Five FrightFest Facts with Matt Harlock from ‘Blockhead’

What if the voice in your head pushing you toward greatness wasn’t a metaphor, but a flesh-and-blood maniac in paint-splattered overalls? That’s the twisted premise behind Blockhead, the first narrative feature from Matt Harlock, whose previous work chronicled the life of comedian Bill Hicks. This time, Harlock turns the camera on the creative process itself, dissecting the desperation of a blocked novelist who latches onto a destructive new muse. Played by Joe Sims, this supposed saviour might be a hallucination, a devil, or just a dangerously persuasive builder – either way, he drags the protagonist down a dark rabbit hole where art and madness are impossible to separate.

Harlock brings a personal edge to the film, channelling his own experience of creative obsession into a hallucinatory psychological thriller. With a tight cast led by Danny Horn and Joe Sims, Blockhead balances black comedy and surreal horror, exploring just how far a storyteller might go for the perfect ending.

In this Five FrightFest Facts interview, Harlock opens up about the film’s roots in his own writing life, the cinematic touchstones that shaped its tone, and the fictional award he’d like to hand out to his fellow writers who keep going despite the madness.

Matt Harlock, writer-director

1. Tell us about your film

Blockhead is dark psychological thriller about creative obsession. It’s a story that I have been possessed by for a long time – in which Will (Danny Horn), a failing novelist who can’t finish his latest novel, thinks his muse appears to inspire him – but in the form of a drunk, psychotic decorator called Mikey (Joe Sims). However, as his writing takes off, his life also spirals into chaos and even murder – but might possibly just lead to a work of staggering genius.

I was very keen to explore the darker side of creative process, and how far someone would be prepared to go to achieve their creative goals – and I think that was part of what attracted our amazing cast & crew to want to be involved in the film, because as storytellers they could relate to Will’s dilemma, and the spiralling into madness that takes hold of him. Obviously that kind of journey needs actors who can deliver it, and I think we have two amazing lead performances from Danny Horn (Sunny Afternoon) and Joe Sims (Broadchurch) who really gave everything they had to this story as Will is led by Mikey’s mysterious Faustian figure ever deeper into the rabbit hole of his unfinished novel. I wanted to create an intimate, hallucinatory thriller that takes the audience on an exciting journey, somewhere otherworldly and terrifying, dark yet dreamlike.

2. How did you get into making movies?

I had started making shorts in the late 90s, but it was really my love for Bill Hicks that led to my first feature film American The Bill Hicks Story, an animated documentary hybrid made closely with Bill’s family, that opened SXSW, played LFF and many other festivals, and opened theatrically in the UK (where it was the 2nd most successful doc in cinemas that year) and the US. It was a labour of love that took almost 5 years to make (with my co-director/producer Paul Thomas) but in the end, what kept us going was that we felt we had to tell the story of this comedian that meant so much to a whole generation of comedy lovers. So I would say it was my passion for his work that got me into feature film making, and I am very proud that Blockhead is my second film, it is also born of that same burning desire to bring this specific story to life. I feel really proud of the film, and so lucky to have found the team we worked with (our DOP Stuart White, production designer Jason Synnott our producer Oli Kendall and our sales agent Blue Finch Films) and what we have managed to achieve together as a team.

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

In keeping with the themes of creative obsession and madness in Blockhead, I would LOVE to see a double bill of The Shining and Videodrome. Kubrick’s masterpiece is obviously the daddy of the ‘writer’s going mad’ sub-genre, but Cronenberg’s was probably more of an influence on our film tonally and in spirit, as in his desperation, Will’s mind, much like Max Renn’s, unravels and his world crosses from realism into fractured memory and visions of surreal horror. Max is one of the fictional writer’s the film is dedicated to.

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

A screenwriting award – The Salieri – for Achievement in Writing against all the odds.

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

It would actually be this film! Blockhead has many moments, themes and concerns that I have directly experienced as a writer and have thus woven into this story – although for legal reasons, I would like to take this opportunity to state clearly that I have never killed anyone in pursuit of a decent logline. I swears ya.

Blockhead receives its world premiere at FrightFest on 23 August 2025.

Blockhead trailer