Private Project

DEERSTALKER

In search of his missing dog, Dean stumbles upon the hidden den of a forgotten predator.

  • Rio Swatton
    Director
    Urban Legends, Two-Man Rule
  • Rio Swatton
    Writer
    Urban Legends, Two-Man Rule
  • Rob Sadler
    Key Cast
    "Dean"
    Urban Legends, We'll Meet Again
  • Jake Rayner
    Director of Photography
    Two-Man Rule
  • Marcel Glover
    Sound Mixer
    The Haunted Hotel, With Love from Suffolk
  • Josh Jones
    First Assistant Director
    Urban Legends, We'll Meet Again
  • Rio Swatton
    Producer
    Two-Man Rule
  • James Smith
    Composer
    Urban Legends, Two-Man Rule
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 12 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 26, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    1,660 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Rio Swatton

Director Rio Swatton is a passionate neurodivergent filmmaker from Colchester. Rio’s filmmaking journey began making home movies with a pocket camera and iMovie when he was 10 years old. During his film studies at the Colchester Institute, he made his debut as a director with his comedy short Two-Man Rule in 2022, followed up by mockumentary Urban Legends in 2024. Now, Rio is making a shift to the horror genre with his new short film DEERSTALKER, produced under a new name: Cinrio Studios.

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Director Statement

My vision for Deerstalker was to depict the dehumanizing nature of being hunted by a predator and evoke a deep-seated primal terror. The story stems from my own perspective on nature which I attribute to my experience with the film Watership Down (1978). The film’s depictions of death and the brutality of nature deeply frightened me as a child who was highly sensitive and very observant of his surroundings. I adopted the superstition that hidden within the beauty and stillness, there was a formidable force that showed no compassion or empathy. I believed that DNA would make for very unique and effective horror.

The Deerstalker was based on the folktale of Black Shuck, a monstrous dog that roams the coast of East Anglia. I wanted the creature felt grounded and native to the location, so I combined characteristics of several different animals. As a director, I took inspiration from my favourite horror film Alien (1979) and leaned heavily into crafting the atmosphere whilst keeping the monster hidden. The viewer only sees of the threat what Dean sees, feeding into the imagination. A great reference is the character Man from Bambi (1942), who you never see nor hear, yet his presence is always felt. As Dean descends deeper into the wilderness, the atmosphere shifts, the world seems to hold its breath and Dean visibly becomes more unsettled. This is excellently conveyed by the music, minimal and undefined ambience that felt organic and grows darker over the course of the story.

While writing the script, I realised the story needed a strong emotional core. Dean's curiosity was nowhere near a strong or personal enough motivation to be a compelling character. I introduced Joey the dog as the driving point of Dean's emotional journey and built a physical prop for him that our actor could anchor his performance to. It made sense that a domesticated animal and "man's best friend" would blur the line between man and nature. With this one change, the story shifted to a more sombre tone. It became about Dean's protective instincts being threatened by his survival instincts, and the theme of the film naturally came into light: how a man's human nature can be overshadowed by his primitive nature.