A Nantwich film-maker has produced a one-off Halloween horror – with a serious message.
Ashley Dean’s The Toy Child is a psychological-horror movie exploring the tragic consequences of the breakdown of a family unit, and a battle between conscience and denial.
The 10-minute movie was filmed in just three days in a house on Malbank, in Nantwich, and features Nantwich-based actress Caroline Buckley and musician Frank Clayton.
Former Malbank School pupil Ashley said he was inspired to make the movie by tragic real-lie stories on the news.
“I was noticing more and more stories about parents – often the father – killing their own children, so I started researching the causes and psychology behind such acts.
“I was horrified to find that these men commit these crimes as a way of taking revenge on the mother – from taking away the thing she loves most – as well as completely erasing himself and his failures from existence.
“It’s an act of extreme selfishness destroying someone he should be protecting and nurturing, which is horrifying.
“I hope that if somebody in that emotional place has seen The Toy Child, it will cause them to think again before they commit such an act.”
Ashley studied media at South Cheshire College and then earned a Media (Film and TV) degree at Edge Hill University in Lancashire.
It was here he met co-writer/director of The Toy Child, Mike Regan.
“We’ve made a number of short films, most successfully two comic-documentaries exploring Get Carter and Wicker Man film locations,” added Ashley.
You can view the film here:
well done Ashley! wondering what you were up to that weekend.