Worthing premiere for new Sussex-based paranormal horror film

The movie was made in locations including Hastings, Worthing, Arundel and Brighton. Tickets for the premiere are available on https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-cellar-world-premiere-tickets-986667718707

Written and directed by Jamie, the film comes from Double Take Pictures Ltd and features Meghan Adara, Neil James, Charlotte Marshall and Mickaela Sands, the tale, lasting 85 minutes, of a young girl who wakes up imprisoned underground ...

“I wrote it as we went along,” Jamie said. “It was like a work in progress. It started as a short film and we shot like ten or 11 minutes on one day but then I started thinking we have got enough story here to turn it into a feature film. It starts with a girl who is locked in an underground basement. She's like in a cell and she wakes up and she's got no recollection of how she got there. She just has to get out of this cell and navigate through these catacombs and work out what is happening, and as she goes along she uncovers more and more. She keeps seeing things and gets more recollections and starts to remember. And she gets to the point where she works out exactly what is in play here.

“She's just a young girl. She's had a tough life and there is a bit of a back story. She gets into a bad crowd and she gets into alcohol and drugs and then she ends up finding herself at an AA meeting with a church group. But it is more than a church group. There is more going on...

“We started shooting in January and we finished in June and we were filming in a variety of hidden locations. In Brighton we used an underground cellar underneath a hotel which was an amazing place and in Arundel we used the Arundel Jailhouse. In Worthing we shot some in my house and we also shot in a church and we also used some external locations like fields. And in Hastings we found the most amazing Victorian bed and breakfast (St Benedict B&B) which is set up like it was in in Victorian times. Everything is Victorian in this hotel. It is really gothic-y and great for horror films.

“I would not say that the shoot was easy but the whole thing just grew and grew and we got more and more momentum. We set up a crowdfunder and I was just expecting to get something like £50 but we raised more than £6,000 and that paid for the whole film. I was very resourceful. I know a lot of actors and I know a lot of crew and I know how to be a little bit thrifty!

“We've got the premiere in Worthing and then we've got some film festivals lined up. The film is with a sales agent and we're hoping to release it internationally but the first thing is the premiere.”

Ultimately Jamie hopes it will reach one of the major streaming platforms: “I think it's realistic to hope that. It not guaranteed but I would say that it was a 25 per chance that it could be sold to one of the big streaming platforms. It really depends on the sales agent and what their connections are like with the big streaming bosses.”