The Wicker Children, the latest horror film from Last British Dragon by award winning Writer and Director James Crow has just wrapped filming. Inspired by films such as ‘The Wicker Man’ and ‘Blood on Satan’s Claw’, this supernatural folk-horror is a homage to classic British Horror. Shot entirely on location in Wales this summer the film is now in post production being edited by Olivia Hespe and looking to go to market early January for a release Easter 2024. The film was co-produced with Benjamin David and executive produced by long term partner Steve Thomas.
The Wicker Children follows Hazel Lewis (played by Mirabel Stuart), a police-officer who goes undercover at a secluded country house to investigate the mysterious disappearance of ‘Mrs Downing’, the mother of three strange children who are part of a secretive cult. But as she begins to investigate she is drawn into a dark world of nightmarish pagan superstition.
Mirabel Stuart, the lead actress, said “It’s my second time working with James and I jumped at the chance when he asked me to come on board on his latest horror! I was so excited about playing Hazel as her character is so multifaceted: she’s a policewoman who goes undercover as a live-in nanny which actually gave me the opportunity to play two sides of the character, exposing different layers in how she attempts to solve the case of the disappearance of ‘The Mother’. I think the plot’s clues and twists will really appeal to audiences as they are challenged to piece it all together. Filming in the middle of nowhere in the Welsh countryside and the authentic stately home gave the perfect creepy backdrop to this gripping horror!”
“This is my most personal passion project since I did Curse of the Witching Tree” says director James Crow. “I think its a wonderful cast and everyone has worked really hard to create something special. Mirabel gives an amazing performance as DCI Lewis, and Jeffrey Harmer and Jay Robertson give some spine tingling performances. Looking back over the footage with Olivia I think it’s looking like a really beautiful piece.”
The cast also includes long term Last British Dragon collaborators Jim Mannering, Pierse Stevens, Jeff Kristian and Brooke Norbury. Along with the feature film debut performances of Danni Vears and Jude Viotto as the creepy Downing children and with creepy villagers also played by Lisa Harmer, Katherine Hart and Natalie Cameron Ward. The Mother is played by Sarah Louise-Tyler in a chilling performance and there’s more haunting performances from Olivia Hespe and Imogen Bird. Sam Davidge also features as Mirabel Stuart’s on screen partner and Dylan McLane gives a great performance as Harry who is dating one of the Downing children. There’s also great performances from new young cast members including Ronnie Griffin, Tyler Coleman, Fin Hubbard, Monty Tynan and Damien Fassenfelt, with Matthew Cornwall making his film debut as the Wood Crawler.
You can watch James Crow’s debut film Curse of the Witching Tree on Netflix now and also his film Nemesis on all platforms. His latest film, Nightmare on 34th Street is due out early December with Wildeye Films which recently won Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Edit at the Lit Scares International Horror festival.
