You may think by my headline that a gothic puppet horror film sounds a bit muppet(ish), but I assure you, after watching the trailer for Kevin McTurk’s The Mill At Calder’s End, you will have a new respect for this man and what he’s trying to do. Read on for more details.
In this gothic puppet tale, Nicholas Grimshaw has returned home to unearth the dark secret of the Mill at Calder’s End.
The Mill at Calder’s End is a passion project that is heavily influenced by the classic Hammer horror films of the 1960s and the films of Mario Bava (most notably, his gothic masterpiece Black Sunday).
McTurk’s animation style is not your parent’s muppets, nor is it stop motion animation. The Mill at Calder’s End is a gothic ghost story in the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft that will be told with 30 inch tall bunraku puppets and old fashioned in-camera special effects.Featuring the voices of Jason Flemyng (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,X-Men:First Class) and horror legend Barbara Steele (Black Sunday,The Pit and the Pendulum) , this film celebrates two of McTurk’s great loves: the art of puppetry and gothic horror.
From my experience working as a special effects artist in Hollywood for over twenty years and now collaborating with some of the most talented creature effects artists,concept artists, and puppeteers in the industry, The Mill at Calder’s End will be unlike any puppet film you have ever seen before. – The Mill At Calder’s End Kickstarter
The Mill at Calder’s End is a gothic tale that will be told with the traditional Japanese theater puppetry technique known as bunraku. Each puppet figure is controlled by three (or more) puppeteers dressed in black and hidden behind each character. It is my goal to make a film that celebrates practical effects and therefore there will be almost no computer generated imagery in the final film.
This project looks like it will be awesomely great, I can’t wait to see the finished film.
Watch the trailer for The Mill At Calder’s End here,
Source: Twitch
