This looks set to do for vampires what Shaun Of The Dead did for zombies.
Irish cinema has been doing a great job of making an international name for itself in the field of comedy and horror, but for some reason, we’ve become really adept at merging the two genres together.
Think of the likes of Grabbers or Extra Ordinary, and it appears that Irish film loves making you laugh at stuff you should be screaming at, and vice versa.
That looks set to continue with new comedy-horror Boys From County Hell, which revolves around a crew of hardy road workers, led by a bickering father (Nigel O’Neill – Derry Girls) and son (Jack Rowan – Peaky Blinders), who must survive the night when they accidentally awaken an ancient Irish vampire.
The movie also features Fra Fee (Les Miserables), Louisa Harland (The Deceived), and Michael Hough (Vikings), with writer/director Chris Baugh (Tin Star) putting several spanners in the works on the old vampire/Dracula myths. All of the usual ways of defeating the blood sucker don’t seem to work, so the group are going to need to put their heads together to defeat it.
Early reviews from festival screenings have been very positive, with Pajiba writing “A cast that’s down for cracking good fun and a bloody wild ride, this vampire tale is alive with surprises, silly and scary”, and SlashFilm saying “Boys from County Hell unearths a refreshing spin on vampire lore and provides a dark tale of camaraderie that can be legendary in its own right”.
Boys From County Hell will be heading to cinemas in the UK from Friday, 18 June, with the intention of being available in Irish cinemas once they’re allowed to safely reopen.
Clip via Wildcard Distribution
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
