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Director Chris Cronin masterfully maintains a needling ambiguity about the source of evil in this haunting tale of a father searching for his long-missing son

Looking for a group of long-missing children on a patch of moorland, podcaster Claire (Sophia La Porta) thinks she has defined her search area. But when she lays down her map in front of the police chief who once led the case, he reaches for a box and arrays five more Ordnance Surveys around it. His rejoinder – “That’s the moor” – is the equivalent of “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” in this redoubtable folk horror debut evidently inspired by the Brady-Hindley murders. You could also call it topographical horror, with director Chris Cronin using a simple set of elements – swirling mists, neolithic stones, baleful staring rams, chairs that look like baleful staring rams – to construct a formidable ambience on his fictional Holme moor.

"Out there we are all lost." UK's Bulldog Film has revealed the trailer for a film titled The Moor, marking the feature directorial debut of genre filmmaker Chris Cronin (who we've featured before). This British folk horror film is based on true stories about murders in the countryside. Sophia La Porta stars as Claire, who is approached by the father of her murdered childhood friend to help investigate the haunted moor he believes is his son's final resting place. Cronin explains: "My aim with this story was to create an original horror film set in my home county of Yorkshire. Instead of delving into the fictional murders themselves, I focused on the aftermath and how something so terrible affects lives and relationships. What happens when so much grief and guilt are left unresolved?" The cast includes David Edward-Robertson, Elizabeth Dormer-Phillips, Mark Peachey, Vicki Hackett, and Bernard Hill (one of...

UK-based Bulldog Film Distribution has acquired all UK-Ireland rights to n two UK genre features and plans theatrical releases in 2024 for both.

Dan Pringle’s Die Before You Die is a thriller following a hot-headed online influencer who finds himself trapped six feet underground after an internet challenge goes awry. Ziad Abaza stars in the film, which he co-wrote with Pringle; Adam Merrifield produced it for White Lantern.

Die Before You Die will have its world premiere at Manchester International Film Festival on March 23. The cast also includes Mim Shaikh, Priya Blackburn and Harry Reid. Bulldog previously worked with Pringle and Merrifield on 2016 horror K-Shop.

Brighton-based distributor Bulldog Film Distribution has acquired all UK-Ireland rights on two UK genre features, planning theatrical releases in 2024 on both.

Dan Pringle’s Die Before You Die is a dramatic thriller following a hot-headed online influencer who finds himself trapped six feet underground after an internet challenge goes awry. Ziad Abaza stars in the film, which he co-wrote with Pringle; Adam Merrifield produced it for White Lantern.

Die Before You Die will have its world premiere at Manchester International Film Festival on March 23. The cast also includes Mim Shaikh, Priya Blackburn and Harry Reid. Bulldog previously worked with Pringle and Merrifield on 2016 horror K-Shop.

Stars: Dexter Sol Ansell, David Edward-Robertson, Sophia La Porta, Mark Peachey, Elizabeth Dormer-Phillips, Vicki Hackett, Bernard Hill | Written by Paul Thomas | Directed by Chris Cronin

The Moor opens in 1996 as young Claire (Billie Suggett) convinces the even younger Danny to distract a shopkeeper with a story about getting separated from his father while she steals some candy for them. It all goes according to plan until a strange man claims to be the boy’s father and takes him away. A suspect is caught and convicted, but neither Danny’s body nor those of several other missing boys was ever found.

Twenty-five years later Danny’s father Bill contacts Claire He plans to find his son’s body to help keep his killer from being released and he wants her to use her podcast to help document it. Out of her sense of guilt, she agrees.

Bill’s method of...