Snare is a folk horror short film set in the UK. The story follows a family on a hunting trip in a remote woodland. Their presence awakens an ancient woodland civilisation, disturbing the delicate natural order and sparking a chain reaction, climaxing in a violent battle between man and nature.

The horror genre has had a renaissance in the last few years with thought provoking films such as Hereditary, Saint Maud and Nope. These films have managed to tell terrifying genre stories that interrogate deeper, more emotional character driven themes. With Snare we are attempting to tell a thrilling horror story that also engages with several themes that are important to us as filmmakers, namely, our relationship with the natural environment, animal welfare causes and fractured family dynamics.

We are looking to raise funding to take us through the prep, filming and post production of this short film. With your help we will be able to... 

Who we are: 

Sam Blakeney-Edwards: Writer/Director

Snare was born out of Sam’s love of horror, especially films that explore folklore such as The Wicker Man, The Wailing and The Witch. Combining these elements with current issues revolving around animal welfare and our relationship with the environment, Snare is an attempt to create a new horror mythology that feels both historic and modern. Our main ambition with this film is to create a situation that could be expanded out into a feature that explores these themes in a deeper fashion. Sam is looking forward to working with his team to bring this ambitious story to life that lays out a terrifying horror scenario whilst giving the audience a moment of self reflection to interrogate the themes subjectively.

Sam's previous directorial effort Do No Harm (2019) won a plethora of awards at film festivals including, Hollywood Blood Horror Festival, Dumbo Film Festival, Short to the Point, Gold Movie Awards and London Lift Off Festival. The film was also picked up for broadcast on Shorts TV and Amazon Prime.

Louis Taylor-Baggs: Producer

Louis is the Producer on 'Snare'. Louis has a background working a day job on features films for companies such as Warner Bros, Disney, Netflix and HBO. Alongside this experience in the feature and HETV industry, Louis has a passion for creating, telling and making important and exciting stories. Louis has held the role of Producer on a number of short films including 'Do No Harm', 'Egg' and 'Meet Cute'. 'Snare' is the next film that Louis hopes to bring to life on screen in partnership with Sam. The partnership between Louis and Sam is not new, they have worked as the Director/Producer duo previously on 'Do No Harm' and 'Meet Cute'. 'Do No Harm' went on to win a number of film festivals including Best Drama at the Hollywood Blood Horror film festival as well as being a semi finalist at Short to the Point. Louis was also awarded 'Best Producer' at the Hollywood Blood Horror film festival in Los Angeles for his work on Do No Harm and has also had success taking his films to Amazon Prime and Shorts International. Louis has the same big ambitions with 'Snare' and is looking forward to taking this film through the global festival circuit with the brilliant team already assembled. 

Lisa Garvey: Actor (The Figure)

Lisa is a trained ballet dancer from the US. She grew up in small towns between Colorado and Alaska, where her parents worked for the US Forest Service. Sam’s screenplay was instantly intriguing for a few reasons. Lisa has “loved faerie folklore of Britain and Ireland since she was little, and the concept art he showed me looks like a dream (or perhaps nightmare!) come true.”One of Lisa’s favorite things about filmmaking is how incredibly collaborative it is, and working with Sam and Josie, the incredible makeup artist, to bring this creature to life is proving to be such a fun and rewarding process. Lisa also says “Having grown up in the wild landscapes of the American West with family and friends who were constantly aware of, and taking care of, their relationship to nature, the idea of portraying a guardian that protects nature’s balance was appealing. Nature does fight back in the real world, but not quite like this!”

Aaron Medway: Director of Photography

Aaron is the director of photography on ‘Snare’. He began work in the industry at Panavision London, honing his skills with camera and lighting. Since working there, he has shot a plethora of music videos and short films. He brings with him a team of experienced industry professionals.

His vision for ‘Snare’ is to create a woodland that looms and overwhelms, using mainly natural light with negative fill, and lenses that get wider as the world becomes more foreign. The film will begin with smooth and considered camera movement using Steadicam, and slowly evolve into something rawer and handheld as the forest begins to ‘fight back’. He shares Sam’s vision to create something chilling, rooted in our evolving relationship with nature.

Phil Whitehead: Editor

Phil is the editor of Snare. He has a lifelong love of the horror genre spanning everything from silent horror classics like The Hands of Orlac and Nosferatu through to the new wave with films like Saint Maud. He is particularly interested in the Folk Horror genre and its recent revival; Eyes of Fire, Clear Cut, and Blood on Satan’s Claw are movies that have recently unsettled him. He has been inspired by Sam’s script and vision for Snare and hopes to realise it by fusing what has scared him and moved him in the folk horror films of Japan, America and the UK. He is excited to see how Snare can add to the rich history of British horror movies, and hopefully give you all a good fright.

Josie Mullins: Special Effects Make Up Designer

Josie is a free-lance prop maker and SFX prosthetics artist. She graduated from Wimbledon College of Arts in Summer 2021, specialising in Technical Arts and Special Effects for screen. Since then, she has been working within the industry of theatre, television, and film. She has a strong passion for sculpture and painting and is thrilled to be able to use these skills to create such a unique character for ‘Snare’. Josie is particularly attracted to the creation of a creature that will combine feminine beauty with the darkness of horror. Josie has taken the initial design from the directing team and will bring the creature to life through sculpture, mould-making, painting, and make-up to create the creature prosthetics and costume. Josie is hugely grateful to be a part of the ‘Snare’ team and cannot wait to see how the script and direction of the character comes to life on screen.

Ben Jewer: VFX Supervisor

Ben is a VFX artist specialising in creature effects, with almost a decade of experience creating photorealistic 3D animals, dinosaurs and monsters. Having worked with Crunchy Tomatoes on previous projects, Ben was was drawn to Snare by the script’s powerful imagery, the ambitious scope of the film, and the production team’s commitment to achieve the best visuals possible, combining traditional in-camera techniques with CG VFX. A keen horror fan, he is looking forward to help realize the script’s frightening premise.

Conor Richards & George Harrison: Composers

George and Conor are the composers of Snare’s original soundtrack. With a shared love of atmospheric soundtracks from all corners of film – from The Social Network to Annihilation – the duo are excited to write a score that reflects the peace and tranquillity of Snare’s forest environment, balanced against the brutal and violent events that unfold.

The pair will be seeking to create pieces that contrast the natural sounds of the eerie and unsettling woodland setting with ambient hums and drones, giving the film an uneasy, disconcerting mood that put viewers in the shoes of Snare’s main characters.  

George and Conor are excited to work closely with Sam and the team to create a memorable and haunting visual and audio experience

CONCEPT ART:

MOOD REEL:

LOCATION SCOUT:

250 acres of private woodland in Gloucestershire. 

SFX MAKE UP PREP:

Make up by Josie Mullins. 

Josie took a life cast of actor Lisa Garvey. A silicone prosthetic will be created in order to bring The Figure to life.