''The Devil's Machine,'' originally titled ''Automata'', is a 2019

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Lawrie Brewster Lawrie Brewster is a Scottish indie filmmaker, director and producer, known for his 2013 film ''Lord of Tears ''Lord of Tears,'' also known as ''The Owlman'', is a 2013 Scottish low-budget horror film directed by Lawrie Brewster and was his hor ...

, based on a script written by Sarah Daly. It stars Alexandra Hulme, who frequently stars in Brewster's films. It also marks the third film Brewster and Daly's Hex Studios has created with Dark Dunes Productions. The film premiered at the 2019

Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. 2008 2008's festival took place between 14–24 Feb ...

Synopsis

In a remote Scottish mansion an ancient

doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

sits, waiting to be evaluated by an antique expert. Despite being aware of the doll's history of being cursed, Dr. Brendan Cole is unprepared for when he and his stepdaughter Rose become the focus of the curse of "The Infernal Princess". The film switches between modern day and the 1700s in order to tell the history behind the doll and its curse.

Cast

* Alexandra Hulme as Talia *

Erich Redman Erich Redman (born 1964) is a Russian-born German actor working primarily in English-language feature films. He appeared in ''United 93 (film), United 93'' and the BBC comedy series ''TLC (TV Series)''. Other appearances include ''Saving Private ...

as Frederick *

Jonathan Hansler Jonathan Hansler is an English actor. He has worked in theatre, film and television. Career Television Hansler's television roles include the aristocrat Colin Tennant in the 2005 TV movie ''The Queen's Sister'', Mr Pelham in the BBC drama se ...

as The General *Nick Ford as Officer Stille * Jamie Scott Gordon as Dr. Brendan Cole *Victoria Lucie as Rose *Stephen Kerr as Calder

Production

For the film, Brewster and Daly were inspired by a "wild mix of influences" such as Italian Gothic cinema, Mario Bava, Dario Argento, and Roger Corman. It was created over a three-year period and filming took place in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Filming for ''The Devil's Machine'' was completed in April 2018. Brewster has described the movie as "the most ambitious film we’ve produced". As with previous films, Brewster and Daly chose to use a different style and look than their prior film, ''

The Black Gloves ''The Black Gloves'' is a 2017 horror film directed by Lawrie Brewster and starring Macarena Gómez. It serves as a prequel to his 2013 debut horror film ''Lord of Tears''. The film is set during the 1940s and tells the story of a psychologist ...

'', citing a desire to "take our story to new horizons". To help with production costs, a

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 the spring of 2018 and by its completion in May 2018, became the site's most funded narrative film in the United Kingdom. Brewster broke a similar record with '' The Unkindness of Ravens'', which was the highest funded British horror film on Kickstarter at the time. Originally, the film was titled ''Automata'', but the name was changed to ''The Devil's Machine'' around June 2019, between the limited release at film festivals and the DVD production.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's Machine 2019 Film 2019 horror films 2019 films British horror films Scottish films Films shot in Scotland Films shot in Fife Films shot in Wales Films directed by Lawrie Brewster English-language Scottish films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films