Dread

Starring: Anthony Payne, Paul Hardy and Wendy Clemments

Adapted from a short story by Clive Barker, this psychological horror about a man's obsession with fear really fascinated me. I shot the film in black and white to hide my poor lighting skills, using derelict buildings as locations that had little or no electricity. As the film was mostly set at night I had to use a portable generator at the expense of the soundtrack. Looking back on it now, I managed to create some genuine moments of tension experimenting with composition and point of view, using the black and white grainy image of my video 8 camera and accidental film noir-like lighting.

B&W Video 8 - Duration 35'00" - © Delfilm 1991

Unfortunately due to my college commitments, I had to abandon the film, only ever being able to offer a trailer and some edited scenes. More recently I was saddened to see an appalling 2009 feature film adaptation. I would have loved to have made a version closer to the graphic novel and still set in the UK.