Hammer Films Goes Back to the Movies
Posted by jonathon in General, News on September 27th, 2008
Well, what do you know? Hammer Films is back in business. And to think, the last time they produced a film my parents weren’t yet divorced. Wait, my parents weren’t even married. In fact, they hadn’t even met. So, I guess, the last time Hammer Films produced a movie, I was not alive…and I’m almost 30!
The Wake Wood, directed by David Keating (The Last of the High Kings), written and produced by Brendan McCarthy and starring Aidan Gillen (The Wire), Eva Birthistle (Breakfast on Pluto), Ella Connolly and Timothy Spall (the guy who informs Tom Cruise that his nickname is “Citizen Dildo” in Vanilla Sky), tells the tale of a couple who moves to the town of Wake Wood to start anew after the loss of their daughter. Set in a cold, rainy, dreary Ireland, Wake Wood feels to be a common enough horror/supernatural story. But who cares if the film is good? I’m just happy that Hammer Films is back to putting “nails in the coffin.” (Yikes, that was a bad pun)
Now, let’s tangent: Writer/producer Brendan McCarthy obviously cast Birthistle as the female lead in his film. He also cast Eva in another movie he exec. produced called Breakfast on Pluto (which is an amazing movie starring Cillian Murphy). What I find interesting and really cool is that producers and/or directors use the same actors again and again. Cillian Murphy, as an example, is a Danny Boyle regular starring in both 28 Days Later and the fabulous Sunshine. D.J. Caruso’s new film Eagle Eye is the second film Shia LaBeouf has starred in. And let’s not forget the greatest director/actor relationship of all: Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. I don’t know why I find these loyal affairs to be so gratifying. Maybe it’s because the film industry is such a savage and fickle business that it’s nice to see constants in all the chaos. I guess it brings hope into the equation. Something that is easily lost in the grind of everyday life. So, let’s have a couple of cheers for the faithful ones. And let’s have a cheer for McCarthy and Birthistle.
