Horror film made in Cork hits cinema screens

When this newspaper interviewed Bantry filmmaker Damian McCarthy in 2021 about his debut horror Caveat, it was evident that he possessed a deep understanding of the genre.

It was a self-assured venture that has attracted a substantial fan base since its release. This week, his second feature, Oddity, arrives in cinemas.

Filmed in Bantry, Oddity follows Darcy (Carolyn Bracken) as she seeks to uncover the truth behind her twin sister Dani’s vicious murder, with the help of a life-size wooden man, leading to chilling consequences.

McCarthy explains where the idea for Oddity came from.

“Oddity is set in the same room where we shot Caveat, in Bantry House in West Cork. I had this idea for a haunted house film, and a haunted house film lives or dies on its location.

“There was something really interesting and different about that room, especially after we got rid of the Caveat sets. 

Luckily, Bantry House said I could film there again, so I started working on the script.

The new film mixes horror genres, which McCarthy says is to attract diverse types of horror fans.

“There’s a bit of a mystery, and it is a creature feature. It’s a ghost story, and it’s psychological,” he said.

“If somebody’s not really scared of a slasher movie but has a big fear of the supernatural, the ghosts will catch them, but if they’re not too scared of a psychological threat, the creature might scare them.

“I thought if I weaponised all these different subgenres, there’d be something there to give everybody a scare.”

McCarthy says the key to making a horror film work is allowing the audience to think for themselves.

“You have to find a balance of not spoon-feeding the audience and not giving them every image to be scared of.

If you can make them think and get their imagination going, what they’ll imagine in their heads can be much worse than what I could show them.

The film is genuinely scary, but it also has a great sense of humour, which McCarthy says is influenced by the horror films he watched growing up.

When he was young, McCarthy’s parents owned a video shop in Bantry, and McCarthy spent hours watching the films on offer.

“There’s a trend in horror films now where they take themselves very seriously,” he said “There’s lots of amazing stuff being made, but they’ve lost that sense of humour I grew up watching.

“Films like Child’s Play and Fright Night never took themselves too seriously. I developed the script with humour in mind. It is a real Irish sense of humour. The people are quite dry, and their comments are a bit cutting.”

The film-maker says he wants to make the audience laugh.

“When you straddle the line between comedy and horror, you give the audience permission to laugh. 

When you cross back into horror again, the audience becomes nervous because they still don’t know if you’re trying to be funny, and suddenly, the film gets quite dark.

“I’ve seen the film a few times with an audience, and it’s great to hear them laughing, and then suddenly they’re screaming.”

Caveat was made on a shoestring budget. Its success allowed McCarthy to play with a bigger budget for Oddity, which freed him up to concentrate on the script and directing.

“With Caveat, I had an amazing crew, but it was a skeleton crew. It couldn’t be in the script if I didn’t know how to make it happen.

“With Oddity, I knew that we had a budget. I had an amazing crew and experienced producers, so it frees up your imagination to write and direct.

“I wasn’t sure how the wooden man would be built or how we would pull off special effects. There are stunts in the film and complicated cinematography. I didn’t have to worry about how to do any of these things because I could collaborate with people with the skill and talent to make them happen.”

McCarthy’s handling of disability in the film is commendable, as Darcy, a blind character, is not portrayed as vulnerable.

“The film is essentially about a blind woman going after her sister’s killer. She goes to the house and is already disadvantaged because she doesn’t know the house.

“Ted and Yana underestimate her and dismiss her because she has this disability. Dismissing her is a big mistake.”

Darcy owns a curiosity shop brimming with eerie antiques, some of which she claims are haunted. This rich setting offers ample opportunity for a prequel delving into Darcy’s backstory and psychic abilities.

McCarthy prefers to explore new storytelling avenues.

“People have said I could do more stories with Darcy because she has the antique shop full of haunted bits and pieces, but now, so many films have spin-offs, sequels, and prequels. I miss when films were one and done. I want to leave my films wrapped up by the end.

If anything was to come from this, it might be a story about Dani and Darcy’s mother, who is briefly mentioned, but I have plenty of other ideas to come first.

The filmmaker, who plans to continue in the horror genre, says he is proud to film at home in Cork and promote the Irish film industry.

“I would like to stay and promote Irish films as much as possible. We have amazing crews here and fantastic actors, especially in Cork. Certain stories would lend themselves more to an American set story, but when I can, I will keep filming in Cork.”

McCarthy hopes non-horror fans will go to the cinema to see Oddity.

“It is a gateway horror film for people unsure about the genre. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it entertains, and it will surprise people. I hope horror fans will come, but it would be great to see people who don’t go to horror give Oddity a chance.”

Oddity opens in cinemas on August 30, Cert: 15a.