In the second instalment of our new Filmmaker Profiles series, following our first feature on Andy Edwards, I want to introduce audiences around the world to some of the leading figures shaping the British horror scene.
The British horror scene is literally defined by independent film. But for too long, those artists who are producing, starring in, and writing films haven’t gained the recognition or profile they deserve. These are people making a deeply personal commitment to the preservation of uniquely independent and uniquely British filmmaking.
Too often, the filmmaking scene in this country is in thrall to the pop-cultural zeitgeist, chasing after the latest viral phenomenon or whatever is being peddled as the next big thing… or the next “indie” thing even, by the, how can we say this politely, more corporate end of the entertainment media.
Now, I’m not having a go at them. Sometimes, they’ve helped get my own work out there. But as independent filmmakers and fans of genuine indie film, we simply can’t rely on those outlets or on the gatekeepers who prevent word getting out about the folks really getting the work done.
Who is Tony Mardon?
So, without further ado, let me introduce you to Tony Mardon. Tony has carved out a unique niche in the independent horror scene with his eclectic blend of wild performance, theatrical expression, and hands-on creative control, from directing to performing and everything in between.
He’s currently directing and producing the hotly anticipated The Witches of the Sands, a film that blends live action and animation. Its folk-horror roots take an unconventional path, combining psychological terror, comedy, and surrealism. You could say the same for Tony’s performance style, which has seen him deliver full-throttle performances in the incredibly popular VHS Video Shop Tales of Terror and its sequel Video Shop Tales of Terror II: Lust and Revenge, which premiered to great acclaim at the Romford International Festival last March, alongside our own Hex Studios’ The Reign of Queen Ginnarra.
Tony also directed a segment in the latest Video Shop Tales of Terror film, titled Invasion of Studio 69. It’s a grotesque, but hilarious, fusion of Ed Wood’s notorious sci-fi B-movie Plan 9 from Outer Space and a film Russ Meyer might have made if he had ever ventured into science fiction.
Beyond that, he’s directed numerous short films and performed in… well, too many to count on my fingers. In every performance, he brings a wild, intense characterisation that truly sets him apart from others in the indie scene. His work often feels closer to the musings of John Waters or Lloyd Kaufman’s Troma films than to more traditional British fare.
That, in itself, makes Tony Mardon a unique talent — someone worth watching and connecting with on social media. He’s a good man and an authentic artist, as is his talented partner Lauren Jane Barnett, who works alongside him on many of his horror creations. She’s also a gifted comic book writer and the author of Deadlines: A Walking Guide to London’s Horror Films, a non-fiction book which made Stewart Lee’s favourite book list of 2024 and was dubbed “The A to Z horror fans need” by none other than Kim Newman.
Having this happen has resulted in a far more interesting film. The biggest impact has been the many talented people I have met throughout. At the moment, I am focusing on getting it finished. After nearly six years, that will be accomplishment enough.
Let’s Ask Tony Mardon Some Questions!
Tony, could you tell us a bit about the concept behind The Witches of the Sands? How did it come about, and what are you hoping to accomplish with this unique film?
The Witches of the Sands has grown, organically, into something very different from the original concept. It started life as a potential short film. Very naively, and with way too much hubris, I allowed it, much like a mad scientist feeding a mutant Venus Flytrap, to overrun the laboratory and run rampant.
Having this happen has resulted in a far more interesting film, though. This happened for numerous reasons; the crowdfunding was pretty successful, but the biggest impact has been the many talented people I have met throughout.
At the moment, I am focusing on getting it finished. After nearly six years, that will be accomplishment enough. What I am really hoping to achieve is something that I can be proud of, something that resonates with me. It actually has autobiographical themes running through it, so there is a lot of ‘me’ on the screen, which is both thrilling and nauseating.
You wear multiple hats on this production, including directing, writing and acting. God knows, I know that feeling myself. But I’ve never done all three at once. How much Valium did you get through while doing that? Would you recommend this kind of creative overload to other artists?
Those three areas don’t scare me nearly as much as the ‘producer’ moniker. I have found this the hardest and least enjoyable part. Luckily, I met Lauren and Lauren loves a spreadsheet and has been invaluable help. My background is in Fine Art; I love the creative process, I enjoy creating characters and moments.
Writing and acting come naturally to me. Directing, I am often thankful for a great crew. These are things that excite me. Although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, it has worked, overall, for me. But then, it had to, otherwise Witches wouldn’t have got made. We have to remember that creativity often flourishes because of boundaries and restrictions, not despite them.
What are the toughest lessons you have learned while making this film? For me, the hardest part is not always what is behind or in front of the camera. It is the personal and professional life balance. Has the production taken a toll on you? How did you overcome it, and what advice would you give to other filmmakers in the same boat?
Yes, it has definitely taken its toll on me and I don’t know if I have overcome it all, to be honest. My marriage was in a terrible state and deciding to make a film was one of the final nails in the coffin. I had been a teacher and was struggling with supply teaching, I absolutely hated it, so in the duration of making Witches, to make ends meet, I became head receptionist at a hotel (I got fired), a takeaway delivery driver (I was let go), Tesco general assistant and a cleaner. I sold everything I owned from my collection of film/TV memorabilia (including my Ted Lasso season 1 wrap gift of an embroidered Barbour jacket) to my marathon and ultra-marathon medals so I could give my then-wife mortgage/bills money.
We still separated and I lived in my car for a while as I was too embarrassed to tell my parents that I needed to move back home at 50 years old. I did eventually move back but at my worst point ended up in hospital. This was all whilst trying to make a film… but with a timescale this long, things are bound to happen, e.g. my Dad died in February 2024 whilst we were filming in Essex. Giovanni Lombardo Radice passed away a month after filming with us, as did a lovely lady named Samantha who played one of our Druids. I really need to get this finished!!!!
However, I am lucky in that the team behind making Witches happen have also become good friends and this helped hugely. Meeting my now fiancée, Lauren, was a huge turning point for me too. It is important to surround yourself with people who care and people you care for, regardless of what you are doing. I wouldn’t dare change anything now though, as I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else today. I don’t think I’m qualified to give advice to other filmmakers but my advice to everyone is just be nice to people and enjoy other people’s success as much as your own.
The visual style of The Witches of the Sands looks incredibly distinctive, combining live action and animation. Could you walk us through your aesthetic philosophy for the film?
I view it as ‘if Monty Python did Horror with some of The Office thrown in’. The animated scenes were born from necessity. We shot a scene featuring a vintage car and I really wanted to see it fly, then dive underwater through a surreal landscape. We had Freesprite Media studio ready for the car but we couldn’t work dates out with the car owner, and the cost and time of getting it from Whitstable, Kent to the studio in Essex was proving awkward, so I got in touch with Mark Stewart from Sunrise Giants animation and a fascinating,
creative partnership was formed. We went from one animated scene to several. I’m loving it! And Mark is a genius who totally understands where both myself and Witches are coming from. I think in the case of Witches, coming from a fine art background as opposed to a film background helps. I’m not pretentious enough to call Witches a work of art, but that is how I have approached it, at least within the last two or three years.
It’s a process that I am working through. It is cathartic and frustrating in equal measure. I’m interested in seeing what I want to see on screen, not what may be prescribed at a film school, and if only one person in every hundred gets something from it, then so be it. Also, my primary goal is to create something interesting, not to make money. If it does, that’s an unexpected bonus, not a prerequisite.
Every horror film has a psychological objective. Your film leans into surrealism and seems designed to provoke unpredictable reactions. Is that what you are aiming for? What do you want your audience to experience?
I’m definitely interested in audience perceptions. What an audience expects to see in a cinema. Adverts, trailers, certificate, warning, titles, film, credits or something to that effect. Witches definitely plays with this concept. This has probably grown from my insistence to make Witches the way I want to make it. So yes, I’m interested in audience reaction, but that’s because I think they will see something a little different.
I’ve stuck to my guns for the most part for sure. It’s very much like producing a painting; it’s a struggle, well, it should be, I think. I’m thankful to still have two ears but there have been times when I could have channelled Van Gogh after his fateful time with Gauguin!
Although I have, rightly or wrongly, shared quite a few images from Witches, I have deliberately held back from talking about some of the more arthouse scenes. I don’t think people are expecting a lot of what they are going to see. The important thing for me is this: I do not want to make a boring film. That’s it. I’d much rather provoke a reaction than have people forget about it on leaving the cinema or turning off their TV.
Do you see The Witches of the Sands as part of a wider commentary on society, trauma, history, or the nature of belief itself?
Well, it became very autobiographical the longer it has gone on. Obviously, I don’t have a talking growth on my stomach or own a restaurant full of cannibals that can only speak one line of Shakespeare, but the Director character, although we amplified his ignorance (some would say understated it) and intolerance of others, goes on a similar journey to mine.
There is even one scene where the cast and crew turn up to the studio and the director has set up a table of his stuff to sell because he needs the money to finish the film, as if at a boot fair. It’s funny, but if you know, then you know. The film climaxes at his premiere where he goes on a murderous rampage. I’m tempted to do that at my premiere, what a great performance piece that would be! Think of the promotion!
We poke fun at today’s society for sure. Not in a harmful way (although I’m sure some people will take offence) but we tackle social commentary throughout, we touch on many issues of the moment, including a fun scene involving various pronouns…
Filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Ken Russell have been huge inspirations for me. Are there any artists or directors who have really influenced your own work?
It would be easy to talk about the great horror (as well as non-genre) directors here and of course I’m influenced by many. Growing up in the 70s watching Amicus, Hammer, Universal, Tigon films etc. on TV, living through the video nasties scandal to seeing pretty much everything now available streaming or in HMV, etc. But some of the things we watched back then were even more terrifying; the public service announcements and 1970s children’s TV shows! I was talking to one of our SFX guys, Jay Lowe, about just this: don’t fly your kite near overhead cables, don’t play near water, don’t play with fireworks, don’t play in building sites, etc. Scared the life out of me. That’s what probably started me on my horror loving journey.
I am also very interested in the work of Derek Jarman. In fact, I met him in Dungeness once where he lived and gave him a hand moving some large pieces of driftwood around. He gave me some lemonade and a slice of melon. His garden was fabulous. There are moments in Witches where we see nothing on screen at all and we reference Jarman’s film Blue. I didn’t set out to, but there were moments it just seemed appropriate.
I mentioned Van Gogh earlier, but I am inspired by people who are prepared, for whatever reason, to endure the struggle. To stick to what they believe in. Endure the mocking. Endure the ‘he doesn’t know what he is doing’ comments. From the struggle, from the ability to overcome adversity and barriers. When I see a filmmaker doing this, I am inspired. What I am not inspired by are the paint-by-numbers, formulaic ridiculousness of most large studios, and in particular, Disney. Again, we touch on this in Witches, but surely at some point audiences will get fed up with watching another superhero movie only differentiated from the last fifty by the colour of the costumes.
I have been talking recently about how the film distribution market for indie films is collapsing. How do you see the future of indie horror in the UK, and where would you like it to go?
This is a good question but one I’m not sure that I am qualified to answer. I see a lot of producers self-distributing which seems to work well on a smaller scale. The problem with that is finding ways to promote the product/studio. Of course, everyone who was in the film, friends and family, are going to buy one, but what happens after that?
And do I really want to stand around at a film/comic convention in the vain hope of selling four Blu-rays? No, I do not. Of course, there is something satisfying about seeing a film you contributed to (as crew or actor) in shops such as HMV, but with the exclusion of boutique, specialist labels, that market is on its last legs, surely?
And then of course you also have the option of losing your film in the arse end of a streaming channel. So far, I haven’t had to worry about making these decisions but know that I will in the near future as Witches gets to that stage. I’m not worrying about it until we have a rough cut. We will also have to think about it when our anthology film is ready, but until then I’m happy to see what everyone else is doing.
I am also very interested to see what you (Lawrie) and your team at the British Horror Studio do. Would something like a British version of Darkside Releasing help indie film, I wonder?
As you can see, I don’t know.
As The Witches of the Sands nears completion, you are still acting in all sorts of mad, brilliant productions. What is next for you?
In all honesty, I’m excited to finally finish Witches. I might actually be able to sleep through the night again. That aside, we do have a few things coming up. We just filmed Darner over the Easter weekend; a short film and segment for our anthology film (which will include our Libra and Rabbit) written and produced by my fiancée, Lauren Jane Barnett, and directed by James Edward Newton.
For once, I was just acting, which was a welcome change. I am hoping to do some more acting this year. I was in a segment of Sam Mason Bell’s new anthology earlier this year and he has asked me to work with him again, which is great. Lauren and I will be involved in Video Shop Tales of Terror 3 and we are getting close to finishing the first draft of our book.
Next year, most of our focus will be on preparing for our wedding in August. That’s as good as it gets for me. I can’t wait.
About Tony Mardon
Tony Mardon is a British independent filmmaker, writer, and actor known for his bold, unfiltered style and deep-rooted passion for horror cinema. Whether behind the camera or in front of it, Tony brings a unique mix of surrealism, satire, and theatrical flair to every project he touches. His latest feature, The Witches of the Sands, blends live action and animation in a folk-horror tale unlike anything else on the indie scene. Tony’s work has earned a cult following for its fearless storytelling and commitment to authentic, grassroots horror.
You can follow Tony Mardon and explore more of his creative work here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_witches_of_the_sands/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewitchesofthesands/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheWitchesoftheSands
About Lawrie Brewster
Lawrie Brewster is a veteran horror film producer with 15 years of experience. Lawrie Brewster leads Hex Studios, serves as president of Amicus Productions, and runs the British Horror Studio project in collaboration with filmmakers from around the world.
You can also follow Lawrie Brewster on his Official Website at www.lawriebrewster.com
Lawrie Brewster recently published a series of fascinating articles, including his five top tips for indie filmmakers, his thoughts on the current state of film distribution, the creation of the British Horror Studio project, his journey from outsider to filmmaker, and his staunch defence of 1980s-style Sword and Sorcery.