Horror movie set to film in Chichester, Selsey and Amberley

Annabella Rich is the co-writer with her partner Chris Mills. She is also the director and will be playing the female lead. Bella is expecting the film to cost around £30,000 of which they are needing to find £15,000 through a fundraiser. You can support the project on https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-death-of-us-a-horror-thriller-feature-film?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0BMQABHbj3tstKMERosl6NpwS7dYxBNkiyUwUxeQ2Usfk6WqEziGRky8A2YPWO-w_aem_ylEWixkz1qoPdihMMt_8Wg#/.

Horror is Bella’s speciality: “I love the independent horror scene in the UK. I think it was because my mum and I used to get together and watch all the horror films all the time, and we still do. And I think there is something beautiful in horror. It is not just blood and guts. There is an underlying meaning as well. And I just used to love the special effects especially once I'd figured them out.”

And no, she certainly doesn't worry what horror is doing to us all: “I did my dissertation on violence in games and TV and shows for kids. But it's actually sport where there is more of a problem and that has the worst statistics afterwards for homicide and abuse at home. And I think a lot of people are very biased. A lot of people say how damaging horror is on the back of just six cases and speaking to a few parents. I do think it can have bad effects but I think the problem is more in the way that children are neglected these days.”

As for the film: “It follows a couple that have just hit fame and they are subjected to a home invasion that goes wrong. The whole thing puts them in disarray, and because they are in the spotlight it is all put across YouTube and so on.”

The point of interest for Bella is that they are a healthy couple: “I couldn't find any films where the couple really was actually healthy. Usually they've cheated or they've done things and that's the way they find the conflict. But I needed to find the conflict in other ways which made it quite an interesting film to write.”

It will be filmed on the south coast with filming running between February 1-13: “We are definitely filming in Chichester and I've also got a location in Selsey and we've also got Amberley. It's a feature film. The script is 95 pages but there are some long suspense scenes in there so really I think we're looking at 105 minutes or maybe 110 minutes.”

And key to the production is bringing in neurodivergent females, Bella says: “I am ADHD and I'm wanting to get as many neurodivergent females involved as possible. There is, I guess, well, not exactly a fobbing off but I speak to so many people that I've worked with that have got ADHD but don't talk about it because it might dampen their chances of getting a job whereas I think it should be celebrated. We should be opening up about it more. I've got to work with so many great women who are absolutely multitasking and then you talk to them behind the scenes and you say they are brilliant and they tell you that they've got a diagnosis. And I just think that it just shows how brilliantly they are doing and how brilliant they are and it's such a shame that they can't be more open about it.”

Bella grew up in Selsey, Chichester and Bognor, moving back during Covid: “I was living in Brighton and then the pandemic happened. I was living with an ex-boyfriend and my dad just said ‘Come home.’ He said ‘Something really big is going to be happening. Just come home.’ And I did and it was the best thing I've ever done.”