09/10/2015 - Micro-budget British horror inspired by director’s real life experience

Co-writer and director Devanand Shanmugam (Gangs of Tooting Broadway) has wrapped principal photography at East Hanney locations and is currently in post on micro-budget British horror Rancour. Co-written by Matthew J Gunn (Trilogy Room 237), the film follows an impecunious young couple that rent a room in an elderly couple’s London house, and horror ensues, as no one appears to be who they really are. The cast includes Vas Blackwood (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Jon Campling (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 [+see also:
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Shanmugam said, “The idea/spark came from when me and my wife moved into a shared accommodation and the landlord, an horrible old man, always found some reason to start an argument with me. It was ridiculous. One day I was angry after one of the arguments and couldn’t sleep. Then slowly I could see the idea forming in my head. By morning I was clear about the story, structure and wrote the synopsis. We also moved out the next week. So in a way that horrible old man gave me the idea for Rancour.”

It took eight months for Shanmugam’s Champagne Charlie Productions to raise the finances for the film and the crew had only two weeks to shoot it. “We had a tight budget so we couldn’t afford to shoot even a day extra. So I had to be prepared with all my shots beforehand so there was no time wasted,” says Shanmugam.

The film will begin screening for distributors in November.