Neil Marshall is going from strength to strength. His Dog Soldiers movie which he wrote, directed and edited was superb fun and despite not being officially released in the US, it’s been a huge hit. Particularly, as he himself has credited, because of the Internet.
Then he wrote and directed The Descent, which I hope to see this Friday, by all accounts showing a mastery of the genre and really moving from his previous work.
Now, from Timeout, he talks about his upcoming projects, and I really am sitting up and taking notice:
‘Eagle’s Nest’. A World War II action thriller previously pitched as ‘Die Hard’ meets ‘The Remains of the Day’, the film is actualy more a tribute to the action adventure classics ‘Where Eagles Dare’ and ‘The Eagle has Landed’ the director explained:
‘It’s about a hypothetical rescue attempt on Rudolph Hess after he parachuted into Scotland in World War II. The ‘Die Hard’ scenario comes in when the rescue attempt goes wrong and the German unit takes Hess to a country castle in the borders of Scotland. ‘The gamekeeper has to do the John McClane thing and keep them there until help arrives – he has to stop them escaping and picks them off one by one.’
That does sound interesting…and bizarre, although the McClane comparison does make it sound a little weary, we have to give it to Marshall, his ideas seem wild on paper but he can really bring them to a fantastic reality on the screen. Next up will be…
…a medieval heist movie called ‘The Sword and the Fury’.
‘It’s about what happens 30 years after King Arthur dies and Excalibur falls into the wrong hands. Guinevere then hires a band of thieves to steal it back – it’ a proper, gritty romp.’
Then, if the desire to return to horror is there, he plans to make…
…’Outpost’, a sci-fi horror that tells the tale of a genetic experiment going horribly wrong.
Sounds like there are some really interesting films ahead, and with Marshall behind them they really will be exciting and entertaining. Watch out for these. Is anyone else a big a fan as I am?
