Actor Sean Harris has a career that stretches back more than twenty years, and even though I had seen him in several movies (like CREEP) before he turned up in Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS, it was his role as Fifield there that really made me sit up, take notice, and learn his name. He did have a look in that film that sort of forced you to notice him. Since then, Harris has been possessed in DELIVER US FROM EVIL and played in the villain in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION. Now he has signed on to star in a supernatural horror film titled POSSUM, the feature directorial debut of Matthew Holness.
Holness co-created and starred in the horror parody series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, and it's clear that he has done his horror homework in the build-up to making his own straightforward horror movie, because he referenced a lot of classics when describing POSSUM:
Possum is a supernatural horror combining the stark psycho-drama of George Romero's MARTIN with the uncanny terror of DEAD OF NIGHT. The film draws on the dark nightmares of silent expressionist horror, British classics such as THE INNOCENTS and DON'T LOOK NOW, as well as the claustrophobic suburban gothic of Pete Walker's FRIGHTMARE. Possum will terrify in the best tradition of classic horror cinema, evoking an atmosphere of supernatural dread and creeping horror."
That is a hell of a quote, and he didn't even have to go past the first reference to get me sold on his project. When you compare your movie to Romero's MARTIN, you've guaranteed that I'll be checking it out.
Written by Holness, POSSUM centers on
a disgraced children's puppeteer who returns to his childhood home and is forced to confront his wicked stepfather and the secrets that have tortured him his entire life.
James Harris, Mark Lane, Robert Jones, and Wayne Marc Godfrey are producing the film. Financing was secured through Ingenious and The Fyzz Facility. Production is set to begin in just a few weeks, on November 28th.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION