''The Devil's Machine'', originally titled ''Automata'', is a 2019

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

directed by

Lawrie Brewster Lawrie Brewster is a Scottish indie filmmaker, director and producer, known for his 2013 film '' Lord of Tears'', which won the Audience Award at the 2013 Bram Stoker International Film Festival. He is also the director of Hex Media, a horror film ...

, based on a script written by Sarah Daly. It stars Alexandra Hulme, who frequently stars in Brewster's films. It also marks the third film Brewster and Daly's Hex Studios has created with Dark Dunes Productions. The film premiered at the 2019

Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. It is now considered one of the top film festivals ...

Synopsis

In a remote Scottish mansion, an ancient

doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

sits, waiting to be evaluated by an antique expert. Despite being aware of the doll's reputation of being cursed, Dr. Brendan Cole is unprepared for when he and his stepdaughter Rose become the focus of the curse of "The Infernal Princess". The film switches between modern day and the 1700s in order to tell the history behind the doll and its curse.

Cast

* Alexandra Hulme as Talia *

Erich Redman Erich Redman (born 1964) is a Russian-born German actor working primarily in English-language feature films. He appeared in ''United 93 (film), United 93'' and the BBC comedy series ''TLC (TV Series), tlc''. Other appearances include ''Saving Pri ...

as Frederick *

Jonathan Hansler Jonathan Hansler is an English actor. He has worked in theatre, film and television. Career Television Hansler's television roles include the aristocrat Colin Tennant in the 2005 TV movie '' The Queen's Sister'', Mr Pelham in the BBC drama s ...

as The General *Nick Ford as Officer Stille * Jamie Scott Gordon as Dr. Brendan Cole *Victoria Lucie as Rose *Stephen Kerr as Calder

Production

For the film, Brewster and Daly were inspired by a "wild mix of influences" such as Italian Gothic cinema, Mario Bava, Dario Argento, and Roger Corman. It was created over a three-year period and filming took place in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Filming for ''The Devil's Machine'' was completed in April 2018. Brewster has described the movie as "the most ambitious film we’ve produced". As with previous films, Brewster and Daly chose to use a different style and look than their prior film, '' The Black Gloves'', citing a desire to "take our story to new horizons". To help with production costs, a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign was launched in the spring of 2018 and by its completion in May 2018, became the site's most funded narrative film in the United Kingdom. Brewster broke a similar record with ''

The Unkindness of Ravens ''The Unkindness of Ravens'' is a 2016 British horror film directed by Lawrie Brewster and starring Jamie Scott Gordon as a veteran who comes face to face with demonic ravens. The film had its world premiere on 27 August 2016 at the London Fr ...

'', which was the highest funded British horror film on Kickstarter at the time. Originally, the film was titled ''Automata'', but the name was changed to ''The Devil's Machine'' around June 2019, between the limited release at film festivals and the DVD production.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's Machine 2019 Film 2019 horror films 2019 films Scottish horror films Scottish films Films shot in Scotland Films shot in Fife Films shot in Wales Films directed by Lawrie Brewster 2010s English-language films 2010s British films English-language horror films