WELDERS, roofers and vehicle technicians by day – horror film-makers by night.
New flick The Sheltered has been a labour of love for a small group of debut film-makers from Gloucestershire.
The story is set in the fictional town of Gatehaven, where homeless people consider themselves lucky if they are found and placed in one of Marcus Selby's many Sleep-Easy hostels.
A team-building trip deep in the woods soon goes wrong when they discover the Sleep-Easy has not only been harbouring them, but also an ominous secret that they may live to regret unearthing.
The trio – Gloucester roofer Dean Eyre, Churchdown vehicle technician Gary Organ, 39, and welder Martin Dallard, 49, from Evesham – will see their work premiere on the big screen at Gloucester Guildhall on Saturday night.
"We are all interested in horror films, particularly the Hammer House genre and other classics like An American Werewolf in London and The Thing," Dean said.
"It is something we are all passionate about and hopefully that will come across in the film. There is certainly one or two nods to the Hammer classics. We couldn't afford to film at night so filmed in daylight and then added a tint, just like the older Hammer film-makers once did.
"It would have been tricky filming at night without expensive floodlights, the actors would have been running round bumping into trees or tripping over." Dean was brought into the production for his expertise in making masks and fake wounds.
"Filming in the woods at Daisy Bank was great fun," he said. "There were a few dog walkers and families about so we had to be a bit careful not to scare them too much.
"I couldn't put a figure on how much it has cost us."
Viewers will recognise some famous county locations for some of the more gory scenes.
Some were shot in woodland around Cheltenham, campsites in Evesham as well as residential areas in Churchdown, Painswick and around Gloucester.
More than 25 actors from the area have given up their time for free, helping film an hour and a half of footage.
The Guildhall showing starts at 7.45pm.
