''Death Walks'' is a zero-budget horror film directed by

Spencer Hawken Spencer Hawken (born 6 May 1973) is a British film producer, director, writer, and former film critic. His work includes ''Death Walks'' and ''No Reasons''. Career Hawken has worked as a retailer and fashion director at Debenhams, and has appear ...

. The film stars Jessie Williams,

Lucinda Rhodes-Flaherty Lucinda Rhodes Thakrar (born 16 September 1981, in Romford, London) is a British television and film actress, dancer and singer. She is sometimes credited as Lucinda Rhodes or Lucinda Rhodes Flaherty in her earlier work. She is known for her work ...

, and

Francesca Ciardi Francesca Ciardi (born 26 July 1954) is an Italian film actress. She was one of four actors whom the Italian police believed had been murdered in the making of the 1980 horror film '' Cannibal Holocaust''. The film was considered so realistic, th ...

, and centres on a group of people trying to survive inside a shopping center that is under attack by the dead. ''Death Walks'' is Ciardi's first horror film since her role as Faye Daniels in the 1980 film ''

Cannibal Holocaust ''Cannibal Holocaust'' is a 1980 Italian found footage cannibal horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato and written by Gianfranco Clerici. It stars Robert Kerman as Harold Monroe, an anthropologist from New York University who leads a rescue ...

'' and her first film role in over 20 years, her previous film being 1991's ''Safari''.

Synopsis

In an East London shopping centre, a group of people are warned by a strange Italian woman (

) that they are all going to die. Her warnings prove to be all too real, as the shopping center is then attacked by zombies fueled by an evil supernatural power. The 25 people remaining in the shopping centre must band together to survive the night. This is made more difficult by the rising tensions as well as the fact that the surrounding town is oblivious of their torment due to a street party.

Cast

as Lucrezia *

as Louise *Jon Guerriero as John * Jessie Williams as Poppy *Joanna Finata as Alice * Daniel Smales as Steve *Scott Mullins as Rob *Karis Pentecost as Beth

Production

Hawken began work on ''Death Walks'' in the summer of 2013. Filming took place in

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, during 2013, and included multiple extras, many of whom were volunteers from the surrounding community. Hawken used the town's

Mercury Mall The Mercury Mall is an enclosed shopping centre in Romford town centre, in the London Borough of Havering, Greater London. It opened in June 1990 as Liberty 2. From 2006 to August 2010 it was owned by The Mall Fund and was known as The Mall Romf ...

shopping center – which donated the use of its space – and was able to complete the film through

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

techniques. Other supporters either loaned Hawken their supplies for free or donated them. Hawken initially planned for the filming to take place over a 24-hour period, but it instead took place over four months. During this time the cast swelled from 300 extras to nearly 1,000. Editing for ''Death Walks'' was expected to complete in February 2013 so the film could be submitted to various film festivals, and a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign was launched in early January 2013 to help with the submission costs. A trailer was released in August 2013. On 16 January 2014, ''

Famous Monsters Of Filmland ''Famous Monsters of Filmland'' is an American genre-specific film magazine, started in 1958 by publisher James Warren and editor Forrest J Ackerman. ''Famous Monsters of Filmland'' directly inspired the creation of many other similar publicat ...

'' acknowledged the film's completion as the first zero-budget horror film and posted that Hawken was already working on a sequel. The premiere of ''Death Walks'' was held in the centre it was shot in on 15 July 2016, exactly three years from the time shooting begun.

Reception

After the premiere, the ''Romford Recorder'' newspaper was quick to herald the movie a success, calling it funny, unsettling and surprising. On 29 October 2016, the film played at the British Horror Film Festival. It was nominated for Best Film, the British Horror Award, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Music. The film won two awards, Best Supporting Actor (Jon Guerriero) and Best Music (Tom Wolfe). It narrowly missed out on the British Horror Award, after judges decided ''The Barber's Cut''s use of visual effects on 35mm film was a bigger achievement. In September 2016, the Monkey Bread Festival gave the film a special mention for its zero-budget achievement. The film was screened as part of the Terror Film Festival on 20 October 2016. ''Death Walks'' was released on Amazon Prime on 18 January 2017.

Awards

, - , 2016 , Jon Guerriero / Best Supporting Actor , British Horror Film Festival , , - , 2016 , Lucinda Rhodes / Best Supporting Actress , British Horror Film Festival , , - , 2016 ,

/ Best Feature Film , British Horror Film Festival , , - , 2016 ,

/ British Horror Award , British Horror Film Festival , , - , 2016 , Tom Wolfe / Best Music , British Horror Film Festival , , - , 2016 ,

/ Best Director , Puerto Rico Horror Film Festival , , - , 2016 , Marcus Uthup / Best Cinematography , Terror Film Festival , , - , 2016 , Tom Wolfe / Best Original Music Score , Terror Film Festival , , - , 2016 ,

/ Best Feature Film Screenplay , Terror Film Festival , , - , 2016 ,

/ Best Motion Picture Editing , Terror Film Festival , , - , 2016 , Shaun Lee / Best Sound Design , Terror Film Festival , , - , 2016 ,

/ Excellence in the craft of Screenwriting , Terror Film Festival ,

References

External links

* * * {{IMDb title, 3020786 2016 films Films shot in London British horror films British zombie films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films