Selected past Freefall Productions films.
The Guitar Man
2004 / short film / Cert: 15 / 17 minutes / Black and White (with colour sequences) / Released: 17th December 2004 / Director: Michael Shemilt / Screenplay: Michael Shemilt / Producer: Michael Shemilt / Music: Michael Shemilt & Sam Hughes / Cast: Sam Hughes (Death), Luke Suerley (The Dying Man).
Death appears as a mysterious guitar- playing figure in a dreamlike wilderness.
A lone, black- clad figure wanders the countryside, playing an acoustic guitar and musing on life and death. He is sat in a clearing when he is approached by an ill- looking man who asks to hear a song. The guitarist plays a Blues song then stands up and puts a hand on the man’s shoulder. The man falls to the ground dead and the guitarist walks away.
Michael Shemilt shot The Guitar Man over two days in late 2004 in Corfe Mullen, Dorset. Enlisting his former Draven bandmate Sam Hughes to play the part of “Death”, Shemilt fashioned a brilliantly haunting and strikingly stark black and white nightmare on an extremely low budget. He followed it up with a vaguely defined possible sequel, Angel of Death, the following year.
The Guitar Man is available on DVD from the online store. It is also included on the Underground Spirit: Short Films compilation.
The Mover
2005 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 28 minutes / Colour / Released: 26th August 2005 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Michael Shemilt / Music: Sam Hughes / Cast: Sam Hughes (The Mover), John Coward (The Driver), Ed Wilkinson (The Hitman), Rob Green (The Money Man), George Hughes (The Barman), Don Graham (The Detective).
A nameless criminal courier battles alcoholism and personal demons as he makes his living doing “Removals” work for the underworld.
The mysterious “Mover” muses on his anonymous, “Off the Radar” existence as he quietly goes about his work- picking up art collections and other valuables and transporting them around the country for his employers. Although in complete denial, the Mover is heavily reliant on alcohol and spends most nights getting drunk alone either in his car or empty properties on the road as he contemplates his wasted life and failed music career.
After a run of successful jobs he is instructed by a contact, a barman in a pub, to switch vehicles before his next assignment, for which he will have to work with a partner, the much less low profile “Driver”- a verbose thug the Mover considers a rank amateur at best and a dangerous liability at worst.
Although opposed to violence, the Mover fears the time is getting nearer for him to finally have to use the gun he’s been carrying for years, especially as the police start to piece together who is and what he’s doing, having narrowly missed the chance to catch him in the act on his last job.
In addition, the job he and the increasingly unreliable and not particularly subtle Driver are finally sent on looks virtually certain to turn violent as it’s quite possibly a set- up designed to remove them both from the game. Faced with a ruthless hitman who wastes no time in dispatching his partner, the Mover is forced to take action and confront his greatest fears in the process.
Shot very quickly on a shoestring budget over the spring of 2005, The Mover was George Hughes’s first film as writer / director. A stylishly moody Crime drama, it evokes the spirit of Michael Mann- particularly Thief (1981) and Collateral (2004)- with it’s stark nocturnal urban landscapes and conflicted, morally ambiguous protagonist.
Hughes wrote the screenplay in less than a week having been inspired by a 4am drive carrying several boxes in his car during the process of moving house. With production scheduled to begin on his feature debut Remnants in the summer he also felt the smaller project would be good practice for himself and his cast and crew (every principal cast member also appears in the later film).
The Mover was filmed out of sequence (depending upon the availability of actors, vehicles and equipment) entirely on location between May and July ’05, utilising various locales in Dorset and Hampshire including Bournemouth, Poole, Salisbury, Wimborne, Boscombe and Sandbanks. The bar scene was shot at Edward’s in the centre of Bournemouth. The interiors of the first flat the Mover stays in and the apartment where the final confrontation and shoot- out take place were both filmed in George Hughes’s own Wallisdown flat.
As with all of Hughes’s films so far, The Mover was shot entirely on digital video. The second flat sequence, in which the Mover looks out at the sunset as he drinks from a bottle of vodka (actually water- although the wine he drinks later was real) looks artificial but the budget didn't actually stretch to such effects- the colours of the evening clouds and sunlight were captured for real in camera by Hughes, who also acted as Editor and cameraman. Only the bar sequence- in which he appears in the cameo role of the barman- was filmed by Coward.
The film features only four very brief lines of actual dialogue from the characters- none of whom are ever named- as the story is told entirely through images, music and the Mover’s melancholy voiceover (effectively turning the disadvantage of no professional sound mix into an advantage). The writer / director was especially pleased with the sunset scene and the sequence in which the Mover and the Driver discuss their plan overlooking the Bournemouth skyline just before taking the lift up to the final fateful ambush.
Ed Wilkinson’s wordless portrayal of the steely- eyed assassin at the end so impressed Hughes and producer (and Freefall co- founder) Michael Shemilt that the bit part player was elevated to third in the credits on the strength of his few minutes of memorable screen time. Don Graham (the detective that nearly catches the Mover) and Rob Green (the “Money Man” who hands the Mover his payment) would go on to get bigger parts in Remnants whilst Sam Hughes was proud of his second lead role (the first being in his former Draven bandmate Shemilt’s The Guitar Man a year earlier) which was widely considered the best performance in The Mover, although he admitted he found the final film somewhat slow- paced and introspective for his own personal tastes (he was rewarded with more action- orientated supporting roles in future).
The Mover is available on DVD from the online store. It is also featured on the Underground Spirit compilation DVD of short films.
The Future
2005 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 26 minutes / Black & White (with colour sequences) / Released: 30th December 2005 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: Michael Shemilt & George Hughes / Producer: Michael Shemilt / Music: Michael Shemilt / Cast: Michael Shemilt (The Hippy), George Hughes (Drug Dealer).
In the final days of the ‘60’s, a disturbed hippy has a very bad trip and is tormented by chaotic visions of the next three decades.
Returning to his squat to drop the acid he’s just bought from a mysterious dealer, the Hippy at first experiences comforting visions of contemporary icons- Dylan, Hendrix, The Doors. However, things turn nasty when the Vietnam War gets in his head. This leads on to the Falklands, the Gulf and 9/11 as he is steadily driven insane by the intense images. He screams nonsensically and writes on the walls, eventually coming to some sort of profound understanding at what will either be the return to reality or the moment of death . . .
Made in the last days of 2005 as another quick short film project for Freefall Productions to get some titles out while Remnants was still in production, The Future is George Hughes’s only intentionally “Arty” film as well as his only real collaboration with another filmmaker- although Shemilt’s co- writing credit is misleading; like The Mover, Hughes originally envisioned The Future as having no actual dialogue so there was never actually a script.
Shemilt improvised all of his lines (and guitar playing) on the spot but they were going to be muted beneath the images and music until Hughes decided to keep some of his drugged- up ramblings audible out of the hours of footage.
Shot in Shemilt’s garage (the drawings and scribbling on the wall were all real but he was completely sober during filming) over just two days, The Future's only other crew was Shemilt's sister Kellie- who did the lighting. The “Insanity Sequence” in which the visions get faster and the music louder was largely inspired by a scene in an episode of Millennium, X- Files creator Chris Carter’s underrated “Other” End of the World TV series. Hughes had also recently read “Waiting for the Sun”, Barney Hoskyns’ exhaustive examination of Flower Power California as well as the Pink Floyd biography, "Saucerful of Secrets", which makes sense given Shemilt’s character’s Syd Barrett- like antics in The Future (he even bears a more than passing resemblance to the Floyd’s original front man).
The film also owes a lot to Lyndsay Anderson’s anti- establishment classic If (1968) and Michelangelo Antonioni’s revolutionary Zabriskie Point (1969) although the originally shot but unused ending in which the Hippy awakens to find the words “Peace and Love are over- The Future is only Hate and War” on the wall was excised for being overly simplistic and obvious. Instead Shemilt simply reads some pre- existing real- life stoned scribbling about “Nothingness”.
The visions themselves were a combination of still photographs (crash- zoomed into at very close range on a handheld DV camera by Hughes well before the live action was shot) and news footage shot in night vision from a TV screen then rendered in black and white, giving an even grainier, distorted effect that adds to the main character’s sense of paranoia. The two brief shots in which Hughes returns in his cameo as the drug dealer to torment the Hippy with more disturbing imagery were also shot (by Hughes himself, holding the camera in one hand and a torch in the other to give the off- kilter lighting effect) in night vision before the transfer to black and white. The albums, vinyl turntable and old telephone were also Hughes's and filmed later as insert shots.
Like a lot else in The Future, the dealer’s return in the dream sequences is open to all kind of interpretations but Hughes’s own was simply that he intimidated the Hippy and quite possibly spiked the product with something else.
Likewise, the moment the Hippy appears be dead can be whatever a viewer wants it to be. Maybe he is dead for a while, maybe he’s not- but he's certainly close. However, Hughes maintains there’s not necessarily anything supernatural about The Future, his own explanation being that it’s actually set in the present day- the whole thing being an acid flashback the now much older Hippy’s having confused with more recent memories.
The Future is available on DVD from the online store. It is also featured on the Underground Spirit compilation DVD of short films.
Street Light Fortune: Got No Time
2006 / Documentary Film / Cert: 18 / 131 minutes / Colour / Released: 9th January 2006 / Director: George Hughes / Producer: Sam Hughes / Music: Street Light Fortune / Cast: Tommy Stone, Sam Hughes, Aaron O’Shea, Pete Howard, Scott Davies, Tom Hughes, Sean Streets, Ed Wilkinson, Michael Shemilt, George Hughes, John Coward.
Epic documentary film charting the early days of Bournemouth Classic Rock band Street Light Fortune.
Having dissolved both of his previous bands, Progressive Metal act Draven and his first attempt at a “Stadium Super group”, The Piranhas, lead guitarist Sam Hughes has put together a five- piece Heavy Rock outfit at first called Unity then Street Light Fortune. Hand- picking his band mates and writing all their material himself, he has high hopes for his new endeavour but clueless support bands, an unreliable drummer who only occasionally makes it to practices, an overweight front man and a contagiously negative rhythm guitarist all conspire to threaten his plans for world domination . . .
Director George Hughes’s sixth and best “Rockumentary” following a Freefall Records band, Got No Time follows up Playing Some Stuff Live, about Stone and Sam Hughes’s first attempt at forming a new band with the short- lived Piranhas. Whereas Hughes’s earlier documentaries were either “All Performance” live affairs aimed at the DVD market or “All Talk” interview footage, Got No Time combines the two styles to be both at the same time, giving it an intentionally overblown cinematic feel.
It’s often hilariously funny as band arguments, sackings and bust- up’s reach implosive levels as the film goes on. As well as Playing Some Stuff Live, Draven: Live as a Bastard (2004) and Volitera: The Never Settle for Less Than Metal Tour (2005) also told the stories of previously successful bands falling apart. Got No Time, despite being about a newly formed group, often looks set to turn out the same way.
Hughes captures some priceless moments on camera, including the band meeting in which Davies’ (poached from rival Bournemouth rockers Voodoo Vegas) fate is finally sealed and the instant drummer Howard comes up with the name Street Light Fortune. And while Sam Hughes’s interviews slyly mock the almost Spinal Tap feel of the piece, former estate agent turned overnight Rock God “Stoney” seems genuinely oblivious.
The live footage gets progressively better as the picture goes on but all of the boozing, partying and (usually paralytic) talking heads are only occasionally punctuated by the band’s performances. When Street Light Fortune do take to the stage however the results are very varied. From the uncertainty of the first show with Davies to the man down second gig (coming about two thirds through the film complete with directionless Blues interlude) to the final triumphant night at the end with bassist O’Shea promoted to second guitarist to bring Tom Hughes into the band.
While, true to form, Sam Hughes eventually sacked everybody except Stone over the next two years (the band never settled on a permanent line- up) Got No Time ends on a high for Street Light Fortune and remains the most popular of Freefall’s live music films.
A special edition DVD featuring new interviews and more unseen footage was being planned but the idea eventually evolved into a whole new film instead: The Freefall Records Story.
Street Light Fortune: Got No Time is available on DVD from the online store. Special features include deleted scenes and music videos.
Predator 3: On the Hunt
2006 / Fan Film / Cert: 18 / 24 minutes / Colour / Released: 20th October, 2006 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Mark Maultby / Music: Richard Walker, Wayne Wilmut & Dave Gillam / Cast: Rob Green (Jefferson), Sam Hughes (Riggs), Don Graham (Macleod), John Coward (Reece), Chris Kay (Windows), George Hughes (Mr. Parks), Alex Hennerley (Pub Landlady), Mark Maultby (Forestry Worker), Tom Hughes (The Predator).
Ten years after the events of Predator 2, another Predator has escaped from a top secret government research base in southern England. A ruthless team of mercenaries are immediately sent out into the surrounding forest to hunt it down.
Two rugged soldiers of fortune, Jefferson and Reece- both having just arrived in the country- meet in the beer garden of a pub where they casually discuss their new mission- the pursuit and capture of “Another” escaped alien for a mysterious government agency.
Soon Jefferson, Reece and the rest of the team are on the E.B.E.’s trail but the hunted is itself a hunter- one of the notorious “Predator” creatures that visit Earth for some violent “Sport” roughly once a decade. After the wounded but still deadly Predator takes out half their team, Jefferson and Reece are briefed by their employer, the mysterious Mr. Parks, about the true threat represented by the lethal alien hunter and a new team member, the confrontational loudmouth Riggs, joins the mission.
Picking up the Predator’s blood trail again, the remaining mercenaries split up but tensions between them erupt when it emerges the new man Riggs is actually working directly with Parks- who let the creature escape deliberately to test it against them in combat. Separated from their leader Jefferson, the squad are again ambushed by the Predator but survive long enough for Reece to turn on Parks and kill him.
With their pay day jeopardised, the survivors decide to join forces and complete the mission in order to get hold of the target’s valuable alien weaponry but Riggs is killed by the Predator in another surprise attack. Barely alive itself after all the bloodshed, the Predator heads for the nearest town as night falls but Jefferson remains on it’s tail . . .
Mainly only made to give Hughes’s regular repertory company of actors something more fun to do during production on Remnants, Predator 3 plays like an ‘80’s Hollywood Action movie on fast forward- it’s entire plot (continuing directly on from ideas set up in 1990’s underrated Predator 2) condensed into just twenty kinetic, brutal minutes.
Easily the fastest- paced, most violent picture made by Freefall Productions, P3 was written very quickly when Hughes’s brother Tom built the Predator costume for a Halloween party in 2005. Seizing upon the opportunity to give at least one film on the forthcoming Underground Spirit short films DVD an instantly recognisable title, George Hughes wrote his unofficial sequel around the central theme of the Predator this time being the prey before quite spectacularly turning the tables on it’s pursuers.
The anglicisation of the material resulted in some classic dialogue- although the script was only about half as comically profane as the finished film because improvisation was very much encouraged during filming- so much so George Hughes ended up playing the Predator himself for the final fight with Green.
As with The Mover, the cast were regularly handling weapon props (often also whilst covered in movie blood) in public, resulting in several run- ins with passers- by. However, most people were extremely positive and Predator 3 went on to become a huge hit online and on pirate DVD (actually encouraged by it’s makers to get a bigger audience) although it’s status as a free extra feature was made quite clear on the Underground Spirit DVD.
Predator 3 is only available from the online store as an extra on the Underground Spirit short films compilation DVD and on the Film Collection box set.
Remnants
2007 / Feature Film / Cert: 15 / 82 minutes / Colour / Released: 27th July, 2007 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Mark Maultby / Music: Michael Shemilt, Sam Hughes & Steve Beeston / Cast: Michael Shemilt (Jim Burton), Charlotte Dunlavey (Star), John Coward (Kief MacReady), Sam Hughes (Carpenter), Don Graham (Carlos), Rob Green (Johnny), Ben Jelley (Richie), George Hughes (David), Mark Maultby (Kurt), Tom Hughes (Woody).
Somewhere in the terrifying, burnt- out landscape of a future England, revolutionary resistance leader Jim Burton and his girlfriend Star have escaped the darkness of the last underground city. But they are pursued by the relentless soldiers of the regime they opposed, as well as the notorious bounty hunter Kief MacReady . . .
At an indeterminate point in the possibly near future there is a violent uprising by the downtrodden mine workers in a nameless, dark underground city. The supposed ringleader, Jim Burton, has escaped out into the desolate wilderness beyond the city boundaries but the American “Bosses” who have taken power since the end of the last great destructive war, send a squadron of their black- uniformed soldiers and the infamous hired killer Kief MacReady to hunt him down.
On the deserted roads of the wastelands, Jim and his girlfriend Star- who is the real force behind all of his revolutionary ideas as well as one of the city’s few literate inhabitants- encounter numerous strange characters who have continued to make a living and survive undetected. Having heard about a supposedly mythical peaceful settlement near the sea, they eventually reach a more alive, wooded landscape where the plants and animals have survived.
But the Bosses’ forces are never far behind and the unstoppable MacReady is usually the first to catch up with them, massacring all who stand in his way. Eventually Star and Jim- who is really nothing more than a half- crazed alcoholic who just got drunk one night and started the “Big Workers’ Uprising” pretty much by accident- are separated when their camp is raided by the thuggish Colonel Carpenter and his squad who are in fierce competition with MacReady to bring the fugitives in first.
Whilst Star continues to wander alone, Jim is found by a cutthroat band of nomadic criminals led by the confrontational Carlos and joins them for a spur of the moment armed robbery in a remote bar. The job soon turns violent but is considered a success when the gang return to their hideout with enough gambling money to continue their Poker game. Jim is debating whether to stay or make an effort to find Star when Carlos is shot dead by a sniper and Carpenter and his men close in on the building.
Jim is able to escape again however, and makes it to the commune- like settlement by the beach more or less by chance. Star is already there and the friendly locals welcome Jim as the great rebel leader Star has made him out to be. However, his presence only brings MacReady down on the idyllic hideaway.
Finally realising he’s going to have to live up to his own legend, Jim faces the bounty hunter alone to save the settlement but ends up conning him into actually helping in an unexpected counter- attack on Carpenter and his squad with the promise of an even bigger reward if the now very real rebellion
succeeds . . .
The film Freefall Productions was set up to make, Remnants had a long and torturous road to the screen. The first shoot was abandoned in late 2004 and work then began again the following summer. But numerous delays (including bad weather, unreliable equipment, footage being lost, unavailable actors and having to recast the female lead twice) meant that it wasn’t released for another two years.
Hughes, his cast and crew (what there was of one) often tired of the project, preferring instead to work on shorts or music videos just to get a break from it. Remnants was a wildly overambitious film for a director’s first feature- especially without any real budget, crew or resources and the fact that it’s coherent at all is a small miracle given that scenes were often filmed literally years apart (in fact, sometimes opposite sides of the same scene)!
In addition to the role of Star, the part of MacReady was almost recast too when original actor John Coward became unavailable for a long period of time. George Hughes briefly considered replacing him with his brother Sam Hughes (who had been considered too young when the character was first written) but as he had already shot scenes in the smaller role of Carpenter it simply would have meant far too much reshooting. Instead, Coward came back to the part after a six month break.
Some sequences detailed in the script were never filmed at all (including a hand- to- hand fight between Carpenter and one of the rebels during the climatic battle) whilst other, new ones were added during improvisation sessions (like the basketball game at the settlement). The bar fight turned shoot- out was also written differently and all of Carlos’s gang were originally meant to be on the job. The interiors of the sequence were filmed in The King’s Head pub on Poole quay in the early morning where Don Graham improvised a lot of new dialogue for Carlos- who he inexplicably gave an unlikely Scottish accent.
The entire midsection of the film has an almost directionless feel as Jim joins the gang and was intended to show how he wasn’t much of a “Great Leader” at all. There is more than a touch of Jim Jarmusch’s 1995 Western Dead Man about Remnants. MacReady is like a cross between Snake Plissken in Escape from New York (1981) and the Terminator whilst Jim’s guitar case full of guns is very El Mariachi (1993). The poster however (of a silhouetted Jim and MacReady with his rifle slung over his shoulder against the sunset) was inspired by the poster for Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973). There are also more subtle references to everything from Night of the Hunter (1953) to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966).
Sam Hughes was originally “Contracted” to score the entire film but had to pull out due to his touring commitments with Street Light Fortune, resulting in the patched together soundtrack by him, Shemilt and Safehouse guitarist Steve Beeston (the Sam Hughes takes that are used- themselves very reminiscent of Neil Young’s Dead Man score- are from demos recorded in 2004 before production even began). The soundtrack album was then padded out with selections from several Freefall Records bands that appear throughout the film.
George Hughes explained that the reason everyone in Remnants is so young is that people simply don’t live very long in the film’s grim dystopian landscape. The largely unseen “Bosses” were also made American as an in- joke “In revenge for every time a posh English actor played a Hollywood villain”!
Remnants (2- disc special edition DVD with a feature- length documentary) is available from the online store.
Bournemouth Live 2007
2007 / Documentary Film / Cert: 15 / 134 minutes / Colour / Released: 27th August 2007 / Director: George Hughes / Producers: Michael Shemilt, Romin Aliabadi, Mark Maultby & George Hughes / Music: Long Time Dead, Club Le Shark, Voodoo Vegas & The Clams / Cast: Emma Baldry, Martin Sloyan, Meryl Hamilton, Tris Palumbo, Lawrence Case, Rich Peacock, Olly Hopper.
Live music film featuring four sets from the 2007 Bournemouth Live festival.
Bournemouth Live begins with a late night, indoor show as Bournemouth rockers The Clams play out the first day (28th June) of the festival. The next set is an outdoor one the following afternoon by Voodoo Vegas on the pier approach stage by the beach. The film then ends with first Club Le Shark and then Long Time Dead headlining the last night (1st July) on Poole Quay.
A documentary on the last big Freefall Records project, the Bournemouth Live 2007 film was intended to be even longer but bad weather on almost every day of the festival meant only one outdoor performance could be used and the shortlist of seven featured bands had to be cut down to just four.
However, Bournemouth Live 2007 makes up for that with the brilliant performances it does capture from arguably the biggest south coast acts at the time. The film was released in a massive double disc DVD set featuring several more performances (by Ten To Never, Safehouse, Cabaret Rat and Tetra Fever) as well as music videos from throughout the label’s brief but memorable history.
The Bournemouth Live 2007 DVD is available from the online store.
The 26.2 Pint Marathon
2010 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 21 minutes / Colour / Released: 4th November, 2010 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Sam Hughes / Cast: Sam Hughes (Colin), Sean Streets (Tony), George Hughes (Tom), Alex Wheeler (Henry).
Two "Expert" drinkers decide that rather than challenging each other to the 26.2 mile London marathon, they'll compete to see who can down 26.2 pints of lager the fastest.
Horribly hungover after a night on the beer, rural hooligan Colin is just sitting down in his kitchen with a can of Stella for breakfast when his afro sporting best mate Tony "The Duke" Burton bursts in through the open front door shouting at the top of his voice and gets him in a headlock.
After calming Tony down, Colin explains what happened the night before- he was drinking in a pub called The Old Trout when he got into a furious debate with well- known local ponce "Little Tom The Bastard".
After ridiculing Colin's ambitious plans to run in the London marathon because of his questionable fitness levels, Tom suggested it was more likely he could drink 26.2 pints of lager rather than run 26.2 miles- but added that he could beat him at either.
This then led to Colin challenging him to a 12- hour, 26.2 pint lager consuming contest. Now quite worried about his drinking abilities due to his recent fitness drive, Colin asks Tony to be his personal trainer to prepare him for the competition.
Tony agrees and puts Colin through a rigorously punishing training regimen in drinking speed and technique before the day of the contest- which is to be held at the Green Man pub.
When Colin and Tony arrive Little Tom is on top bastard- like form, constantly taking the piss, bragging about his wealth and success and assuring them he'll win.
When they finally get down to it and actually make a start, Colin takes an early lead but his fast paced downing soon backfires and Tom starts to catch up. However, Tony has something up his sleeve...
The first Freefall productions short film in four years (and the first of any kind for three) is a fast- paced comical mix of silly humour, overblown sports movie (there's even a Top Gun / Rocky style "Training Montage") and outright farce.
Developed from an original idea Sam Hughes had, The 26.2 Pint Marathon was an unexpected, completely unplanned project that seemed to come out of nowhere and was first released on the internet just a few months after it was announced.
Some changes were made during production though- Little Tom was made much more antagonistic and George Hughes took over the role when first choice Tom Roberts became unavailable. The character of Tony was also absent from early versions but added primarily just to get the infamous Sean Streets into a film in a dramatic role.
Some of the character names were also changed and computer errors meant the first rough cut was lost (seemingly a prerequisite for Freefall films- the whole thing then had to be edited again from the raw footage) but other than that it was among the smoothest productions the filmmakers had ever undertaken.
Whilst the plan to actually stage the competition for real during filming was (probably quite wisely) abandoned the actors were really drinking in all the contest scenes- resulting in some quite haphazard shots and angles- many of which only survive in the final film in montage form.
The 26.2 is available from the online store.
The Freefall Records Story
2011 / Documentary Film / Cert: 18 / 83 minutes / Colour / Released: 25th March, 2011 / Director: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Street Light Fortune, Club Le Shark, Draven, Volitera, The Piranhas & White Room / Cast: Tommy Stone, Sam Hughes, Tris Palumbo, Michael Shemilt, Aaron O'Shea, George Hughes, Wayne Wilmut, Julian Jackson, Tom Hughes, Scott Davies, Ed Wilkinson, John Coward, Sean Streets, Lawrence Case.
An exhaustive retrospective on the mid- 2000's south coast rock scene and the bands and musicians that created it.
Beginning with the founding of legendary indie label Freefall Records (an offshoot of Freefall Productions designed to provide free film music) in 2004, the film charts the passionate, funny and often chaotic history of a genuinely original movement across southern England throughout the Noughties.
The Freefall Records Story opens in Bristol where the pioneers of “Cider Thrash”, Volitera, reigned supreme. It then moves on to the formation of seminal Prog Metallers Draven back in Bournemouth and the beginning of Freefall nights at now long gone but not forgotten venues as well as the first Underground Spirit compilation albums.
Director George Hughes offers personal insights into the numerous tales of split- up’s and bust- up’s along the way, revealing several unheard stories and explaining various infamous incidents. The film follows the demise of Draven with the story of original front man (and Freefall co- founder) Michael Shemilt’s solo career and the formation of the Piranhas, the band that would go on to become Street Light Fortune.
After documenting the phenomenal rise (and just as spectacular fall) of Street Light Fortune with a wealth of previously unreleased performance and interview footage, the film then explores the rapid expansion of the label and it’s co- operative of artists with contributions from White Room, Voodoo Vegas, Ten To Never, The Clams, Safehouse, Free- Way, Cabaret Rat, Tetra Fever and Longtime Dead.
Finally, The Freefall Records Story delves into the deliberate but bittersweet last days of the movement as it all came to an end amidst a storm of debt, broken down relationships and a series of last shows that have gone down in local history. But it all ends on the hopeful note of the success stories of at least some of the key players since and the possibility of something similar one day happening again…
George Hughes’s first documentary since Bournemouth Live 2007, The Freefall Records Story grew out of an idea to release a new cut of Street Light Fortune: Got No Time but after trawling through the hours of never seen live and backstage footage the filmmakers instead decided they had a whole new film to put together instead.
Although it was originally supposed to be comprised of more new interviews, the previously unreleased material from the time eventually won out, especially when Hughes made the decision to make a more concise documentary by slashing the projected 150- minute running time to 90. This resulted in a film that is much more interested in the time and place it’s about rather than what’s happened since- aside from a brief “Where are they now”- type montage before the closing credits.
Another factor that led to the film becoming much more of a celebration of the past rather than an over analytical examination of it was the somewhat lukewarm response from potential interviewees. Given some of the infamous rifts that ultimately tore a lot of the bands in question apart, it was perhaps unsurprising that a great many of them simply refused to take part.
Ultimately, The Freefall Records Story is a triumphant Greatest Hits album of a film, providing a fascinating and entertaining insight into the whole scene quickly and entertainingly, a fitting celebration of youth and creativity in the last decade.
The Freefall Records story is available on DVD from the online store. The 2013 special edition DVD featuring more bonus performance footage and a soundtrack album is also available.
Alien 5: Search and Destroy
2011 / Fan Film / Cert: 18 / 12 minutes / Colour / Released: 28th October, 2011 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Michael Shemilt / Cast: Kellie Shemilt (Lieutenant Ellen McClaren), Rob Green (Corporal Mark Rolston), George Hughes (Terry Rudge), Michael Shemilt (Lenny Ives), Don Graham (Private Robert Hoskins).
Twenty years after the events of Alien 3, the workers at a Weyland- Yutani quarry on the planet Arceon 616 accidentally release a smuggled Alien egg from frozen stasis.
The workers at the distant Arceon 616 quarrying operation have already lost their foreman to an industrial accident and continually complain about food shortages, pay and conditions until one of them, the mentally disturbed Ives, accidentally thaws a frozen shipping container smuggled by the quarry's dead boss containing mysterious extraterrestrial eggs.
Sent to investigate his mistake by his long- suffering supervisor Rudge, Ives unwittingly becomes the Alien’s first victim and human host before it escapes into the underground tunnels beneath the complex.
To the suspicious Rudge’s surprise, the uncharacteristically enthusiastic Network response is for “The Company” to send a squad of Colonial Marines- raising questions about Weyland- Yutani’s real intentions.
But the Marines loose over half their number and most of their weaponry when they crash land as a result of being sent out with unreliable equipment, including a defective drop ship.
After the first expedition down into the caves beneath the planet’s surface results in another ferocious attack by the now fully- grown Alien, the handful of stranded survivors clash with each other over their real motivations as their food, ammunition and air start to run out…
A short, fast and brutal “Unofficial Sequel” in the same vein as 2006’s Predator 3, Alien 5 was the first of five new shorts (along with Henpecked Anonymous, Highlander VI, Beneath the Ice and Terminator 5) shot simultaneously throughout late 2011 and early 2012.
The year- long project amounted to the equivalent of making another feature and each film features a similar cast, who were often working on scenes for all five films completely out of sequence on the same days.
Although the first to be completed, Alien 5 was actually one of the last to be written, owing to the problems with creating a futuristic, extraterrestrial landscape and a working Alien model- way beyond the contemporary Earthbound setting and “Bloke in a Suit” of Predator 3.
In the final film, the miniature Alien that was used is wisely only fleetingly seen when it emerges from the shadows to attack and pick off another Marine or quarry worker.
Alien 5 is only available as a free extra feature on the Beneath the Ice DVD and on the Film Collection box set.
Henpecked Anonymous
2011 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 11 minutes / Colour / Released: 18th November, 2011 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: Jamie Tubbs (Ron), George Hughes (Geoff), Don Graham (Phil).
Henpecking victim Ron joins a new support group, Henpecked Anonymous, to escape his bossy wife and learn how to stand up to her.
Although a total of only about three people usually turn up for his meetings, Henpecked Anonymous (Poole Chapter) group leader Phil is an expert in helping Under the Thumb blokes understand and ultimately even defeat their missus’ bossiness.
His teachings are not quite put into practice by the hesitant Geoff but when new member Ron joins the group, everyone at the meetings has to step up to help him with his struggle…
Another farcical comedy in the 26.2 Pint Marathon mould, Henpecked Anonymous evolved from ideas from real- life wind- up’s (including “H.A.” flyers sent to real- life victims) that very nearly extended to holding actual meetings like those in the film.
Henpecked Anonymous is available on DVD from the online store.
Highlander VI: The Prize
2011 / Fan Film / Cert: 15 / 13 minutes / Colour / Released: 16th December, 2011 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Michael Shemilt / Cast: Michael Shemilt (Roy Crewes), George Hughes (James Twain), Don Graham (The Mongol), Rob Green (Duncan MacLeod), Dave Jones (Connor MacLeod).
The last few remaining immortals in the world fight for "The Prize" as the time of "The Gathering" comes to an end...
At the turn of the Millennium in New York city, two immortals- 1,000 year- old warrior James Twain and his former pupil Roy Crewes- meet for the first time in years, for “The Gathering” is at last racing towards it’s bloody conclusion.
After reminiscing on (very) old times, Twain and Crewes must finally face each other for their final sword fight to decide who will go on to face either the resurrected Highlander Connor MacLeod or the fearsome barbarian “Mongol” to fight for the Prize.
Due in no small part to Twain’s teaching, Crewes unexpectedly defeats his old mentor but even with the knowledge and power from taking his head, he is no match for the fearsome Mongol, leaving only the Highlander standing in the way of unlimited power beyond imagination…
One of the most challenging fan films ever undertaken by Freefall Productions, Highlander VI had to be at once a conclusion to the epic saga of the immortals (Hollywood is still threatening a remake of the legendary original) as well as make sense of the all the disparate previous Highlander sequels.
But once the “Story so Far” and explanations of resurrections and previous lives are out of the way, it becomes a relentlessly fast- paced actioner, as the signature sword fights begin.
Highlander VI is only available as a free extra feature on the Beneath the Ice DVD and on the Film Collection box set.
Beneath the Ice
2012 / Short Film / Cert: 18 / 12 minutes / Colour / Released: 27th January, 2012 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Michael Shemilt / Cast: Don Graham (Burnett), George Hughes (Lowrey), Michael Shemilt (The Target), Rob Green (First Victim), Kellie Shemilt (Assassin), Jamie Tubbs (Flashback Victim).
Burnett, a professional killer, is sent on a mysterious job targeting a stranger for completely unknown reasons.
Upon the completion of another successful job, former courier turned hitman “Burnett” is sent on his next mission, working with the mysterious “Lowrey”.
As the two paid assassins set up on another target they know nothing about, they discuss their secret lives in the world of organised crime and speculate about their soon-to-be victim and the motives of their employers.
Although the target also turns out to be armed and dangerous and Burnett is badly wounded, they complete the job but Burnett then learns that Lowrey is not to be trusted…
Originally conceived as a sequel to The Mover in 2010, Beneath the Ice, as it became known (the title is ambiguous and could be referring to either the metaphorical ground about to give way underneath Burnett or his own tortured psyche hidden behind his cold exterior- or both), soon took on a life of it’s own and evolved into an original story.
Even when it was The Mover 2 though, this was always going to be a much shorter, faster and violent film- much more interested in the bone- crunchingly intense action than it’s very deliberately backgroundless characters.
Beneath the Ice is available on DVD from the online store.
Terminator 5: Priority Target
2012 / Fan Film / Cert: 15 / 12 minutes / Colour / Released: 24th February, 2012 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: George Hughes (T- 900), Rob Green (Scott Russell), Kellie Shemilt (Danni Perry), Jamie Tubbs (Wrong Perry), Dave Jones (Australian).
A new T- 900 Terminator is sent back in time from the war- torn future of 2029 to London, 1987.
In the battlefields of 2029, the Human Resistance learn that one of the new T- 900 model Terminators has been sent back in time, targeting a future resistance leader they can only vaguely identify.
Resistance fighter Scott Russell follows the T- 900 through the time displacement equipment, emerging in London, 1987.
The Terminator is also having difficulty locating it’s target, eliminating anyone and everyone with similar names in its relentlessly terrifying mission as it closes in on Danni Perry, a businesswoman involved in the early stages of the internet.
But armed with inferior weapons and struggling with the disbelieving Danni, Russell begins to suspect that this may not be a mission that he can (or was ever meant to) complete…
The fourth and final "Fan Film" from Freefall Productions, Terminator 5 is a standalone story focussing on the future war against the Machines in Britain.
The main story idea remained unchanged from the first draft script (what would happen if a Terminator successfully completed it’s mission and remained stuck in the past with the failed human protector sent to stop it?) resulting in some neat paradoxes, although T5 was further complicated when Perry was turned into a female character (rather than the more acerbic male stock market trader in the screenplay).
Terminator 5 is only available as a free extra feature on the Henpecked Anonymous DVD and on the Film Collection box set.
Occasional
2019 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 25 minutes / Black and white / Released: 27th September, 2019 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Iain McDonald / Cast: George Hughes (Grainger), Ali Razaghi Aval (Escobedo), Karolina Zajac (Anna), Dave Jones (Intruder).
A part-time, “Occasional” Special Intelligence Service operative is sent to Spain to retrieve evidence of British interference in the Spanish political system.
London, 2017. Grainger is a rarely activated SIS agent. Having gone months without an assignment, he’s beginning to suspect that the service has let him go as the UK prepares to leave the EU. But when Grainger’s superiors learn of evidence that unaccountable elements within the British government have been meddling with the Spanish opposition, he is dispatched to Marbella to retrieve it from a mysterious information dealer…
George Hughes’s first film in seven years, the short spy thriller Occasional also marks Freefall Productions’ first international picture. Filmed in London and Marbella throughout the summer of 2019, the film was produced largely in secret and had an unannounced, limited theatrical run in September ’19 before being released on DVD the following month.
Continuing in the “Shadow World” tradition of The Mover and Beneath the Ice, Occasional is a slow- burning and introspective but intense character study set against an atmospherically stylised backdrop. Shot entirely in stark black and white, it makes the most out of it’s British and Spanish locations, turning both London and Marbella into seductive yet dangerous arenas in which it’s paranoia- fuelled protagonists operate.
Occasional is available on DVD from the online store.
The Cost of Our Blood
2020 / Short Film / Cert: 18 / 30 minutes / Colour / Released: 4th September, 2020 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Rob Green / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: George Hughes (Jimmy Laine), Karolina Zajac (Nikita), Rob Green (Stevie Clockwork), Don Graham (Roger the Thief), Svetlana Postolachi (Xenia), Dave Jones (Brendan O’Shaughnessy).
A violent criminal is released after serving seven years in prison and immediately seeks revenge on the former comrades who abandoned him to the authorities…
In 2013, professional thief Jimmy Laine was part of an elite three- man crew that pulled off a daring armed robbery in London. However, Jimmy was late making it to the rendezvous point afterwards and ended up getting arrested and imprisoned. Now, seven years later, Jimmy’s out and after revenge on the former comrades who left him behind. His violent mission of vengeance brings him into contact with Russian Mafia assassins Nikita and Xenia and takes him first to the south coast and then the west country before reaching it’s bloody conclusion in Ireland…
Work began on The Cost of Our Blood immediately after the release of Occasional in late 2019. Intended as a faster- paced, much more action- orientated film, George Hughes’s script was completed in January 2020 and production began in London the same month before moving to Bournemouth and Poole in February and March. Filming then had to be suspended for three months due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the national lockdown but resumed in Warminster in July. During the hiatus the film’s release date was pushed back from July to November and it’s story was revised to remove a detective character on Laine’s trail and the characters of Nikita and Xenia were added to introduce both a female element and an international element.
There were plans to expand the project to feature length during the delay but the filmmakers ultimately decided to keep The Cost of Our Blood a short film (although clocking in at thirty minutes, it’s Freefall’s longest short to date). After briefly returning to London to film Karolina Zajac’s scenes, production moved back to the south coast to shoot the ending. Unfortunately, the Irish setting of the final scenes had to be faked because of travel restrictions and the planned location filming in Dublin had to be scrapped. But with the editing process going uncharacteristically smoothly, the film ended up ready well ahead of the new schedule so it’s release date was changed again, this time being brought forward to September. A stylish thriller with a similar look to The Mover but with the intense brutality of Beneath the Ice, The Cost of Our Blood has become another popular Freefall title.
The Cost of Our Blood is available on DVD from the online store.
Mila’s Weekend
2021 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 15 minutes / Colour / Released: 2nd July, 2021 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Don Graham / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: Karolina Zajac (Mila), George Hughes (Chris), Don Graham (Moward), Dave Jones (Ninja).
Mila struggles to keep up the cover of a normal life whilst undertaking a dangerous secret mission…
Mila has travelled to London, seemingly for a weekend in a hotel together with her casual affair, Chris. Unbeknownst to Chris however, Mila is actually a highly trained spy and assassin- and she is really on a secret corporate espionage mission on behalf of a shadowy contact. But a rival organisation led by the mysterious Mr. Moward are also looking for the same information Mila is. A deadly confrontation is about to be forced- one that will test all of her skills to their absolute limits...
Mila’s Weekend grew out of early, unused story ideas for Occasional, which was initially to have focussed on a female spy. Following her standout roles in both Occasional and The Cost of Our Blood, Karolina Zajac was the natural choice for the lead character (who she also renamed after objecting to the original name in the script).
Shot in London, Bournemouth and Poole between March and June 2021, Mila’s Weekend marks Freefall’s first (original) female- led film. The set- piece rooftop fight sequence between Mila and a ninja assassin took a whole day to film, and was luckily the last of Karolina Zajac’s scenes completed just hours before she broke her wrist in an unrelated accident.
Mila’s Weekend is available on DVD from the online store.
Zenyth
2022 / Short Film / Cert: 18 / 29 minutes / Colour / Released: 10th June 2022 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Karolina Zajac / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: Karolina Zajac (Natalya), George Hughes (Steve Mills), Rob Green (Pytor Volkov), Don Graham (Vasiliev), Dave Jones (Tarasov).
A detective enlsits assistance from an unlikely source to catch a serial killer.
Detective Steve Mills is hunting a serial killer. Increasingly disturbed by the brutal crimes he’s investigating, Mills is running out of time before the murderer strikes again. But then he’s contacted by the mysterious Natalya, who knows exactly who- and what- the killer really is…
Written straight after the release of Mila’s Weekend, Zenyth was an attempt at a psychological horror thriller and investigative police procedural with a culture clash twist. Filmed in Bournemouth, London, Southampton and Warminster between September 2021 and March 2022, the film was initially scheduled for release on April 8th ’22 before being pushed back to August 12th and then finally brought forward to June 10th. Featuring another standout lead performance by Karolina Zajac and a chilling turn from Rob Green as the film’s elusive killer, Zenyth is one of Freefall’s strongest films. It is available on DVD from the online store.
The Edge of the Blade
2023 / Short Film / Cert: 18 / 20 minutes / Colour (with Black & White sequences) / Released: 26th May 2023 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Karolina Zajac / Cast: Karolina Zajac (Mia), George Hughes (Will Carson), Kristian Eaton (Stavros).
In 2019, detective Will Carson set up a trap to catch notorious armed robber Max Stavros that went badly wrong. Four years later, Carson gets another chance to take out Stavros- but this time, he sends in Mia Cas, an expert in off- book elimination missions. But as Mia approaches Stavros’s heavily fortified position, she begins to suspect her target is more than even she can handle…
The Edge of the Blade began filming in London in late 2022. After a break in early 2023, shooting resumed in the spring, with Karolina Zajac travelling to the south coast to film her sword- training scenes. During production, the decision was taken to take a radically different “Silent Movie” approach to the script, with the story in the finished film being told through music, sound effects and subtitles rather than dialogue. The result was a unique and energetic Crime / Action thriller that plays out like a series of interconnected music videos. It is available on DVD from the online store.
The Guitar Man
2004 / short film / Cert: 15 / 17 minutes / Black and White (with colour sequences) / Released: 17th December 2004 / Director: Michael Shemilt / Screenplay: Michael Shemilt / Producer: Michael Shemilt / Music: Michael Shemilt & Sam Hughes / Cast: Sam Hughes (Death), Luke Suerley (The Dying Man).
Death appears as a mysterious guitar- playing figure in a dreamlike wilderness.
A lone, black- clad figure wanders the countryside, playing an acoustic guitar and musing on life and death. He is sat in a clearing when he is approached by an ill- looking man who asks to hear a song. The guitarist plays a Blues song then stands up and puts a hand on the man’s shoulder. The man falls to the ground dead and the guitarist walks away.
Michael Shemilt shot The Guitar Man over two days in late 2004 in Corfe Mullen, Dorset. Enlisting his former Draven bandmate Sam Hughes to play the part of “Death”, Shemilt fashioned a brilliantly haunting and strikingly stark black and white nightmare on an extremely low budget. He followed it up with a vaguely defined possible sequel, Angel of Death, the following year.
The Guitar Man is available on DVD from the online store. It is also included on the Underground Spirit: Short Films compilation.
The Mover
2005 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 28 minutes / Colour / Released: 26th August 2005 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Michael Shemilt / Music: Sam Hughes / Cast: Sam Hughes (The Mover), John Coward (The Driver), Ed Wilkinson (The Hitman), Rob Green (The Money Man), George Hughes (The Barman), Don Graham (The Detective).
A nameless criminal courier battles alcoholism and personal demons as he makes his living doing “Removals” work for the underworld.
The mysterious “Mover” muses on his anonymous, “Off the Radar” existence as he quietly goes about his work- picking up art collections and other valuables and transporting them around the country for his employers. Although in complete denial, the Mover is heavily reliant on alcohol and spends most nights getting drunk alone either in his car or empty properties on the road as he contemplates his wasted life and failed music career.
After a run of successful jobs he is instructed by a contact, a barman in a pub, to switch vehicles before his next assignment, for which he will have to work with a partner, the much less low profile “Driver”- a verbose thug the Mover considers a rank amateur at best and a dangerous liability at worst.
Although opposed to violence, the Mover fears the time is getting nearer for him to finally have to use the gun he’s been carrying for years, especially as the police start to piece together who is and what he’s doing, having narrowly missed the chance to catch him in the act on his last job.
In addition, the job he and the increasingly unreliable and not particularly subtle Driver are finally sent on looks virtually certain to turn violent as it’s quite possibly a set- up designed to remove them both from the game. Faced with a ruthless hitman who wastes no time in dispatching his partner, the Mover is forced to take action and confront his greatest fears in the process.
Shot very quickly on a shoestring budget over the spring of 2005, The Mover was George Hughes’s first film as writer / director. A stylishly moody Crime drama, it evokes the spirit of Michael Mann- particularly Thief (1981) and Collateral (2004)- with it’s stark nocturnal urban landscapes and conflicted, morally ambiguous protagonist.
Hughes wrote the screenplay in less than a week having been inspired by a 4am drive carrying several boxes in his car during the process of moving house. With production scheduled to begin on his feature debut Remnants in the summer he also felt the smaller project would be good practice for himself and his cast and crew (every principal cast member also appears in the later film).
The Mover was filmed out of sequence (depending upon the availability of actors, vehicles and equipment) entirely on location between May and July ’05, utilising various locales in Dorset and Hampshire including Bournemouth, Poole, Salisbury, Wimborne, Boscombe and Sandbanks. The bar scene was shot at Edward’s in the centre of Bournemouth. The interiors of the first flat the Mover stays in and the apartment where the final confrontation and shoot- out take place were both filmed in George Hughes’s own Wallisdown flat.
As with all of Hughes’s films so far, The Mover was shot entirely on digital video. The second flat sequence, in which the Mover looks out at the sunset as he drinks from a bottle of vodka (actually water- although the wine he drinks later was real) looks artificial but the budget didn't actually stretch to such effects- the colours of the evening clouds and sunlight were captured for real in camera by Hughes, who also acted as Editor and cameraman. Only the bar sequence- in which he appears in the cameo role of the barman- was filmed by Coward.
The film features only four very brief lines of actual dialogue from the characters- none of whom are ever named- as the story is told entirely through images, music and the Mover’s melancholy voiceover (effectively turning the disadvantage of no professional sound mix into an advantage). The writer / director was especially pleased with the sunset scene and the sequence in which the Mover and the Driver discuss their plan overlooking the Bournemouth skyline just before taking the lift up to the final fateful ambush.
Ed Wilkinson’s wordless portrayal of the steely- eyed assassin at the end so impressed Hughes and producer (and Freefall co- founder) Michael Shemilt that the bit part player was elevated to third in the credits on the strength of his few minutes of memorable screen time. Don Graham (the detective that nearly catches the Mover) and Rob Green (the “Money Man” who hands the Mover his payment) would go on to get bigger parts in Remnants whilst Sam Hughes was proud of his second lead role (the first being in his former Draven bandmate Shemilt’s The Guitar Man a year earlier) which was widely considered the best performance in The Mover, although he admitted he found the final film somewhat slow- paced and introspective for his own personal tastes (he was rewarded with more action- orientated supporting roles in future).
The Mover is available on DVD from the online store. It is also featured on the Underground Spirit compilation DVD of short films.
The Future
2005 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 26 minutes / Black & White (with colour sequences) / Released: 30th December 2005 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: Michael Shemilt & George Hughes / Producer: Michael Shemilt / Music: Michael Shemilt / Cast: Michael Shemilt (The Hippy), George Hughes (Drug Dealer).
In the final days of the ‘60’s, a disturbed hippy has a very bad trip and is tormented by chaotic visions of the next three decades.
Returning to his squat to drop the acid he’s just bought from a mysterious dealer, the Hippy at first experiences comforting visions of contemporary icons- Dylan, Hendrix, The Doors. However, things turn nasty when the Vietnam War gets in his head. This leads on to the Falklands, the Gulf and 9/11 as he is steadily driven insane by the intense images. He screams nonsensically and writes on the walls, eventually coming to some sort of profound understanding at what will either be the return to reality or the moment of death . . .
Made in the last days of 2005 as another quick short film project for Freefall Productions to get some titles out while Remnants was still in production, The Future is George Hughes’s only intentionally “Arty” film as well as his only real collaboration with another filmmaker- although Shemilt’s co- writing credit is misleading; like The Mover, Hughes originally envisioned The Future as having no actual dialogue so there was never actually a script.
Shemilt improvised all of his lines (and guitar playing) on the spot but they were going to be muted beneath the images and music until Hughes decided to keep some of his drugged- up ramblings audible out of the hours of footage.
Shot in Shemilt’s garage (the drawings and scribbling on the wall were all real but he was completely sober during filming) over just two days, The Future's only other crew was Shemilt's sister Kellie- who did the lighting. The “Insanity Sequence” in which the visions get faster and the music louder was largely inspired by a scene in an episode of Millennium, X- Files creator Chris Carter’s underrated “Other” End of the World TV series. Hughes had also recently read “Waiting for the Sun”, Barney Hoskyns’ exhaustive examination of Flower Power California as well as the Pink Floyd biography, "Saucerful of Secrets", which makes sense given Shemilt’s character’s Syd Barrett- like antics in The Future (he even bears a more than passing resemblance to the Floyd’s original front man).
The film also owes a lot to Lyndsay Anderson’s anti- establishment classic If (1968) and Michelangelo Antonioni’s revolutionary Zabriskie Point (1969) although the originally shot but unused ending in which the Hippy awakens to find the words “Peace and Love are over- The Future is only Hate and War” on the wall was excised for being overly simplistic and obvious. Instead Shemilt simply reads some pre- existing real- life stoned scribbling about “Nothingness”.
The visions themselves were a combination of still photographs (crash- zoomed into at very close range on a handheld DV camera by Hughes well before the live action was shot) and news footage shot in night vision from a TV screen then rendered in black and white, giving an even grainier, distorted effect that adds to the main character’s sense of paranoia. The two brief shots in which Hughes returns in his cameo as the drug dealer to torment the Hippy with more disturbing imagery were also shot (by Hughes himself, holding the camera in one hand and a torch in the other to give the off- kilter lighting effect) in night vision before the transfer to black and white. The albums, vinyl turntable and old telephone were also Hughes's and filmed later as insert shots.
Like a lot else in The Future, the dealer’s return in the dream sequences is open to all kind of interpretations but Hughes’s own was simply that he intimidated the Hippy and quite possibly spiked the product with something else.
Likewise, the moment the Hippy appears be dead can be whatever a viewer wants it to be. Maybe he is dead for a while, maybe he’s not- but he's certainly close. However, Hughes maintains there’s not necessarily anything supernatural about The Future, his own explanation being that it’s actually set in the present day- the whole thing being an acid flashback the now much older Hippy’s having confused with more recent memories.
The Future is available on DVD from the online store. It is also featured on the Underground Spirit compilation DVD of short films.
Street Light Fortune: Got No Time
2006 / Documentary Film / Cert: 18 / 131 minutes / Colour / Released: 9th January 2006 / Director: George Hughes / Producer: Sam Hughes / Music: Street Light Fortune / Cast: Tommy Stone, Sam Hughes, Aaron O’Shea, Pete Howard, Scott Davies, Tom Hughes, Sean Streets, Ed Wilkinson, Michael Shemilt, George Hughes, John Coward.
Epic documentary film charting the early days of Bournemouth Classic Rock band Street Light Fortune.
Having dissolved both of his previous bands, Progressive Metal act Draven and his first attempt at a “Stadium Super group”, The Piranhas, lead guitarist Sam Hughes has put together a five- piece Heavy Rock outfit at first called Unity then Street Light Fortune. Hand- picking his band mates and writing all their material himself, he has high hopes for his new endeavour but clueless support bands, an unreliable drummer who only occasionally makes it to practices, an overweight front man and a contagiously negative rhythm guitarist all conspire to threaten his plans for world domination . . .
Director George Hughes’s sixth and best “Rockumentary” following a Freefall Records band, Got No Time follows up Playing Some Stuff Live, about Stone and Sam Hughes’s first attempt at forming a new band with the short- lived Piranhas. Whereas Hughes’s earlier documentaries were either “All Performance” live affairs aimed at the DVD market or “All Talk” interview footage, Got No Time combines the two styles to be both at the same time, giving it an intentionally overblown cinematic feel.
It’s often hilariously funny as band arguments, sackings and bust- up’s reach implosive levels as the film goes on. As well as Playing Some Stuff Live, Draven: Live as a Bastard (2004) and Volitera: The Never Settle for Less Than Metal Tour (2005) also told the stories of previously successful bands falling apart. Got No Time, despite being about a newly formed group, often looks set to turn out the same way.
Hughes captures some priceless moments on camera, including the band meeting in which Davies’ (poached from rival Bournemouth rockers Voodoo Vegas) fate is finally sealed and the instant drummer Howard comes up with the name Street Light Fortune. And while Sam Hughes’s interviews slyly mock the almost Spinal Tap feel of the piece, former estate agent turned overnight Rock God “Stoney” seems genuinely oblivious.
The live footage gets progressively better as the picture goes on but all of the boozing, partying and (usually paralytic) talking heads are only occasionally punctuated by the band’s performances. When Street Light Fortune do take to the stage however the results are very varied. From the uncertainty of the first show with Davies to the man down second gig (coming about two thirds through the film complete with directionless Blues interlude) to the final triumphant night at the end with bassist O’Shea promoted to second guitarist to bring Tom Hughes into the band.
While, true to form, Sam Hughes eventually sacked everybody except Stone over the next two years (the band never settled on a permanent line- up) Got No Time ends on a high for Street Light Fortune and remains the most popular of Freefall’s live music films.
A special edition DVD featuring new interviews and more unseen footage was being planned but the idea eventually evolved into a whole new film instead: The Freefall Records Story.
Street Light Fortune: Got No Time is available on DVD from the online store. Special features include deleted scenes and music videos.
Predator 3: On the Hunt
2006 / Fan Film / Cert: 18 / 24 minutes / Colour / Released: 20th October, 2006 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Mark Maultby / Music: Richard Walker, Wayne Wilmut & Dave Gillam / Cast: Rob Green (Jefferson), Sam Hughes (Riggs), Don Graham (Macleod), John Coward (Reece), Chris Kay (Windows), George Hughes (Mr. Parks), Alex Hennerley (Pub Landlady), Mark Maultby (Forestry Worker), Tom Hughes (The Predator).
Ten years after the events of Predator 2, another Predator has escaped from a top secret government research base in southern England. A ruthless team of mercenaries are immediately sent out into the surrounding forest to hunt it down.
Two rugged soldiers of fortune, Jefferson and Reece- both having just arrived in the country- meet in the beer garden of a pub where they casually discuss their new mission- the pursuit and capture of “Another” escaped alien for a mysterious government agency.
Soon Jefferson, Reece and the rest of the team are on the E.B.E.’s trail but the hunted is itself a hunter- one of the notorious “Predator” creatures that visit Earth for some violent “Sport” roughly once a decade. After the wounded but still deadly Predator takes out half their team, Jefferson and Reece are briefed by their employer, the mysterious Mr. Parks, about the true threat represented by the lethal alien hunter and a new team member, the confrontational loudmouth Riggs, joins the mission.
Picking up the Predator’s blood trail again, the remaining mercenaries split up but tensions between them erupt when it emerges the new man Riggs is actually working directly with Parks- who let the creature escape deliberately to test it against them in combat. Separated from their leader Jefferson, the squad are again ambushed by the Predator but survive long enough for Reece to turn on Parks and kill him.
With their pay day jeopardised, the survivors decide to join forces and complete the mission in order to get hold of the target’s valuable alien weaponry but Riggs is killed by the Predator in another surprise attack. Barely alive itself after all the bloodshed, the Predator heads for the nearest town as night falls but Jefferson remains on it’s tail . . .
Mainly only made to give Hughes’s regular repertory company of actors something more fun to do during production on Remnants, Predator 3 plays like an ‘80’s Hollywood Action movie on fast forward- it’s entire plot (continuing directly on from ideas set up in 1990’s underrated Predator 2) condensed into just twenty kinetic, brutal minutes.
Easily the fastest- paced, most violent picture made by Freefall Productions, P3 was written very quickly when Hughes’s brother Tom built the Predator costume for a Halloween party in 2005. Seizing upon the opportunity to give at least one film on the forthcoming Underground Spirit short films DVD an instantly recognisable title, George Hughes wrote his unofficial sequel around the central theme of the Predator this time being the prey before quite spectacularly turning the tables on it’s pursuers.
The anglicisation of the material resulted in some classic dialogue- although the script was only about half as comically profane as the finished film because improvisation was very much encouraged during filming- so much so George Hughes ended up playing the Predator himself for the final fight with Green.
As with The Mover, the cast were regularly handling weapon props (often also whilst covered in movie blood) in public, resulting in several run- ins with passers- by. However, most people were extremely positive and Predator 3 went on to become a huge hit online and on pirate DVD (actually encouraged by it’s makers to get a bigger audience) although it’s status as a free extra feature was made quite clear on the Underground Spirit DVD.
Predator 3 is only available from the online store as an extra on the Underground Spirit short films compilation DVD and on the Film Collection box set.
Remnants
2007 / Feature Film / Cert: 15 / 82 minutes / Colour / Released: 27th July, 2007 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Mark Maultby / Music: Michael Shemilt, Sam Hughes & Steve Beeston / Cast: Michael Shemilt (Jim Burton), Charlotte Dunlavey (Star), John Coward (Kief MacReady), Sam Hughes (Carpenter), Don Graham (Carlos), Rob Green (Johnny), Ben Jelley (Richie), George Hughes (David), Mark Maultby (Kurt), Tom Hughes (Woody).
Somewhere in the terrifying, burnt- out landscape of a future England, revolutionary resistance leader Jim Burton and his girlfriend Star have escaped the darkness of the last underground city. But they are pursued by the relentless soldiers of the regime they opposed, as well as the notorious bounty hunter Kief MacReady . . .
At an indeterminate point in the possibly near future there is a violent uprising by the downtrodden mine workers in a nameless, dark underground city. The supposed ringleader, Jim Burton, has escaped out into the desolate wilderness beyond the city boundaries but the American “Bosses” who have taken power since the end of the last great destructive war, send a squadron of their black- uniformed soldiers and the infamous hired killer Kief MacReady to hunt him down.
On the deserted roads of the wastelands, Jim and his girlfriend Star- who is the real force behind all of his revolutionary ideas as well as one of the city’s few literate inhabitants- encounter numerous strange characters who have continued to make a living and survive undetected. Having heard about a supposedly mythical peaceful settlement near the sea, they eventually reach a more alive, wooded landscape where the plants and animals have survived.
But the Bosses’ forces are never far behind and the unstoppable MacReady is usually the first to catch up with them, massacring all who stand in his way. Eventually Star and Jim- who is really nothing more than a half- crazed alcoholic who just got drunk one night and started the “Big Workers’ Uprising” pretty much by accident- are separated when their camp is raided by the thuggish Colonel Carpenter and his squad who are in fierce competition with MacReady to bring the fugitives in first.
Whilst Star continues to wander alone, Jim is found by a cutthroat band of nomadic criminals led by the confrontational Carlos and joins them for a spur of the moment armed robbery in a remote bar. The job soon turns violent but is considered a success when the gang return to their hideout with enough gambling money to continue their Poker game. Jim is debating whether to stay or make an effort to find Star when Carlos is shot dead by a sniper and Carpenter and his men close in on the building.
Jim is able to escape again however, and makes it to the commune- like settlement by the beach more or less by chance. Star is already there and the friendly locals welcome Jim as the great rebel leader Star has made him out to be. However, his presence only brings MacReady down on the idyllic hideaway.
Finally realising he’s going to have to live up to his own legend, Jim faces the bounty hunter alone to save the settlement but ends up conning him into actually helping in an unexpected counter- attack on Carpenter and his squad with the promise of an even bigger reward if the now very real rebellion
succeeds . . .
The film Freefall Productions was set up to make, Remnants had a long and torturous road to the screen. The first shoot was abandoned in late 2004 and work then began again the following summer. But numerous delays (including bad weather, unreliable equipment, footage being lost, unavailable actors and having to recast the female lead twice) meant that it wasn’t released for another two years.
Hughes, his cast and crew (what there was of one) often tired of the project, preferring instead to work on shorts or music videos just to get a break from it. Remnants was a wildly overambitious film for a director’s first feature- especially without any real budget, crew or resources and the fact that it’s coherent at all is a small miracle given that scenes were often filmed literally years apart (in fact, sometimes opposite sides of the same scene)!
In addition to the role of Star, the part of MacReady was almost recast too when original actor John Coward became unavailable for a long period of time. George Hughes briefly considered replacing him with his brother Sam Hughes (who had been considered too young when the character was first written) but as he had already shot scenes in the smaller role of Carpenter it simply would have meant far too much reshooting. Instead, Coward came back to the part after a six month break.
Some sequences detailed in the script were never filmed at all (including a hand- to- hand fight between Carpenter and one of the rebels during the climatic battle) whilst other, new ones were added during improvisation sessions (like the basketball game at the settlement). The bar fight turned shoot- out was also written differently and all of Carlos’s gang were originally meant to be on the job. The interiors of the sequence were filmed in The King’s Head pub on Poole quay in the early morning where Don Graham improvised a lot of new dialogue for Carlos- who he inexplicably gave an unlikely Scottish accent.
The entire midsection of the film has an almost directionless feel as Jim joins the gang and was intended to show how he wasn’t much of a “Great Leader” at all. There is more than a touch of Jim Jarmusch’s 1995 Western Dead Man about Remnants. MacReady is like a cross between Snake Plissken in Escape from New York (1981) and the Terminator whilst Jim’s guitar case full of guns is very El Mariachi (1993). The poster however (of a silhouetted Jim and MacReady with his rifle slung over his shoulder against the sunset) was inspired by the poster for Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973). There are also more subtle references to everything from Night of the Hunter (1953) to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966).
Sam Hughes was originally “Contracted” to score the entire film but had to pull out due to his touring commitments with Street Light Fortune, resulting in the patched together soundtrack by him, Shemilt and Safehouse guitarist Steve Beeston (the Sam Hughes takes that are used- themselves very reminiscent of Neil Young’s Dead Man score- are from demos recorded in 2004 before production even began). The soundtrack album was then padded out with selections from several Freefall Records bands that appear throughout the film.
George Hughes explained that the reason everyone in Remnants is so young is that people simply don’t live very long in the film’s grim dystopian landscape. The largely unseen “Bosses” were also made American as an in- joke “In revenge for every time a posh English actor played a Hollywood villain”!
Remnants (2- disc special edition DVD with a feature- length documentary) is available from the online store.
Bournemouth Live 2007
2007 / Documentary Film / Cert: 15 / 134 minutes / Colour / Released: 27th August 2007 / Director: George Hughes / Producers: Michael Shemilt, Romin Aliabadi, Mark Maultby & George Hughes / Music: Long Time Dead, Club Le Shark, Voodoo Vegas & The Clams / Cast: Emma Baldry, Martin Sloyan, Meryl Hamilton, Tris Palumbo, Lawrence Case, Rich Peacock, Olly Hopper.
Live music film featuring four sets from the 2007 Bournemouth Live festival.
Bournemouth Live begins with a late night, indoor show as Bournemouth rockers The Clams play out the first day (28th June) of the festival. The next set is an outdoor one the following afternoon by Voodoo Vegas on the pier approach stage by the beach. The film then ends with first Club Le Shark and then Long Time Dead headlining the last night (1st July) on Poole Quay.
A documentary on the last big Freefall Records project, the Bournemouth Live 2007 film was intended to be even longer but bad weather on almost every day of the festival meant only one outdoor performance could be used and the shortlist of seven featured bands had to be cut down to just four.
However, Bournemouth Live 2007 makes up for that with the brilliant performances it does capture from arguably the biggest south coast acts at the time. The film was released in a massive double disc DVD set featuring several more performances (by Ten To Never, Safehouse, Cabaret Rat and Tetra Fever) as well as music videos from throughout the label’s brief but memorable history.
The Bournemouth Live 2007 DVD is available from the online store.
The 26.2 Pint Marathon
2010 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 21 minutes / Colour / Released: 4th November, 2010 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Sam Hughes / Cast: Sam Hughes (Colin), Sean Streets (Tony), George Hughes (Tom), Alex Wheeler (Henry).
Two "Expert" drinkers decide that rather than challenging each other to the 26.2 mile London marathon, they'll compete to see who can down 26.2 pints of lager the fastest.
Horribly hungover after a night on the beer, rural hooligan Colin is just sitting down in his kitchen with a can of Stella for breakfast when his afro sporting best mate Tony "The Duke" Burton bursts in through the open front door shouting at the top of his voice and gets him in a headlock.
After calming Tony down, Colin explains what happened the night before- he was drinking in a pub called The Old Trout when he got into a furious debate with well- known local ponce "Little Tom The Bastard".
After ridiculing Colin's ambitious plans to run in the London marathon because of his questionable fitness levels, Tom suggested it was more likely he could drink 26.2 pints of lager rather than run 26.2 miles- but added that he could beat him at either.
This then led to Colin challenging him to a 12- hour, 26.2 pint lager consuming contest. Now quite worried about his drinking abilities due to his recent fitness drive, Colin asks Tony to be his personal trainer to prepare him for the competition.
Tony agrees and puts Colin through a rigorously punishing training regimen in drinking speed and technique before the day of the contest- which is to be held at the Green Man pub.
When Colin and Tony arrive Little Tom is on top bastard- like form, constantly taking the piss, bragging about his wealth and success and assuring them he'll win.
When they finally get down to it and actually make a start, Colin takes an early lead but his fast paced downing soon backfires and Tom starts to catch up. However, Tony has something up his sleeve...
The first Freefall productions short film in four years (and the first of any kind for three) is a fast- paced comical mix of silly humour, overblown sports movie (there's even a Top Gun / Rocky style "Training Montage") and outright farce.
Developed from an original idea Sam Hughes had, The 26.2 Pint Marathon was an unexpected, completely unplanned project that seemed to come out of nowhere and was first released on the internet just a few months after it was announced.
Some changes were made during production though- Little Tom was made much more antagonistic and George Hughes took over the role when first choice Tom Roberts became unavailable. The character of Tony was also absent from early versions but added primarily just to get the infamous Sean Streets into a film in a dramatic role.
Some of the character names were also changed and computer errors meant the first rough cut was lost (seemingly a prerequisite for Freefall films- the whole thing then had to be edited again from the raw footage) but other than that it was among the smoothest productions the filmmakers had ever undertaken.
Whilst the plan to actually stage the competition for real during filming was (probably quite wisely) abandoned the actors were really drinking in all the contest scenes- resulting in some quite haphazard shots and angles- many of which only survive in the final film in montage form.
The 26.2 is available from the online store.
The Freefall Records Story
2011 / Documentary Film / Cert: 18 / 83 minutes / Colour / Released: 25th March, 2011 / Director: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Street Light Fortune, Club Le Shark, Draven, Volitera, The Piranhas & White Room / Cast: Tommy Stone, Sam Hughes, Tris Palumbo, Michael Shemilt, Aaron O'Shea, George Hughes, Wayne Wilmut, Julian Jackson, Tom Hughes, Scott Davies, Ed Wilkinson, John Coward, Sean Streets, Lawrence Case.
An exhaustive retrospective on the mid- 2000's south coast rock scene and the bands and musicians that created it.
Beginning with the founding of legendary indie label Freefall Records (an offshoot of Freefall Productions designed to provide free film music) in 2004, the film charts the passionate, funny and often chaotic history of a genuinely original movement across southern England throughout the Noughties.
The Freefall Records Story opens in Bristol where the pioneers of “Cider Thrash”, Volitera, reigned supreme. It then moves on to the formation of seminal Prog Metallers Draven back in Bournemouth and the beginning of Freefall nights at now long gone but not forgotten venues as well as the first Underground Spirit compilation albums.
Director George Hughes offers personal insights into the numerous tales of split- up’s and bust- up’s along the way, revealing several unheard stories and explaining various infamous incidents. The film follows the demise of Draven with the story of original front man (and Freefall co- founder) Michael Shemilt’s solo career and the formation of the Piranhas, the band that would go on to become Street Light Fortune.
After documenting the phenomenal rise (and just as spectacular fall) of Street Light Fortune with a wealth of previously unreleased performance and interview footage, the film then explores the rapid expansion of the label and it’s co- operative of artists with contributions from White Room, Voodoo Vegas, Ten To Never, The Clams, Safehouse, Free- Way, Cabaret Rat, Tetra Fever and Longtime Dead.
Finally, The Freefall Records Story delves into the deliberate but bittersweet last days of the movement as it all came to an end amidst a storm of debt, broken down relationships and a series of last shows that have gone down in local history. But it all ends on the hopeful note of the success stories of at least some of the key players since and the possibility of something similar one day happening again…
George Hughes’s first documentary since Bournemouth Live 2007, The Freefall Records Story grew out of an idea to release a new cut of Street Light Fortune: Got No Time but after trawling through the hours of never seen live and backstage footage the filmmakers instead decided they had a whole new film to put together instead.
Although it was originally supposed to be comprised of more new interviews, the previously unreleased material from the time eventually won out, especially when Hughes made the decision to make a more concise documentary by slashing the projected 150- minute running time to 90. This resulted in a film that is much more interested in the time and place it’s about rather than what’s happened since- aside from a brief “Where are they now”- type montage before the closing credits.
Another factor that led to the film becoming much more of a celebration of the past rather than an over analytical examination of it was the somewhat lukewarm response from potential interviewees. Given some of the infamous rifts that ultimately tore a lot of the bands in question apart, it was perhaps unsurprising that a great many of them simply refused to take part.
Ultimately, The Freefall Records Story is a triumphant Greatest Hits album of a film, providing a fascinating and entertaining insight into the whole scene quickly and entertainingly, a fitting celebration of youth and creativity in the last decade.
The Freefall Records story is available on DVD from the online store. The 2013 special edition DVD featuring more bonus performance footage and a soundtrack album is also available.
Alien 5: Search and Destroy
2011 / Fan Film / Cert: 18 / 12 minutes / Colour / Released: 28th October, 2011 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Michael Shemilt / Cast: Kellie Shemilt (Lieutenant Ellen McClaren), Rob Green (Corporal Mark Rolston), George Hughes (Terry Rudge), Michael Shemilt (Lenny Ives), Don Graham (Private Robert Hoskins).
Twenty years after the events of Alien 3, the workers at a Weyland- Yutani quarry on the planet Arceon 616 accidentally release a smuggled Alien egg from frozen stasis.
The workers at the distant Arceon 616 quarrying operation have already lost their foreman to an industrial accident and continually complain about food shortages, pay and conditions until one of them, the mentally disturbed Ives, accidentally thaws a frozen shipping container smuggled by the quarry's dead boss containing mysterious extraterrestrial eggs.
Sent to investigate his mistake by his long- suffering supervisor Rudge, Ives unwittingly becomes the Alien’s first victim and human host before it escapes into the underground tunnels beneath the complex.
To the suspicious Rudge’s surprise, the uncharacteristically enthusiastic Network response is for “The Company” to send a squad of Colonial Marines- raising questions about Weyland- Yutani’s real intentions.
But the Marines loose over half their number and most of their weaponry when they crash land as a result of being sent out with unreliable equipment, including a defective drop ship.
After the first expedition down into the caves beneath the planet’s surface results in another ferocious attack by the now fully- grown Alien, the handful of stranded survivors clash with each other over their real motivations as their food, ammunition and air start to run out…
A short, fast and brutal “Unofficial Sequel” in the same vein as 2006’s Predator 3, Alien 5 was the first of five new shorts (along with Henpecked Anonymous, Highlander VI, Beneath the Ice and Terminator 5) shot simultaneously throughout late 2011 and early 2012.
The year- long project amounted to the equivalent of making another feature and each film features a similar cast, who were often working on scenes for all five films completely out of sequence on the same days.
Although the first to be completed, Alien 5 was actually one of the last to be written, owing to the problems with creating a futuristic, extraterrestrial landscape and a working Alien model- way beyond the contemporary Earthbound setting and “Bloke in a Suit” of Predator 3.
In the final film, the miniature Alien that was used is wisely only fleetingly seen when it emerges from the shadows to attack and pick off another Marine or quarry worker.
Alien 5 is only available as a free extra feature on the Beneath the Ice DVD and on the Film Collection box set.
Henpecked Anonymous
2011 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 11 minutes / Colour / Released: 18th November, 2011 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: Jamie Tubbs (Ron), George Hughes (Geoff), Don Graham (Phil).
Henpecking victim Ron joins a new support group, Henpecked Anonymous, to escape his bossy wife and learn how to stand up to her.
Although a total of only about three people usually turn up for his meetings, Henpecked Anonymous (Poole Chapter) group leader Phil is an expert in helping Under the Thumb blokes understand and ultimately even defeat their missus’ bossiness.
His teachings are not quite put into practice by the hesitant Geoff but when new member Ron joins the group, everyone at the meetings has to step up to help him with his struggle…
Another farcical comedy in the 26.2 Pint Marathon mould, Henpecked Anonymous evolved from ideas from real- life wind- up’s (including “H.A.” flyers sent to real- life victims) that very nearly extended to holding actual meetings like those in the film.
Henpecked Anonymous is available on DVD from the online store.
Highlander VI: The Prize
2011 / Fan Film / Cert: 15 / 13 minutes / Colour / Released: 16th December, 2011 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Michael Shemilt / Cast: Michael Shemilt (Roy Crewes), George Hughes (James Twain), Don Graham (The Mongol), Rob Green (Duncan MacLeod), Dave Jones (Connor MacLeod).
The last few remaining immortals in the world fight for "The Prize" as the time of "The Gathering" comes to an end...
At the turn of the Millennium in New York city, two immortals- 1,000 year- old warrior James Twain and his former pupil Roy Crewes- meet for the first time in years, for “The Gathering” is at last racing towards it’s bloody conclusion.
After reminiscing on (very) old times, Twain and Crewes must finally face each other for their final sword fight to decide who will go on to face either the resurrected Highlander Connor MacLeod or the fearsome barbarian “Mongol” to fight for the Prize.
Due in no small part to Twain’s teaching, Crewes unexpectedly defeats his old mentor but even with the knowledge and power from taking his head, he is no match for the fearsome Mongol, leaving only the Highlander standing in the way of unlimited power beyond imagination…
One of the most challenging fan films ever undertaken by Freefall Productions, Highlander VI had to be at once a conclusion to the epic saga of the immortals (Hollywood is still threatening a remake of the legendary original) as well as make sense of the all the disparate previous Highlander sequels.
But once the “Story so Far” and explanations of resurrections and previous lives are out of the way, it becomes a relentlessly fast- paced actioner, as the signature sword fights begin.
Highlander VI is only available as a free extra feature on the Beneath the Ice DVD and on the Film Collection box set.
Beneath the Ice
2012 / Short Film / Cert: 18 / 12 minutes / Colour / Released: 27th January, 2012 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Michael Shemilt / Cast: Don Graham (Burnett), George Hughes (Lowrey), Michael Shemilt (The Target), Rob Green (First Victim), Kellie Shemilt (Assassin), Jamie Tubbs (Flashback Victim).
Burnett, a professional killer, is sent on a mysterious job targeting a stranger for completely unknown reasons.
Upon the completion of another successful job, former courier turned hitman “Burnett” is sent on his next mission, working with the mysterious “Lowrey”.
As the two paid assassins set up on another target they know nothing about, they discuss their secret lives in the world of organised crime and speculate about their soon-to-be victim and the motives of their employers.
Although the target also turns out to be armed and dangerous and Burnett is badly wounded, they complete the job but Burnett then learns that Lowrey is not to be trusted…
Originally conceived as a sequel to The Mover in 2010, Beneath the Ice, as it became known (the title is ambiguous and could be referring to either the metaphorical ground about to give way underneath Burnett or his own tortured psyche hidden behind his cold exterior- or both), soon took on a life of it’s own and evolved into an original story.
Even when it was The Mover 2 though, this was always going to be a much shorter, faster and violent film- much more interested in the bone- crunchingly intense action than it’s very deliberately backgroundless characters.
Beneath the Ice is available on DVD from the online store.
Terminator 5: Priority Target
2012 / Fan Film / Cert: 15 / 12 minutes / Colour / Released: 24th February, 2012 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: George Hughes (T- 900), Rob Green (Scott Russell), Kellie Shemilt (Danni Perry), Jamie Tubbs (Wrong Perry), Dave Jones (Australian).
A new T- 900 Terminator is sent back in time from the war- torn future of 2029 to London, 1987.
In the battlefields of 2029, the Human Resistance learn that one of the new T- 900 model Terminators has been sent back in time, targeting a future resistance leader they can only vaguely identify.
Resistance fighter Scott Russell follows the T- 900 through the time displacement equipment, emerging in London, 1987.
The Terminator is also having difficulty locating it’s target, eliminating anyone and everyone with similar names in its relentlessly terrifying mission as it closes in on Danni Perry, a businesswoman involved in the early stages of the internet.
But armed with inferior weapons and struggling with the disbelieving Danni, Russell begins to suspect that this may not be a mission that he can (or was ever meant to) complete…
The fourth and final "Fan Film" from Freefall Productions, Terminator 5 is a standalone story focussing on the future war against the Machines in Britain.
The main story idea remained unchanged from the first draft script (what would happen if a Terminator successfully completed it’s mission and remained stuck in the past with the failed human protector sent to stop it?) resulting in some neat paradoxes, although T5 was further complicated when Perry was turned into a female character (rather than the more acerbic male stock market trader in the screenplay).
Terminator 5 is only available as a free extra feature on the Henpecked Anonymous DVD and on the Film Collection box set.
Occasional
2019 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 25 minutes / Black and white / Released: 27th September, 2019 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: George Hughes / Music: Iain McDonald / Cast: George Hughes (Grainger), Ali Razaghi Aval (Escobedo), Karolina Zajac (Anna), Dave Jones (Intruder).
A part-time, “Occasional” Special Intelligence Service operative is sent to Spain to retrieve evidence of British interference in the Spanish political system.
London, 2017. Grainger is a rarely activated SIS agent. Having gone months without an assignment, he’s beginning to suspect that the service has let him go as the UK prepares to leave the EU. But when Grainger’s superiors learn of evidence that unaccountable elements within the British government have been meddling with the Spanish opposition, he is dispatched to Marbella to retrieve it from a mysterious information dealer…
George Hughes’s first film in seven years, the short spy thriller Occasional also marks Freefall Productions’ first international picture. Filmed in London and Marbella throughout the summer of 2019, the film was produced largely in secret and had an unannounced, limited theatrical run in September ’19 before being released on DVD the following month.
Continuing in the “Shadow World” tradition of The Mover and Beneath the Ice, Occasional is a slow- burning and introspective but intense character study set against an atmospherically stylised backdrop. Shot entirely in stark black and white, it makes the most out of it’s British and Spanish locations, turning both London and Marbella into seductive yet dangerous arenas in which it’s paranoia- fuelled protagonists operate.
Occasional is available on DVD from the online store.
The Cost of Our Blood
2020 / Short Film / Cert: 18 / 30 minutes / Colour / Released: 4th September, 2020 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Rob Green / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: George Hughes (Jimmy Laine), Karolina Zajac (Nikita), Rob Green (Stevie Clockwork), Don Graham (Roger the Thief), Svetlana Postolachi (Xenia), Dave Jones (Brendan O’Shaughnessy).
A violent criminal is released after serving seven years in prison and immediately seeks revenge on the former comrades who abandoned him to the authorities…
In 2013, professional thief Jimmy Laine was part of an elite three- man crew that pulled off a daring armed robbery in London. However, Jimmy was late making it to the rendezvous point afterwards and ended up getting arrested and imprisoned. Now, seven years later, Jimmy’s out and after revenge on the former comrades who left him behind. His violent mission of vengeance brings him into contact with Russian Mafia assassins Nikita and Xenia and takes him first to the south coast and then the west country before reaching it’s bloody conclusion in Ireland…
Work began on The Cost of Our Blood immediately after the release of Occasional in late 2019. Intended as a faster- paced, much more action- orientated film, George Hughes’s script was completed in January 2020 and production began in London the same month before moving to Bournemouth and Poole in February and March. Filming then had to be suspended for three months due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the national lockdown but resumed in Warminster in July. During the hiatus the film’s release date was pushed back from July to November and it’s story was revised to remove a detective character on Laine’s trail and the characters of Nikita and Xenia were added to introduce both a female element and an international element.
There were plans to expand the project to feature length during the delay but the filmmakers ultimately decided to keep The Cost of Our Blood a short film (although clocking in at thirty minutes, it’s Freefall’s longest short to date). After briefly returning to London to film Karolina Zajac’s scenes, production moved back to the south coast to shoot the ending. Unfortunately, the Irish setting of the final scenes had to be faked because of travel restrictions and the planned location filming in Dublin had to be scrapped. But with the editing process going uncharacteristically smoothly, the film ended up ready well ahead of the new schedule so it’s release date was changed again, this time being brought forward to September. A stylish thriller with a similar look to The Mover but with the intense brutality of Beneath the Ice, The Cost of Our Blood has become another popular Freefall title.
The Cost of Our Blood is available on DVD from the online store.
Mila’s Weekend
2021 / Short Film / Cert: 15 / 15 minutes / Colour / Released: 2nd July, 2021 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Don Graham / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: Karolina Zajac (Mila), George Hughes (Chris), Don Graham (Moward), Dave Jones (Ninja).
Mila struggles to keep up the cover of a normal life whilst undertaking a dangerous secret mission…
Mila has travelled to London, seemingly for a weekend in a hotel together with her casual affair, Chris. Unbeknownst to Chris however, Mila is actually a highly trained spy and assassin- and she is really on a secret corporate espionage mission on behalf of a shadowy contact. But a rival organisation led by the mysterious Mr. Moward are also looking for the same information Mila is. A deadly confrontation is about to be forced- one that will test all of her skills to their absolute limits...
Mila’s Weekend grew out of early, unused story ideas for Occasional, which was initially to have focussed on a female spy. Following her standout roles in both Occasional and The Cost of Our Blood, Karolina Zajac was the natural choice for the lead character (who she also renamed after objecting to the original name in the script).
Shot in London, Bournemouth and Poole between March and June 2021, Mila’s Weekend marks Freefall’s first (original) female- led film. The set- piece rooftop fight sequence between Mila and a ninja assassin took a whole day to film, and was luckily the last of Karolina Zajac’s scenes completed just hours before she broke her wrist in an unrelated accident.
Mila’s Weekend is available on DVD from the online store.
Zenyth
2022 / Short Film / Cert: 18 / 29 minutes / Colour / Released: 10th June 2022 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Karolina Zajac / Music: Dave Jones / Cast: Karolina Zajac (Natalya), George Hughes (Steve Mills), Rob Green (Pytor Volkov), Don Graham (Vasiliev), Dave Jones (Tarasov).
A detective enlsits assistance from an unlikely source to catch a serial killer.
Detective Steve Mills is hunting a serial killer. Increasingly disturbed by the brutal crimes he’s investigating, Mills is running out of time before the murderer strikes again. But then he’s contacted by the mysterious Natalya, who knows exactly who- and what- the killer really is…
Written straight after the release of Mila’s Weekend, Zenyth was an attempt at a psychological horror thriller and investigative police procedural with a culture clash twist. Filmed in Bournemouth, London, Southampton and Warminster between September 2021 and March 2022, the film was initially scheduled for release on April 8th ’22 before being pushed back to August 12th and then finally brought forward to June 10th. Featuring another standout lead performance by Karolina Zajac and a chilling turn from Rob Green as the film’s elusive killer, Zenyth is one of Freefall’s strongest films. It is available on DVD from the online store.
The Edge of the Blade
2023 / Short Film / Cert: 18 / 20 minutes / Colour (with Black & White sequences) / Released: 26th May 2023 / Director: George Hughes / Screenplay: George Hughes / Producer: Karolina Zajac / Cast: Karolina Zajac (Mia), George Hughes (Will Carson), Kristian Eaton (Stavros).
In 2019, detective Will Carson set up a trap to catch notorious armed robber Max Stavros that went badly wrong. Four years later, Carson gets another chance to take out Stavros- but this time, he sends in Mia Cas, an expert in off- book elimination missions. But as Mia approaches Stavros’s heavily fortified position, she begins to suspect her target is more than even she can handle…
The Edge of the Blade began filming in London in late 2022. After a break in early 2023, shooting resumed in the spring, with Karolina Zajac travelling to the south coast to film her sword- training scenes. During production, the decision was taken to take a radically different “Silent Movie” approach to the script, with the story in the finished film being told through music, sound effects and subtitles rather than dialogue. The result was a unique and energetic Crime / Action thriller that plays out like a series of interconnected music videos. It is available on DVD from the online store.