Horror Favourites – Lee Haven Jones

THE FEAST (GWLEDD) was a hit at last year’s SXSW and the BFI London Film Festival and has won awards from South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Lisbon’s MotelX Festival and Switzerland’s Neuchatel Fantastic Film Festival. We grabbed hold of the films director Lee Haven Jones to chaat about the horror movie he loves the most.

A haunting, slow-burning horror tale exploring the consequences of greed, corruption and man’s exploitation of the earth, THE FEAST (GWLEDD) is the directorial debut of Lee Haven Jones (Doctor Who) and was written and produced by Roger Williams (Bang). It stars Annes Elwy (Little Women), Nia Roberts (Under Milk Wood), Julian Lewis Jones (Justice League), Steffan Cennydd (Last Summer) and Sion Alun Davies (The Left Behind).

Filmed in the Welsh language, THE FEAST (GWLEDD) unfolds over the course of one evening as a wealthy family gathers for a sumptuous dinner in their ostentatious house in the Welsh mountains. The guests are a local businessman and a neighbouring farmer, and the intent is to secure a business deal to mine in the surrounding countryside. When a mysterious young woman arrives to be their waitress for the evening, the family’s beliefs and values are challenged as her quiet yet disturbing presence begins to unravel their lives – slowly, deliberately and with the most terrifying consequences.

Steeped in Welsh folklore, THE FEAST (GWLEDD) offers an unsettling lesson in respecting your heritage and remaining connected to your roots. With its eerie and visceral sound design and bold cinematography both gorgeous and gruesome with splashes of gore, THE FEAST serves up a potent and intoxicating cinematic experience.

Born in the South Wales valleys, Lee Haven Jones studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Drama at the University of Exeter. His first film Dad a Fi earned him a nomination for Best Documentary at the 2009 Celtic Media Festival. He has since directed fiction, both series and one-off dramas for the BBC, ITV and S4C with recent credits including The Long Call, Doctor Who, The Bay, Shetland and Vera. Lee’s work has received a number of awards – he has won a BAFTA for Best Director at BAFTA Wales twice, for his work on The Indian Doctor in 2013, and again in 2016 for the thriller 35 Days. He completed a TV movie, Galesa (set in the Welsh-speaking communities of Patagonia) for S4C in 2015, and his short film, Want It, has screened at festivals worldwide including London’s BFI Flare.

THE FEAST is Lee’s directorial feature film debut and below he talks about his favourite horror film:

“A sensory orgy that caused huge controversy, TITANE assaulted my senses and left an indelible mark on my soul. It’s a strikingly brave work that displays a unique sense of visual invention and an uncompromising commitment to vision. This sophisticated cinematic fable employs horror tropes and visual metaphor to brilliant effect to offer a meditation on love, loneliness and loss. It is brutal and bursting with rage; and yet resonates with a sadness and sense of longing that is almost unbearable. The best films redefine what film can be and shake the foundations to the core – I look on in awe and admiration at this iconoclastic riot of a film!”

THE FEAST is in cinemas now and you can read our review right HERE