Hi Everybody, you remember that forthcoming film I told you about due for release soon? Well, I’ve just had some news, so now its apparently OK to release a little more about the project . . .
Well, after the Symposium last year, I’m really just a little fed up with ‘vampires’! But apparently people in good old Italy don’t feel the same way. They love them, and anything to do with them! I’ve learnt this from personal experience in the past, but it was really brought home to me recently after two aspiring Italian film students approached me personally after attending July’s Symposium. They were absolutely intrigued by tales of the Highgate Vampire and found it difficult to believe that there really was not some fact behind all the sensationalised fiction. They even suggested that maybe I could be persuaded to feature symbolically at the outset of the film portraying a ‘real vampire’ about to visit an innocent young damsel in her bedroom at night … But I had to decline this at the onset, notwithstanding they had already prepared some pre-promotional shots for a film mag to advertise their project!
So the two students, Sophia and Bethany, decided to contact me personally to see if I might be able to help with their film project. I am not really at liberty to disclose the plot in full; (and in any event I do not know it) but essentially it involves a young Italian girl who, after qualifying for a film career in Naples at University, had a frightening experience whilst visiting London in the 1960s to investigate a black magic Cult practising there. Perhaps not surprisingly the location chosen was a rambling old house was Highgate, North London, where several unsuspecting young people had fallen under the influence of this ‘Satanic Cult’ that was operating in Highgate Cemetery at the time.
Now, the fact that this had actually happened in reality, and the two young film makers were acquainted with the true facts underlying this case (facts which they had heard exposed by several witnesses attending the Symposium) did not appear to have dimmed their enthusiasm: indeed, they thought this would make an excellent film project for their own highly Catholicised country. The ‘shock value’, I suppose, being ‘diabolical practices’ that are seen to be openly displayed publicly (albeit by means of commitment to celluloid) , and are blatantly opposed to the traditional standards of the Catholic faith.
Whatever, I had to agree that the whole subject provided potential for using actual facts as the basis for creating a non-fiction film. The rest is really up to them! All this happened last week – at least our provisional meeting did. Can only really wait and see what happens now . . . but I will keep you all up to date on this new venture.
I’m just as interested as you all are!
David (Farrant).
