Five FrightFest Facts with the Creators of ‘The Doom Busters’

Get ready for synth-fuelled action, old-school practical effects, and all-out extraterrestrial mayhem, because The Doom Busters is here to take you on a ride like no other. The brainchild of writer-director Jack McHenry (Here Comes Hell), and aided by composer Ben Pearson, this WWII sci-fi action comedy is what happens when Dad’s Army collides with Predator—a love letter to the high-concept blockbusters of the ‘70s and ‘80s, complete with buckets of blood, psychedelic visuals, and a battle to save the entire galaxy.

Set in 1940, as Britain braces for war, the film follows Arthur Roundtree, a Home Guard recruit desperate for action but stuck in a sleepy English village. His chance finally comes when an alien menace crash-lands nearby, turning a routine training exercise into a desperate fight for survival. Featuring a stellar cast including Tom Bailey, Margaret Clunie, Timothy Renouf, and Jessica Webber, The Doom Busters promises adrenaline-pumping thrills with a hefty dose of British wit.

Ahead of its FrightFest premiere, we caught up with Jack McHenry and Ben Pearson to talk killer vegetables, zombie cats, and the ultimate award for fixing cinematic disasters…

Jack McHenry (writer-director) and Ben Pearson (composer) from The Doom Busters

1. Tell us about your film

Jack: The Doom Busters is a WW2, sci-fi action comedy(Imagine Dad’s Army meets Predator). The film is a love letter to high concept movies from the 70’s and 80’s. It’s filled with blood and guts, old school effects, psychedelic imagery, pumping synths and great performances from the cast!

Ben: The Doom Busters request your presence at the screening on Friday (7th March) where they will tell you all about thier adventure into the woods, what they found there, who was behind it all and how they managed to stick together and save the galaxy.

2. How did you get into making movies?

Jack: I’ve been making films all my life. As a kid I would make movies with Action Men, covering them in ketchup for blood. I then started to make films with my friends at school – most of which I still work with. But I feel like I became a “real” film maker when I learned how to make my own fake blood.

Ben: Jack once invited me to his house for the weekend where I dressed up as a local farm lad who had to fight killer vegetables and vomit green blood. I now work behind the camera.

3. What films would you love to see screened at FrightFest and why?

Jack: At the moment I’m in a real Giallo phase, so I would love to see some of their movies up on the big screen and on 35mm film!

Ben: I would love to see an episode of The Ghost Hunter on the big screen. It was released from 2000-2002 on CBBC. The ghost hunter is played by Jean Marsh and in the opening credits she climbs out of a moat, at night, wearing a black cape, and is all soaking wet and then starts walking around this village with a torch as the opening titles music kicks in. I used to come home from school and shit myself watching that. Each episode is about 20 mins long so they could just play them while people are getting popcorn and stuff in between longer films… and people could bring thier kids as well if they want because it’s a childrens show…. GHOST HUNTER!

4. If you could create your own award to give at FrightFest, what would it be and why?

Jack: I would like to have an award called “Fixed a fuck-up and got away with it”. Basically a prize acknowledging that no matter how well prepared you are, or how much money you might have, there are always going to be days where everything goes wrong and you have to figure it out, somehow.

Ben: That’s a hard question becuase I feel like getting the film into the festival is an award to everyone involved in making it… However, some of the usual categories would be fun – best film, best screenplay etc.

5. If your life was made into a horror film, what would it be called and who would play the starring role?

Jack: I would make a zombie apocalypse movie from my cat’s point of view. Her inner monologue would be voiced by Jason Statham and it would be called PAWS OF THE DEAD. Not sure how exciting it would be because she kind of just likes sleeping and eating biscuits…

Ben: It would be called Snow Snakes and it would star Nicholas Cage. He would be going to the arctic where the melting of the ice caps has relased these pre-historic snow snakes back into the enviroment. Nicholas Cage would be racing around on a skidoo being chased by these giant snakes, and the baddy would be this Elon Musk-type character who wants to use thier ancient snake blood to fuel cars or something. It would be epic and it would flop really, really, badly at the box office.