact. Blood on Satan’s Claw is back – and I’m incredibly proud, this time
around, to be a part of it.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the original, Blood on Satan’s Claw sits alongside Witchfinder General and The
Wicker Man as one of the three films which make up the subgenre known as
folk horror. In it, a village in 17th Century England is overcome by a Satanic
plague after a hideous skull is found in the furrows of a farmer’s field. The
village youth fall quickly under the devil’s spell and retreat to the woodland
to conduct games of sexual violence and sacrifice.
Fans of the original should rest assured this new audio
adaptation is true to the film. As Linda Hayden concludes: “It’s lovely working with Reece
Shearsmith and Mark Gatiss, as they’re huge fans of the film. I’m really
honoured. It was always a really atmospheric piece, and the script to this new
audio really captures that.”
More details can be found at bafflegab.co.uk.
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