Exeter filmmaker Ashley Thorpe’s Spring Heel Jack horror features gets the green light

Award winning novelist/screenwriter/producer, Philip Nutman, has signed on to co-produce with Carrion Film’s Tom Atkinson and award-winning filmmaker, Ashley Thorpe’s Spring Heel Jack. It will be Ashley’s first feature.

The movie follow Ashely’s theme of resurrecting old tales in a Penny Dreadful stylee. Spring Heeled Jack first appeared in 1837 and was described by people claiming to have seen him as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with a diabolical physiognomy: clawed hands, and eyes that ‘resembled balls of fire’.

The urban legend of Spring Heeled Jack gained immense popularity in its time due to the tales of his bizarre appearance and ability to make extraordinary leaps, to the point where he became the topic of several works of fiction.

The production is set to call upon a wealth of Devon talent including award-winning filmmaker Toby DeBurgh, who is on board for DOP duties and Carrion Film regular Edward Berry in an as yet to be disclosed supporting role

“Ashley has written a brilliant script which transcends his visionary short films, and I am excited to be working with the man whom I consider to be the most talented filmmaker in Britain today,” said expatriate Phil from his office in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US.

“This is going to be a revolutionary motion picture which will stun audiences with its visual verve and emotional pitch. This is the project I have been waiting years for to entice me back to Britain to make a movie. I just never expected it would lead me to Exeter!”

Ashley picked up the Buried Alive! Visionary Award at the fifth annual Buried Alive! film festival in Atlanta USA, in November 2010, and he’s also won the Independent Filmmaker Media Innovation award. His films have also been to Cannes and at the Raindance film festivals as well as being included in special screenings and getting airings on North West TV.

Ashley told D&CFilm: “After years of procrastination it looks like it’s finally going to happen!

“I didn’t initially envision that SHJ would be the feature at all, but after that first draft it became very obvious that it was far too ambitious to be a short. It was actually Mr Nutman’s suggestion to re-imagine the thing as a full blown feature and I’m glad that I had that guiding push, as I never would have had the balls to do it!

“It’s going to be real Dickensian nightmare, chocked full of juicy period details and whilst
it’s definitely ‘the next step’ for the Penny Dreadful series we’re all aiming for the film to retain all those textural qualities that people seem to like about the previous animated horrors.”

Further details are expected to be posted on the Carrion Film site in the not too distant future.

Check out the first audio trailer for Spring Heel Jack read by Larry Fessenden

[audio:https://www.devon-cornwall-film.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/spring_heel_jack_trailer.mp3|titles=spring_heel_jack_trailer]