Private Project

Wyvern Hill

A confused widow faces a coordinated home invasion from both early-onset dementia and a crazed killer.

  • Jonathan Zaurin
    Director
    Santa Baby, Dirt, Portrait(s), The Pit
  • Keith Temple
    Writer
    Dr Who, Coronation Street
  • Sarah Zaurin
    Producer
    Santa Baby, Dirt, Portrait(s), The Pit
  • Pat Garrett
    Key Cast
    "Beth"
    The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Little Shop of Horrors
  • Pete Bird
    Key Cast
    "Connor"
    Dirt
  • Ellie Jeffreys
    Key Cast
    "Jess"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Horrror, drama
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 48 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 12, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Anamorphic
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:40
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Dead Northern
    York
    United Kingdom
    September 24, 2021
    World Premiere
    Winner of Best Feature Film
Distribution Information
  • Devilworks
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
Director Biography - Jonathan Zaurin

Jonathan Zaurin was born in 1984 of an Algerian mother and Spanish father, in the little town of Audincourt France. Passionate about film from a very young age, he discovers Tim Burton's Batman and John McTiernan's Predator at age 6 (Thanks for the trauma Mum and Dad). It is at this moment that he realises that this is what he wants to do: Tell stories with images. It is later on that he discovers the cinema of John Carpenter, a film master whose work will prove deeply influential on Jonathan's own filmmaking.

In 2006 he meets his wife Sarah and moves to the UK. Together they produce a series of award winning short films with Sarah acting as producer and often also as writer. Working professionally as a filmmaker Jonathan has made dozens of films both commercial and personal, gathering an array of awards from a wide variety of international festivals along the way. Portrait(s), Dirt and The Pit and Santa Baby all proved to be big short film successes in festivals, and all three films were made for budgets under £300!

In 2020 Jonathan, in collaboration with LBS Films and Solo Productions starts the production of a feature film titled Wyvern Hill, a super low budget indie horror written by TV Writer Keith Temple (Dr Who).

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Director Statement

Wyvern Hill is unique in many ways, not least of which its budget (think low, then go lower... no ... much lower) , but the intention was that the film would look and feel a hundred times that amount. It was a passion project initiated by Dr Who and Tv screenwriter Keith Temple, who came up with the idea and wrote the script which was the readapted by myself (and a heavy contribution by Pete Bird) to make it his own. But another particularity is that it was shot in 2020, in Hereford (a city not exactly known for producing a lot of films of any kind, in fact I believe it is Hereford’s first indie horror feature film) between two lockdowns, and more importantly, it is a film which has an extensive cast, with a huge number of characters, multiple locations and scenes with extras, rather than fit into what we’ve seen produced in 2020, the webcam movie (nothing against it at all, needs must but we did things differently).
It involved a huge amount of talent including world famous puppeteer Richard Coombes, Michael Sanchez composing the score, Mike Coombes playing a very dark character, Pablo Raybould and Ben Manning of the Snarling fame and it received a huge amount of support from the local community with locations and transportation.
The film is a huge mix of influence, in fact it’s quite funny because it’s not always conscious. Keith doesn’t have a particular history with horror but I have been a huge fan since I can remember and it was important to me that I injected as much of what I love into this film as possible.


The result is a weird mix of melodrama, heightened horror with ultra violent bouts of gore and a very creepy unsettling atmosphere (and of course a touch of humour).
It’s not that I wasn’t aware of these influences, it’s just that I wasn’t aware to what extent they leaked into the film, from Argento to Bava (father and son) with a touch of Wes Craven, a lot of Carpenter and flashes of Tobe Hooper and a heavy influence from the 90s scene of music video and their epileptic edits.
It’s gonna be one hell of a ride and a very strange one at that.