London premiere for Dysart film-maker

The phychological thriller/horror will be part of Frightfest, the showcase of established and up-and-coming talent in the horror genre.

The premiere will take place at the Vue Cinema Discovery screen in Shepherd’s Bush Green on Saturday, August 27, and Lawrie and everyone in the company hope it will help propel them on to bigger and better things in the industry and help to put Fife on the map as the “Hammer Horror capital of the North.”

“We’ve been working on this film for the past two years and it is being eagerly anticipated by many in the field since the moderate success of our first horror film ‘Lord of Tears’ which we produced on a very low budget,” explained Lawrie.

‘The Unkindness of Ravens’ is described as an intense supernatural thriller telling the story of a former soldier struggling to overcome some horrific experiences in Afghanistan.

He travels to a retreat in the remote Scottish Highlands hoping to overcome his fear of ravens, the creatures of his terrors, but, in the bleak wilderness, his nightmares overtake him and he must battle them as well as his own inner demons in order to keep his life, and reclaim his sanity.

It was filmed in Fife, Perth and the Highlands and stars actor Jamie Scott Gordon who impressed critics in his supporting role in ‘Lord of Tears.’

Lawrie (35), who lives in Dysart with Sarah Daly (32), his partner and writer of the script for both films, described it as “an unsettling, visceral commentary on the mental turmoil that war leaves in its wake. It’s brutal, it’s relentless but it’s also thought-provoking. Expect to be traumatised.”

The film, a joint partnership between Hex Media, Dark Dunes Productions which is based in the United Arab Emirates, Lights Out and Third Monkey Productions, broke records when it became the most public-funded UK horror ever through crowdfunding which saw 635 backers pledging over £44,000 to help complete the project last year.

“We were quite surprised and delighted that it raised so much money and that people were willing to put their faith in us,” said Lawrie, who is currently busy with post production on another film at the moment.

“We’re very excited about the film’s premiere, or at least we will be when we have a bit more time to think about it.”

“I started off making short videos for the Dysart Gala and now have this film showing on an internationally acclaimed stage. It’s quite an achievement, but I still want to do much more.”