TWO Helensburgh and Lomond residents have spoken of the "great fun" they had working on their first ever film as it gets ready to hit the screens this weekend.
Actor James Watterson, from Helensburgh, and make-up and special effects (SFX) artist Christina Ritchie, who lives in Cardross, both worked on the Scottish horror flick Mercy Falls, which will have a limited release in Cineworld and Odeon cinemas from this Friday, September 1.
The cast of Mercy Falls includes Outlander star Lauren Lyle, and focuses on a group of friends who travel into the Highlands in search of a secluded cabin – but things quickly go wrong.
Neither James nor Christina had ever worked on a feature length film, before with James's background being in theatre and Christina working on short films and selling custom-made prosthetics via her Etsy shop, StinasFX.
Christina said: “This job took me to some stunning locations in Scotland, including Mugdock Country Park, Carbeth Huts and Aberfeldy.
“During the shoot, the production organised for me to stay in a hotel in Aberfeldy.
"It was my first experience working on a film set, so everything was completely new to me, but the crew and cast were so welcoming, making it good fun.
“At Mugdock Park, I got to create a swollen eye and an open cheek wound prosthetic for one of the cast members.
“In Carbeth, I helped out actor James Watterson, giving him a stomach wound.
“And in Aberfeldy I worked on Lauren Lyle, giving her an open axe wound on her shoulder, a gash on her forehead, and some other gruesome effects.”
Christina hopes to work on more feature films in the future and is excited to continue with her Etsy business.
James also valued his experience on set – despite the challenging weather conditions - and hopes he will be able to star in more feature films in the future.
He said: “This was my first time working on a horror and it was mad – I loved it and it was great fun!
“When the casting call came in, I thought ‘this is so exciting, I get to do a horror film’ - and it’s my first film as well, which is great.
“A lot of my stuff particularly towards the end of the film was with Lauren and I’m just so grateful – we just had such a laugh together.
“Filming outdoors in Scotland is tough and it was in March when we were doing that.
“It was told, it was wet, it was windy, and we filmed a lot of stuff at night.
“We all just had to have a laugh with it because otherwise we’d go mad.”
James will also be participating in a Q&A with the cast and director Ryan Hendrick, which will be broadcast before special Odeon screenings.
He also has other projects in the works that are currently under wraps.
The closest cinemas to Helensburgh screening the film are Cineworld Silverburn and Odeon in Glasgow’s Springfield Quay.
In the USA the film has been released on streaming platform Tubi as one of their original productions.
For more information on where and when you can see the film during its limited theatrical release, see cineworld.co.uk and odeon.co.uk.
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