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Irish Examiner

Scary Éire: Why Irish horror films are having a moment

Steeped in the supernatural but anchored by our stories and history, Irish horror is having a moment, with tales of the unexpected and scary movies making waves at home and internationally. In a nation reared on stories of banshees and fairy forts, pookas and changelings, ghosts as well as more recent societal traumas, it makes perfect sense. Now, a new wave of talented storytellers are building on growing audience interest in our knack for bringing a scare to the screen. They include Bantry filmmaker Damian McCarthy. Following the international success of his most recent film, Oddity, McCarthy's latest drew Severance star Adam Scott to Ireland to film on location in West Cork. Hokum - shot at the recently opened West Cork Studios - stars Scott as a horror novelist who visits a remote Irish inn to spread his parents' ashes, unaware of rumours it is haunted by a witch. The film is being backed by Screen Ireland. The latest horror feature to come to our screens is in the Irish language. In cinemas from this weekend, Fréwaka tells of a young woman (Clare Monnelly) sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman Peig (Bríd Ní Neachtain). Peig lives in fear of Na Sídhe, sinister entities who she believes abducted her years before. Fréwaka's writer and director, Aislinn Clarke, believes that horror can be an interesting and unique way of looking at trauma in our lives and our histories. 'Horror is well placed to examine stuff like social trauma, generational trauma without being preachy, or worthy, or feeling like it's going to be a hard time for audiences,' says Clarke. 'Using metaphors, using the dream space to go into thinking about these things without being confronted by it too directly. Often people actually need that to start them off.' Fréwaka is the latest Irish horror film. The success of Fréwaka (meaning Roots) on the festival circuit in advance of release means that Clarke has spoken with audiences and industry people around the world - and has noticed a growing interest in Irish horror movies. 'It really is having a moment everywhere. I was in LA a few weeks ago, and everyone was talking about it like it's a phenomenon. For such a small number of people - there aren't that many of us - we're making a real impact, as we have done in other art forms as well." Clarke points out that many Irish traditional stories - the old folk tales - are very dark. "It's not really a surprise to me that we're making horrors. Historically, there wasn't that much infrastructure to allow filmmaking and new filmmakers to develop. It just wasn't there in the same way it might be in London or Hollywood,' says Clarke. As the Green Wave of Irish filmmakers and stars making their mark at home and abroad grows, it allows for more opportunity. 'It's not really surprising to me that as soon as we have that bedrock of that fertile ground, horror comes really quickly after that.' A growing number of Irish horror storytellers are bringing their spooky tales to Irish cinema audiences - but also driving strong international interest. An Taibhse (The Ghost) - made on a tiny budget by filmmaker John Farrelly and set in post-Famine Ireland - has made waves in Irish cinemas and at festivals in Brazil, Argentina and South Africa. West Cork filmmaker Damian McCarthy's Hokum is being produced by Julianne Forde and Ruth Treacy of Tailored Films. As well as their recent success with The Apprentice -the Oscar-nominated tale of the young Donald Trump - other Tailored productions include gothic horror The Lodgers. Bantry director Damian McCarthy's next film will star Severance actor Adam Scott. Picture: Marcin Lewandowski Kate Dolan's recent horror You Are Not My Mother offered an Irish perspective on a mystery around a possible changeling, while Lorcan Finnegan's NOCEBO starred Eva Green as a designer suffering from a mysterious illness. Finnegan will next direct Nicolas Cage in forthcoming thriller The Surfer. Lee Cronin's The Hole in the Ground, starring Séana Kerslake as a young mother who forms suspicions about her son, was a hit with audiences and critics. As the Irish reputation for scary movies grows, some filmmakers are drawing the interest of international studios. They include Kate Dolan, who is directing the thriller Soulm8te, to be released in cinemas worldwide next year. Some studios are also opting to make films on location in Ireland. Following his success with the latest film in the Evil Dead series, Evil Dead Rise, Irish filmmaker Lee Cronin is now shooting a new take on the iconic horror The Mummy in Ireland. Starring Jack Reynor, the film will be released internationally next year. Other big studio horrors recently filmed in Ireland include Abigail, the tale of a criminal gang who take a young girl (Irish actress Alisha Weir) to ransom, only to discover she is a vampire. Having impressed US studio bosses following the release of The Hole in the Ground, Irish writer Stephen Shields worked as co-writer on the movie, released here by Universal Pictures. That it was filmed in Ireland, he adds, was a happy coincidence. Stephen Shields wrote Abigail. 'It being shot here was just completely Kismet, just meant to be,' says Shields. 'What happened was, after Lee Cronin and I made The Hole in the Ground, I was in Los Angeles for a round of meetings. One of those meetings happened to be with Universal. I went in just to have a general conversation, had this idea for a vampire movie-heist movie in the back of my head. Universal really latched on to it.' Shields, too, feels that Irish horror filmmakers are having a moment and this is resonating internationally. 'We come from a land of fairy tales and myths, and a lot of them are very horror-centric. Now that we're growing up as filmmakers and making movies, they're coming to the forefront.' He also thinks that horror is one of the enduring staples in what is a time of ongoing change in screen entertainment. 'My personal opinion is that horror, of all the genres of filmmaking, is the most audience-friendly. And what I mean by that is, I think more people go to the cinema to watch horror because, in terms of a communal experience, it's a great genre to go and see. I put that up there with comedy as well. "It's very reactive, and that's not to say anything bad about dramas or anything like that, but I think people like to go to the cinema to have that emotional experience." Shields adds that you don't need a really big-name star to sell a good horror film. "It's always good when you have a big movie star - but I think the concept of horror itself is the thing people go to the cinema to see. It's the experience that sells. It serves as a great genre for attracting up and coming stars as well, which is always good. A lot of the most famous Hollywood movie stars out there started their journey in the horror space.' Fréwaka is in cinemas as from Friday, April 25. is in cinemas as from Friday, April 25. Abigail is on rental platforms including Sky and Apple TV