Horror Favourites – Marc Zammit and Craig Hinde

There are dark forces at play in brand new folk horror Witch, directed by Craig Hinde and Marc Zammit. We hunted down the directing duo to chat about what scary movies mean the most to them.

Beware, it’s the season of the Witch. This spellbinding, terrifying period horror harks back to the days of yore where witch trials were rife and a judge could sentence a ‘guilty’ woman to instant death for any misdemeanour deemed to be in league with the occult.

Small town, England, 1575. We meet Twyla (Sarah Alexandra Marks – Kill Kane, Help), a loving wife and mother who has been falsely accused of witchcraft and faces death, should she be found guilty. Her devoted husband William (Ryan Spong – A Song From the Dark, The Remote Office), embarks on a desperate journey to hunt down the real witch and save his beloved.

In a mission fraught with fear and danger, the determined man encounters tales of malevolence through the ages and he starts to question whether the witch he seeks is even of this world. Also starring Fabrizio Santino (Captain America: The First Avenger), Russell Shaw (Six Years Gone, The Lockdown Hauntings) and Daniel Jordan (Palindrome, Revolution X) and Anto Sharp (Exclusion Zone, Feed Me).

Witch is a wickedly enthralling feature that weaves a tale of devotion and the devastating damage of the pure evil that stalks the Earth and beyond, leaving its mark on the past, the present and the future.

Craig Hinde and Marc Zammit who co-write with David Baboulen, have made a movie that’s set to cast its spell on you with its UK debut this Spring, courtesy of 101 Films.

Below the talented pair talk about their favorite horror films:

Marc Zammit

The Ring is hands-down one of the most chilling horror flicks in my collection. Ghosts? Yeah, they terrify me more than anything else, and this film nails that fear to the wall with its spine-tingling tone. Forget about cheap jump scares or buckets of blood; The Ring thrives on suspense. Picture yourself, heart pounding, as that girl crawls out of the TV, inching closer and closer. The music? It’s like an eerie whisper in your ear, sending shivers down your spine. This movie didn’t just scare me; it rewired my brain on what truly gives me the heebie-jeebies in films. With I see The Ring crawl out my TV I think I will physically scream kick the tv and shit my pants at the same time.

IT is hands-down another one of the scariest films in my book. From the chilling tones to the breathtaking cinematography, this franchise has me hooked from start to finish. And let’s talk about that makeup work – it’s mind-blowing! The concept behind it all is just so cool. But what really gets me buzzed is the clever way the clown builds trust with its victims before striking. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, with every twist and turn leaving me on the edge of my seat. Plus, clowns? They’ve always given me the creeps, so this film hits all the right buttons for a thrilling, and I’ve become quite a fan I get so hyped up when I see someone cosplaying as IT at comic cons.”

Craig Hinde

“One of the hardest questions to answer as a student of film making is “what’s your favourite film?”, as there are so many things to think about. In terms of horror films, I’ve always prefered the stories that create a true sense of dread, rather than relying on jump scares. One film that always did that for me was The Fly (1958) with Al Hedison and Vincent Price. The story builds towards this sickening finale when the characters and audience realise that there is no happy ending to come, and the very last scene, when the fly is caught in the web screaming ‘help me, help me’, is quite possibly one of the most disturbing scenes in cinema history!

I’m a big fan of Clive Barker and his twisted imagination. Hellraiser is right up there in my best horror films of all time. Like The Fly, it has this continued feeling of inescapable dread all the way through the film, with some wildly creative visual aspects to it that I just love!

I think that the truly great horrors are the ones that aim to disturb you, rather than scare you. Those are the horrors that traumatise you forever.”

Witch is out now.

Witch trailer