REVISITING A STORY OF ROMANCE, SUSPENSE AND HORROR

The double murders at the

St. Paul’s Church vicarage down Kynsey Road were the talk of the town back in the ‘70s. Father Matthew

Peiris - the accused, was a celebrity pastor and an internationally renowned exorcist whom many people feared. Those who recall the trials to date describe Fr. Matthew's significant features - dark-skinned with a long white beard wearing round spectacles, sometimes seen talking to people outside the vicarage. The carefully planned murder of Russel Ingram, husband of Dalrene Ingram who later becomes Fr. Matthew's lover by adding anti-diabetic drugs into her husband's meals, is described as a classic case where medical evidence played a pivotal role in the outcome of the trials. Fr. Matthew's case also goes down in history as the first murder case in which two detectives were sent to England on a homicide investigation. Dalrene's charming looks blinded Fr. Matthew in a way that he had no comeback. Already committed to Eunice Mendis and a father of four children, Fr. Matthew may have realised that he had no way out but to kill the two individuals standing in his way. His first attempt to kill Russel by giving him Euglucon – an antidiabetic drug was successful, but little did he know that medical officers at the General Hospital would find the similarities of the two incidents when his wife was also admitted after an overdose of Euglucon.

GAVIN LUDEWYKE AS DETECTIVE CRUSE“This is my first movie and was an amazing experience. One of my friends said there’s a movie and wanted me to have a look. When I got there Mr.rutnam asked if I could play the role of Detective Cruse. The crew was very helpful and I didn’t feel like an amateur at that time. I have been involved in a couple of Sinhalese movies and I’m getting a few gigs here and there and I love it.”

CHANDRAN RUTNAM, Director – According to Matthew“Directing a film is not difficult. I enjoyed it and it was a nice experience. But getting it released and the little hiccups and the hurdles that are thrown our way are not very pleasant. Yet, we overcame them. We made use of the court records and the fact that I knew the man. One cannot stop a filmmaker, we will do it somehow. I’m starting on a new film project in Assam next year.”

ALSTON KOCH as Father Matthew Peiris“It was a challenging role because I had to be Matthew Peiris. It didn’t take too long for me to get into the role because I knew the subject well. Part of an actor’s job is to learn the subject matter, go through the lines and be the man himself. This is why I decided to do a few things such as confessing to God. He was doing everything that a normal man would do. While everybody thought he was different, I think inside him, he wasn’t different.”

MENIK KURUKULASURIYA “A very interesting movie. It was a well-known story and was the topic of Colombo at one time. The film has been done very well and it keeps you gripped making you want to know what will happen next. Alston and Jacqui have done a convincing portrayal. The younger generation doesn’t know the story but if they watch the movie they will find out.”

ASHAN DIAS “It’s a really difficult task because you are dealing with a lot of people who are still alive today. It’s quite a sensitive issue and I think Mr.rutnam has handled it really well. As a product it has a bit of suspense, romance and horror. Even though we knew the story, we still want to know what happened.”

BIMSARA PREMARATNE as Eunice Peiris“It was challenging because I had to play the role of a 60-year old lady and it’s the first time I’m performing for the big screen. But Chandran and Alston and the entire cast were very supportive. Getting into the role I tried to research about her but after the scandal she became a very quiet person and there’s very little information about her.”

CHANAKYA JAYADEVA“I think it’s a great make of a true story. It’s not easy to make true stories because there are legal issues and the challenge of making it up to the exact incident. Chandran has taken the challenge of not only battling the legal issues but creating a true story.”

SANJAY NILES, Managing Director – Ceylon Theatres Pvt. Ltd.“In my younger days I used to read the updates of the court case. It has come back to life and I remember a lot of things now. It’s for a mature audience but Rutnam has done an excellent job of bringing it to life.”

SANDY JAYAMAHA“It was fantastic and it was more than what we expected. We were really excited and were waiting for it to come out for a long time.”

SHIROMALCOORAY“It was a true story and it has a lot of history behind it. Hence it was very interesting.” –