Bloody Hell! Mollusc Films’ Feature Debut Is Hull Vampire Comedy

Hull filmmaker Phil Codd has realised a lifelong dream with the final day’s shooting of his debut feature film, B-Negative.

Phil, a popular composer, musician and filmmaker on the regional arts scene, directed and wrote the full length vampire comedy, B-Negative, which has been produced, shot and cast entirely in Hull and East Yorkshire by his company, Mollusc Films.

Part of the Humber Film community above Kardomah 94 in Hull’s Old Town, Mollusc Films also produced the successful, award-winning short film A Local Desperado and A Right Pickle, among others.

Phil said: “I resisted the temptation to go and buy a pair of vampire fangs from Dinsdales and do the Hitchcock extra bit, but, all joking aside, this was a serious effort from cast and crew on a project that I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time. Film making can sometimes seem like a process of damage limitation and crisis management, but, touch wood, things have gone pretty well so far.”

The film’s bloody protagonist is the one and only ‘Barry’, an unfortunate character who is told he can have ‘a vicarious immortality’ but only by having children. Unfortunately, he can’t have kids!

To try and solve his problem he decides to join The Ancient Order of Nocturnal Immortal Phlebotomists of Albion, a unique group of vegetarian vampires who are on the verge of extermination…

Cast and crew were drawn from the region’s growing abundance of local cinematic talent with a mixture of experienced and inexperienced actors that included leads Jack Lee (Barry), Ailsa Oliver (Pops), Paul Diver (Alfred), Louise Willoughby and supporting cast of Ben Harris, Peter McMillan and Colin Thompson.

Fellow Humber Film members formed the core of the production team, including Sarah Hicks, producer, Alex Twiston-Davies, director of photography, (both graduates of the Creative Skills Set, BFI funded, Bridge Way Films facilitated production skills course), Harry Hartley as assistant camera, Lara Clarke, production assistant, Sarah Johnson, costume designer, plus Emily Brown and Chris Hopkin of Dead Bod Films.

The film is now in post-production with a release date provisionally set for mid-2018, when audiences can expect to see a wide array of well-known and captivatingly picturesque and obscure local scenes, such as The Masons on Dagger Lane, Union Mash Up on Prince’s Avenue, St. Mary’s Lowgate and Mrs Wilson’s inside Welly Club.

Funding has come from a mixture of revenue streams including a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, sponsorship parties, and limited private investment. Catering was supplied by local vegetarian restaurant, Hitchcocks.

This is the latest feature film to come out of the Humber Film stable and follows Dead Bod Films’ Hull and East Yorkshire debut feature, One Summer When You Went Away, which wrapped at the end of September and is also currently in post-production.