From the moment the first brassy squeal of BIG orchestrated soundtrack blasts off the screen you know that you're in for on-the-edge-of-your-seat tension ridden movie mania. Torches flash, monsters moan, blondes scream - and above it all rises Mark Macready, the larger than life cop with a larger than life gun, and larger than life raised eyebrows.
"This city needs me" he growls, as he hunts down the heart stealing shape shifters who have nicked his wife, and left a trail of destruction and blood-spurting bodies in their wake. The Archangel Murders is all action, way over the top, unremitting fear and fun, shot in glorious, goreous semi-sepia colour which sets the tone and 50s style veneer of a low budget drive-in spine tingler.
But this ain't no amateur mess about for You Tube. The spoof stands out for its professional production values and sheer slit-flic class. Everything from the special effects, to the make up, to the soundtrack and script is totally, totally up there. And the film is already hitting cult status both in Salford and in the States, while it's been shown at film festivals like 24:7 in Manchester.
Today, Ryan McDermott, who produced the film and plays Mark Macready, and Sean Candon, who co-wrote and directed it, are sat in the very unscary Morrison's café in Eccles, explaining the film's history.
"We just wanted to make a fun ride, something you could watch with your mates and have a laugh with on Friday night" says Ryan "It's a feature film with all the sub plots cut out so we could get all the action, the pace and the gore into thirty minutes."
"We wanted to make something for ourselves" adds Sean "And now that
people are turning around saying it's really good means that the blood, sweat and tears we put into it are paying off."
Yet The Archangel Murders was turned down for finance by every single funder they approached, from North West Vision to The Lottery to Salford Council, and ended up being made by the crew emptying their back drawers and flogging stuff on e-bay. Not a good advert for Media City.
"They need to start talking to people who are at the level we are at and say `What do you want out of this?' And actually listen'" Sean explains "The majority of people will say that they want more opportunities and more training."
"No-one from Media City has spoken to us" adds Ryan "But we hope this film can pave the way for Media City to see that there is talent here ready to be worked with and that it doesn't all have to be industry approved projects."
Sean and Ryan haven't come out of nowhere. The pair have already won the BBC 3 Funny Hunt Award, beating over a thousand entrants with their film The Driving Test, and were developing its main character for a radio script.
"It was supposed to be four 15 minute slots on Radio 7 but the BBC shut the department and moved it back to London" Ryan recalls "We knew we could write so, after that knock back, we went down the indie film route and dusted off this Mark Macready character which our third production partner, Paul Feeney, had created at Pendleton College. We all co-wrote The Archangel Murders and now we hope that the finished product will inspire filmmakers in Salford to make high concept films with or without funding."
"We're still learning" adds Sean "But this shows that anyone can make a film and, hopefully, the next time you see Mark Macready will be on the big screen with a big budget."
In the meantime, the trio are looking to make more short B-movie style films and consolidating their CM Films production company. They also hope to premiere The Archangel Murders properly at the Salford Film Festival in November, where audiences will spot Swinton's train station, Conservative Club and BASF building getting transformed into haunts of the supernatural, and monsters lurking in Clifton Marina and the Quays. Media City should be afraid…very afraid of this scary new talent…
Mark Macready and the Archangel Murders is being shown on Friday August 7th as part of Kino 4 – Fright Night at the Green Room in Manchester £3 (must book in advance) further details on the Macready Facebook site
For more about the film see http://www.archangelmurders.com/
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
