July 30: SPIRIT TRAP snaps shut in Romania

The British teen horror film SPIRIT TRAP recently wrapped its shoot in Romania. The original script by Phil O-Shea, about a group of students in a haunted mansion, was reworked by horror author Paul Finch, who gave Fango the scoop about the movie.

"SPIRIT TRAP is a very original idea," Finch says, "one that I-d never come across before in years of reading supernatural fiction. It retains the aura and tone of the traditional British ghost story, but now set in a very contemporary and somewhat seedy world. At times, in the style of great supernatural writers like M.R. James and E.F. Benson, it-s almost sedate, though I have to say that moments like those are usually the calm before the storm.

"There-s a lot of quite extreme horror in here as well," he continues. "At times, we move from one side of the horror spectrum to the other with breathtaking speed, catching our audience out, really throwing them. We were determined that, despite the occasional explosions of grue, this film would retain its traditional ghostly identity right to the end, and I believe we-ve succeeded in that."

SPIRIT TRAP, which is currently in postproduction, was directed by David Smith and stars Billie Piper (the female lead in the newest DOCTOR WHO series), Luke (28 DAYS LATER) Mably, Sam (ALIEN VS. PREDATOR) Troughton and Russian pop singer Alsou.- M.J. Simpson

News from Thursday, August 19, 2004