Sanctuary: A Creature Horror Short Film

Aim

Sanctuary is a university final major project which follows Cameron as he discovers a creature in an isolated Manor House.

Teaser Trailer by Eddie Howitt
Creature Sound Design for the teaser trailer above by Angus Green and Michael Lewis

Our story

Sanctuary is a 10-minute graduate short and creature horror film coming in the summer of 2023!

As a graduation piece, the film's completion helps the crew build on their portfolio and possibly helps as an introduction into the industry through festival releases and proof of our talents. 

Our story follows Cameron, who finds shelter in the middle of nowhere, where he hides from the monster that has killed his friends. He meets Taylor, the owner of the Manor House, who offers Cameron to stay overnight until they can go into town to find help. With nowhere else to go, Cameron accepts Taylor's offer with suspicion. During the night, he starts to hear strange and troubling noises coming from Taylor's bedroom, and after a close encounter, he realises that he is stuck inside with a Creature.

Banner design by Meisje Weldon 

The deeper plot...

Years before the monster attacked Cameron and his friends, Taylor, the Manor owner, was also attacked by the same monster. During the attack, the monster infected Taylor with a disease where they uncontrollably turn into a Creature whenever they struggle to handle their emotions. The Creature is forced to the surface by Taylor's emotional response and is there to protect Taylor from further harm or distress.

For the five years after Taylor first turned, they kept themselves isolated from society to avoid endangering anyone. On the night Cameron comes to their Manor, Taylor's world is invaded, and in response, his Creature is forced to the surface. 

Creating the Creature

The Creature resonates with The Creature of the Black Lagoon (Arnold, 1954) and the Demogorgons from Stranger Things, with personality ties to Mr Hyde (the Creature) and Dr Jekyll (Taylor). A big part of raising money for this project will go towards making our Creature real. Sanctuary has a team of 4 x MA Prosthetic artists who will build the suit from head to toe from scratch to make the Creature look as realistic as possible. But this takes a lot of materials and tools, and we can only achieve the below with your help!

Concept Art by Lily Roberts https://www.instagram.com/lilyanne_art1/

Fight. Flight. Freeze. 

'Flight, flight, freeze'  is a term used to explain the body's natural reaction to danger. When we are put under stressful situations, our body can sometimes respond with a fight, flight or freeze response. The fight response is the body's reaction to face any perceived threat aggressively. Flight means your body urges you to run from danger, and freeze is when your body is unable to physically react to a threat; usually from shock or when deciding how to respond. 

The film follows the character arcs, which reflect their fight, flight and freeze responses and how they grow in response to their shared trauma and experience with the monster. From Taylor hiding away (freeze) and Cameron running (flight), at the end of the film, they are forced into a situation outside of their comfort zone when the monster finds them both in the Manor. Together, they must confront their fears and are forced to change their responses to 'fight' to defeat the monster outside. 

Sanctuary's Inspirations

As seen above, Sanctuary takes inspiration from Horror and Monster films such as Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960), Fright Night (Holland, 1985), Clue (Lynn, 1985), An American Werewolf in London (Landis, 1981), and such others picture above. Inspirations come from the isolation of the motif of the house in the middle of nowhere, whereby the characters have no way of reaching help and must grow within themselves to escape and survive their situation. Influence also comes from the heavy use of prosthetics throughout films such as An American Werewolf in London and the TV show Doctor Who, which is one of the main objectives of this project – to be solely practical. Therefore, our Creature will be entirely practical with a 6ft 4" head-to-toe body suit for our talented actor to fully bring our story to life. 

Sanctuary has been influenced by traditional monster and horror movie conventions but with a slight twist. As opposed to a character, or a set of characters, who struggle to survive attacks from one or more antagonistic monsters, Sanctuary takes you down a traditional path of monsters to be feared, leading you astray as the narrative takes a turn. Challenging conventions by leaving you to question throughout the film - who is the real monster?

Moodboards - Tone & Atmosphere

Storyboard sketches! 

Storyboard art by Jamison Mouratova https://www.instagram.com/jamorontov/

So, where is the money going?

The money we raise towards our project will go towards the following:

• Prosthetics, Costume, and Makeup fees
• Catering for our Crew and Cast
• Transport costs
• Location fees
• Set Dressing costs
• Music exclusively composed for the film
• Entrance fees to film festivals

Our Wonderful Crew

You can read more about our crew by visiting our social media pages!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanctuary_shortfilm/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089825010311

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. We would be extremely grateful if you could donate to our project and help our imaginations come true. Any amount helps!

- The Sanctuary team

Rewards! 

1. Donate £1 or more and receive your own thank you credit at the end of our film to be seen a film festivals nationally and internationally! 

2. Donate £30 or more and receive a thank you credit in our film and a digital copy of our poster, designed by our very own Production Designer! 

3. Donate £50 or more and receive a thank you credit, a digital poster and get early access to the final film before it is released to the public! 

4. Donate £100 or more and receive a digital poster, early access to the final and an Executive Producer credit! 

This project successfully funded on 20th February 2023