Town in lockdown inspired terrifying new film

AS A huge fan of horror films, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been let down by a low-budget film that promises to be the “next Blair Witch Project”. Spoiler alert, they never are.

- PORTIA JONES

The quiet streets of Carmarthen during lockdown

So I was pleasantly surprised to have thoroughly enjoyed a recent horror film produced and shot on a shoestring, right here in West Wales.

The Mill Killers (originally titled Scopophobia) is a 100-minute horror feature inspired by the director's experience of lockdown in Wales.

Welsh Director and writer Aled Owen, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that his low-budget film, The Mill Killers, was a “thriller disguised as a horror,” inspired by the emptiness of his hometown, Carmarthen, during lockdown.

Co-producer Tom Rawding, from Portsmouth, also worked on the film with Aled under the banner of their local production company, Melyn Pictures Ltd.

The film features a talented all-Welsh cast, including Bethany Williams-Potter from Carmarthen, Emma Stacey from Bridgend, and Ellen Jane-Thomas from Tenby, alongside Ioan Hefin, Christine Kempell, and Lisa Marged.

BBC reports that The Mill Killers was shot in just 15 days across a range of locations in and around Carmarthen, Swansea, and Middlesbrough during periods in 2022 and 2023. Welsh viewers may recognise spots like the streets of Johnstown and Carmarthenshire's National Botanical Garden.

What's even more impressive is that the horror flick was financed primarily through crowdfunding, with even the cast and crew contributing to make the Welsh film project a reality.