Deadly Movies Takes a Look at Indie Horror Short ‘Mark Macready and The Archangel Murders‘ and Interviews producer and star Ryan McDermott
‘Mark Macready and The Archangel Murders’ is a 30 minute short made by a group of Manchester based Indie filmmakers. The short has developed a sizable online following and has been gaining momentum and buzz on the UK and International festival scene (Including the Horror UK Film Festival and the Cannes Short Film Corner). No mean feet given the sizable hardships of film making, and more-so, film distribution on the Indie scene. Better still, the film is now due for both web serial and feature length development. The short is a tongue-In-cheek horror comedy, following detective Mark Macready of the Greater Manchester Paranormal Investigations Department. When Macready’s wife is kidnapped by a shape-shifting demon, known as The Archangel, he combs the Manchester paranormal underbelly dishing out his own brand of sweet sweet justice. The film takes its cue from a plethora of pop culture horror successes; comparisons with ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Hellboy’ aren’t misplaced, and you can throw in some of ‘Shaun of the Dead’s sensibilities. And while the content may not be game changing, there’s a sense of honesty and knowing self parody that makes for an entertaining half hour. Ryan McDermott (lead, co producer, co editor, and co writer) is an especially enjoyable watch as the titular Macready, channelling many a movie hard boiled detective. His performance is in danger of making the phrase “alright ya bastard” acceptable down south.
Below is an interview Deadly Movies carried out with Ryan about the pitfalls of the Indie movie scene, the success of the film, and future Mark Macready projects.
Deadly Movies: Tell us a little bit about how you went about firstly funding the film?
Ryan McDermott: Funding was the first major stumbling block; it is of any project like this, especially working at an independent level. Myself, Sean Candon (Director) and Paul Feeney (Writer) tried the usual suspects such as the lottery and local film funding offices but we were met with a door. I can understand why in a way, we were very new and wanted to make something that was pretty ‘far out’. I don’t think the people employed at these funding offices are there to ‘get’ something like ‘Mark Macready’. They have a brief such as ‘is it socially relevant to the community?’ and ‘will it help disadvantaged people?’ Our project did neither; we didn’t fall into any tick boxes so funding really wasn’t on the cards. As the Producer I then had to think fast about how we’d raise the necessary budget (around £5,000) and I read an article with Director Shane Meadows talking about him buying cheap props on eBay for ‘This is England’. It was one of those light bulb moments where I thought ‘hey, we’ll sell stuff on eBay!’ and so the onslaught of selling all our old highly collectible movie merchandise began…I think everyone including myself still hates me for that idea! Aside from eBay we received loads of support from our friends and family who donated to the film, which meant so much. Whatever was missing from the budget we then invested ourselves just to ensure the film was finished.
DM: You’ve had admirable success and notable enthusiasm on the festival scene, how did that all come about?
RM: We managed to finish the film and then turned our attention to where would it would go next. So I spent a couple of weeks researching film festivals around the globe, specifically ones that ‘Mark Macready’ would fit into. I used a tool called Without a Box which is really helpful if you’re planning on festival domination. I quickly realised that the next stage of submitting the film was going to be a very costly exercise and one I’d even be tempted to call ‘risky’. When you submit a film to a festival they charge for that submission, some are very genuine and send you an email back saying ‘sorry this wasn’t for us, here’s why’ and then others simply take your money and vanish. As independent filmmakers it was really tough getting the film made let alone seen and I think the festival route can be very murky, there’s a chance you’re going to lose a lot of money not to mention on the submission but the postage too. I’d love to see a revamp of the process with festivals watching your movie online and then deciding, that way they can give you a direct answer. In my view they shouldn’t be charging filmmakers for something they’ve got no intention of showing, because in a way you’re funding that festival when you’ve had nothing to do with it. However, despite the setbacks we were very lucky and got accepted at some amazing film festivals across the UK and US, to name a few we screened at the world class Mayhem Horror Film Festival, NYC’s Zero Film Festival and the Horror UK film festival where the film picked up the prize for ‘Most Original Film’. So I guess my advice on the festival scene is to research each festival as much as possible and as the Knight says in ‘The Last Crusade’ “Choose wisely”
DM: Indie horror films are very difficult to get off the ground. Were there any major difficulties in getting the project made and then finished?
RM: I’d say the only major difficult process was the funding without it nothing could move forward. It’s amazing to think if we’d have walked away from the setbacks and not self financed the film that I wouldn’t be sat here talking about ‘Mark Macready’. It really does worry me knowing that funding setbacks are probably happening all the time to younger kids with the same ambition we had and I can only hope they find a way to make their movie. At some point in the near future these funding bodies are going to be called to account and I really hope its sooner rather than later. Luckily the team that we did have believed wholeheartedly in the film and there was no problem when it came to support which I’ll be forever grateful for.
DM: Social media seems to have played a massive part in spreading the word and the success of the short, talk us through that and the subsequent launch party.
RM: Social media has played a huge part in the success of ‘Mark Macready’, I’d say even more so than the festival route. But having both work side-by-side gave the film a huge advantage. I think there’s been more written about this film than other short horror in the UK over the past twelve months and that’s just crazy, especially when I think back to selling my 1980’s AT-AT on eBay and thinking ‘Why are we doing this?’. The great thing about having an online presence is the interaction and that was something I really wanted to ensure happened. In the past six months myself and several of the cast have been on Twitter and the response to the film has been overwhelming, so much so that I decided to throw a live interactive launch party to celebrate the online release of the film. The party was a huge hit, we had friends, family, fans and Twitter followers all in one room to celebrate the success of the film, we even had people from across the globe watching our live party stream. I think Mark Macready has surpassed all expectations and I believe that the use of Facebook and Twitter has been hugely responsible for that. Our product is a very genuine one, we didn’t want fan funding we just wanted support and we got that by the boat load, when you sit back and look at what the film has achieved on no money it’s pretty astonishing.
DM: Tell us what you can about future Mark Macready projects
RM: Next up is an animated prequel short, set before the events of ‘The Archangel Murders’. It’s been a really cool experiment and I’ve had a fantastic time working with animation director Gavin Johnson. We always said ‘Mark Macready’ had the potential to work in different mediums and I wanted to put that to the test with the animated film. We’re aiming for an August release so it shouldn’t be too long before everyone gets their next Macready fix. We also have the feature film version in active-development; Paul Feeney is working on a draft of the script at the moment from a treatment we put together earlier this year. The feature film is going to be pretty epic and ultimately it has to be worth making people pay to go and see it. We have to offer a much grander scale of storytelling yet the same stuff that everyone has fallen in love with, comedy and horror with a good dose of action, it’s a challenge but we love challenges.
DM: The short has a very tongue-in-cheek approach to content and dialogue, without skimping on the gore. Are future projects going to keep up the horror/comedy balance or do you intend to go somewhere darker with it?
RM: I think ‘Mark Macready’ is ultimately a comedy and it’s a dark comedy but it’s a comedy with a sprinkle of horror. From the way its directed to the way its acted it’s not to be taken seriously yet the characters are taking it deadly serious, which is the complex thing when making a ‘Mark Macready’ adventure. You have to be careful not to go one way or the other and the actors performances also have to be balanced just right. I think we’ve found a formula that works and to deviate from it too much would probably result in something substandard, yet we have to keep it fresh and fast. I can say that the feature film will have a run-away pace, it will not stop and it will be relentless in the storytelling and along the way you’ll get the comedy and the horror. I’m confident we can make it happen and give audiences the cinematic ride they expect from Detective Macready.
DM: Personally, are you yourself a massive horror fan? And if so reel off some of your favourite horror flicks.
RM: I’m always ashamed when I get asked this question, I’m not a massive horror fan. I love the community and I love the family feel it has, you couldn’t get that with any other genre but yeah I’m not a gore hound, in fact I’m a little squeamish! My favourite movies tend to be big summer blockbusters like ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Indiana Jones’. Although I do adore the first ‘Scream’ movie, that’s one of my all time favourite films and I think it’s the comedy and horror that make it special for me, it was my generations ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’.
DM: Finally, in the vein of such classics as Frankenstein vs The Wolfman or Freddy vs Jason, which iconic monster or demon would you like to see having its ass kicked by Mark Macready ?
RM: I think it has to be MVP: Macready Vs Predator! There was even a poster mocked up for it by my buddy Tom Tuck. I’d love to see Macready beating up that pussy face and then just before Macready thinks he’s won the Preadtor activates his nuclear weapon destroying the city of Manchester. There’s all sorts of spin offs from there ‘Macready-Man’ the radioactive supernatural crime fighter…I call copyright on that!
You can check out the 30 minute short in its entirety for free on the official Mark Macready website here
