Dartmoor goes to Hollywood

The world premiere of One Big Mop’s latest film THE MOOR (originally filmed as Darkness of the Moor) will take place at the 21st edition of ‘Dances With Films’ in Hollywood (7-17 June), with an initial screening date of Saturday 9 June. This is one of the most important Oscar qualifying festivals for indie filmmaking. The short film, written and directed by James Everett, is set entirely on Dartmoor and is a horror thriller about the moor itself and surrounding legends. A man takes his daughter to Dartmoor in Devon for a day out but when she disappears he becomes convinced she's been snatched by a mysterious huntsman. As he searches for her his journey becomes a psychological battle between his mind and the moor. Said writer / director James Everett: “The Moor is a horror film, but more specifically, it is a folk horror and should be viewed with this in mind. The significance of the May Day celebrations and search for a little girl are without a doubt the most inescapable commonalities to (arguably) Britain’s most famous folk / rural horror, The Wicker Man. The concept of a man a being a fish out of water in a landscape that seems to have a character of its own compound an ominous sense of doom, rather than spoon feeding any horror to its audience”. “With this in mind, The Moor also draws inspiration from early Italian horror maestro Mario Bava – the figure of the black-cloaked huntsman being the most obvious – but moreover the psychological concept of the beast existing nowhere but in the mind of the protagonist. As a director, in order to find the heart of this film, I needed to yield to the power of the moor.  In many ways it is a film about the power of a place. For the audience, in order for the horror of this film to manifest, a similar relinquishment is required”. Said producer Paul Olavesen-Stabb: “We are thrilled to premier at Dances With Films - an Oscar qualifying festival with an ethos to champion the unflinching spirit at the very core of the independent film scene. While the vast majority of film festivals rely heavily on celebrity, Dances With Films prioritizes innovation, talent and creativity, which pretty much sums up our wonderful cast and crew to whom we are immensely grateful. To be selected from over 2,000 festival entries is a true credit to our writer and director James Everett, and to our cast and crew. We are also grateful for the opportunity to befriend other filmmakers and to potentially identify co-production partners for the feature film of the same name and which will also be based on Dartmoor.”  The DVD Darkness of the Moor is for sale at the National Park Visitor Centre, Princetown priced at £9.95.