Filming first as horror to take over at Fife church

KIRKCALDY: Dedicated studio will create classic horror cinema

The world’s first dedicated studio for the production and distribution of horror films is to be based in Scotland.

Some cult horror classics have been made north of the border over the years, including The Wicker Man, the 1945 classic The Body Snatchers and The Dead Outside.

Now Hex Studios, which will be based in a former Gothic church in Kirkcaldy, will develop and produce horror and fantasy content.

The key focus will be on original storytelling and the nurturing of emerging genre voices.

The £500,000 project is set to create at least 20 jobs and up to 100 on shoots.

The identity of the church building has not yet been disclosed.

The Fife facility is being run by parent company Hex Media and will include both a green-screen studio, sound recording facilities, a special-effects workshop, and will also serve as a hub for events and screenings.

The company’s first production will be horror anthology movie For We Are Many, which will feature segments from filmmakers including Lawrie Brewster (The Black Gloves), Nicholas Vince (an actor in Hellraiser) and Brad Watson (Hallows Eve).

Talent lined up to appear in the anthology includes Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist) and Laurence Harvey (The Human Centipede II).

Roger Corman, famed US indie film producer, officially supports the project.

He said: “Hex Studios is an ambitious new project which aims to rekindle the spirit of classic horror cinema, and gives me hope for the future of original, independent filmmaking.”

The studio is being funded by an international consortium including Hex Media, 7 Toes Productions, 3rd Monkey Productions and further private equity investors.

Hex Studios plans to produce three films a year funded through private equity, EIS tax schemes and public funds, and is also setting itself up to acquire and distribute genre content in the UK and internationally.

The project is the brainchild of Hex Media founder Mr Brewster.

Mr Brewster said: “This will be the first dedicated horror film studios in the world and we hope to start in the spring.

“Other studios have seen horror as part of their vertical integration but ours will be solely dedicated to the genre.”

Some cult horror classics have been made north of the border over the years, including The Wicker Man.