''Resurrection Man'' is a 1998 Irish extreme horror

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

film, set specifically in Northern Ireland, directed by

Marc Evans Marc Evans (born 1960) is a Welsh director of film and television, whose credits include the films ''House of America'', ''Resurrection Man (film), Resurrection Man'' and ''My Little Eye''. Biography Evans was born in 1960 in Cardiff, Wales. H ...

with a screenplay written by Eoin McNamee based on his novel of the same name. The story is loosely based on the real-life " Shankill Butchers", an

Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism is a strand of Unionism in Ireland, Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland (and formerly all of I ...

gang in 1970s Belfast who conducted random killings of Catholic civilians until their leader, Lenny Murphy, was assassinated by a

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

hit squad.

Cast

Stuart Townsend Stuart Townsend (born 15 December 1972) is an Irish actor. He portrayed Lestat de Lioncourt in the film adaptation of Anne Rice's '' Queen of the Damned'' (2002), and Dorian Gray in Alan Moore's '' The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (20 ...

– Victor Kelly * John Hannah – Darkie Larche *

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994). ...

– Ryan * James Ellis – Coppinger *

Brenda Fricker Brenda Fricker (born 17 February 1945) is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles. In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Awar ...

– Dorcas Kelly * Geraldine O'Rawe – Heather Graham * Seán McGinley – Sammy McClure * George Shane – James Kelly

Production

Although set in Belfast, ''Resurrection Man'' was not filmed there, with the English cities of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

serving as the film's locations.

Critical reception and analysis

In an essay entitled "Vampire Troubles: Loyalism and Resurrection Man", academic Steve Baker argues that the film can be interpreted as a

vampire film Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptat ...

, "situating it within a loyalist self image of vampirism". In fact, Stuart Townsend's performance in this film was what prompted

Michael Rymer Michael Rymer (born March 1963 in Melbourne) is an Australian television and film director, best known for his work on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica (reimagining), Battlestar Galactica'' TV series, for which he directed Battlestar Galact ...

to cast him the role of the Vampire Lestat in ''

Queen of the Damned ''Queen of the Damned'' is a 2002 horror film directed by Michael Rymer from a screenplay by Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni, and based on the 1988 novel ''The Queen of the Damned'' by Anne Rice, the third novel of the book series ''The Vampi ...

''.Biography: Stuart Townsend
''Talk Talk''.

References

External links

* * {{Marc Evans 1998 films Films from Northern Ireland Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Films directed by Marc Evans Films set in Belfast Films shot in Greater Manchester Films scored by David Holmes (musician) 1990s English-language films Crime horror films British horror thriller films