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Clan of the cave Banes

The Gothic thriller Blood Clan is based on
the true story of the cannibalistic Banes

Carol Crenna
SPOTLIGHT FEATURE

ILM DIRECTOR

Charles Wilkinson,

owner of North Van-
couver’s Apple Pie Pictures
Inc., was given the script for
Blood Clan in 1989, and al-
though he dislikes horror
movies, he was interested in
the story.

He directed the feature film,
which was completed in an amaz-
ingly tight 20-day shooting sched-
ule, in Edmonton, and it was
released in theatres in 1991.

Wilkinson faced a difficult
challenge in attempting ta portray
the gruesome story of cannibalism
with a melodramatic and ‘‘taste-
ful’ slant. But, with his wacky wit
and honest charm, he was the
right guy for the job.

Wilkinson is best known for
Quarantine and My Kind of Town,
two successful movies that he
wrote and directed. Both were
produced in Canada and later sold
to the U.S. for video distribution,

Blood Clan, starring Gordon
Pinsent and Michelle Litte, is a
turn-of-the-century thriller based
on the true story of the can-
nibalistic colony that existed in
Scotland in 1895.

The laird of Sawney Bane, who
was the colony's charismatic
leader, lived in caves away from
society. The remains of over 1,00C
victims discovered there showed
irrefutable evidence that the clan
cut out and ate the hearts of its
victims.

The entire Bane colony was
hanged for the crime.

The film, written by Glynis
Whiting, focuses on one of the
Banes who was rescued from
the hanging as a child. Later, when
a series of gruesome murders takes
place in a small Canadian com-
munity, accusations arise that the
girl has not escaped her destiny.

“\ decided to take a horror
script and make it not a horror,”
Wilkinson says. “It is a Gothic
thriller, similar to the old BBC
Sherlock Holmes series starring
Basil Rathbone.

“The moves are still scary, but
they keep a stiff British resolve
about what they actually show.
This film is dark and moody, but
not disgusting, because | find
those films so gross. You don't
have to get graphic to be effective.

“Many of the scenes were
meant to be tongue in cheek; for
instance, there’s a scene where
the mother is standing in an overly
exaggerated pose at the foot of the
stairs holding the knife that’s ready
to kill, and she hesitates for so
long it becomes a little silly.”’

The movie's short production
time was possible because of the
shoot’s location.

An old farm house located out-
side Edmonton provided the
perfect setting and background.
Seventeen of the 20 shooting days
were shoi at the farm.

Wilkinson adds, however,
“Finding a location to double as
a Scotland coast in the middle of
the snowy prairies was more dif-
ficult. We ended up using a field

NEWS photo Cindy Goodman

CHARLES WILKINSON'S first film Tears — A Story of the
Penitentiary, an NFB documentary , documented the closing of
the B.C. Penitentiary. it was very successful and proved to be a

major stepping stone.

near a Jake that was warmed by a
hydro plant.”

The cannibalism was difficult to
deal with in a movie that was not
billed as a horror film. The con-
cept was approached carefully by
both the actors and the director.

Says Wilkinson, ‘‘l was sen-
sitive about the whole concept of
cannibalism, | remember one of
the first articles that came out in a
tabloid in Alberta as we were
working on the film was titled
‘Pinsent signs to cannibalism
film,’ and I went nuts.

“It’s nota cannibalism movie,
it is a Gothic thriller. Another
headline played on that fact and it
said ‘Cannibalism film very
tastey.” The reviews are good
publicity, but unfortunately it now
becomes not the kind of movie
that my mom and dad would want
to see because of these headlines.
They may actually enjoy it if they
saw the movie for what it is.

“L realized that there was a
certain point in the movie where
the aspect of the cannibalism had
to be embraced. No matter how
squeamish one is about it, it has to
be reflected in the film some-
where.

“And much of the time and
work of the film production
revolved around that aspect —
when should people know about
what is really going on. And once
you mention it, it has to be ex-
pressed in all of its horror.”

Blood Clan was sold recently to
the United States for hame video
distribution, and it is expected to
do well across the border.

Though Wilkinson never finish-
ed high school, he enrolled in an
upgrading night course in which

he was allowed to make a movie
instead of writing a class project.

And he was bitten by the movie
bug. He obtained his communica-
tions degree fur film at SFU, and
before graduating, he and a
classmate were able to make their
first documentary for the National
Film Board.

The film, Tears — A Story of the
Penitentiary, documented the
closing of the B.C. Penitentiary. It
was very successful and proved to
be a major stepping stone for
Wilkinson.

He also made many of the pro-
fessional liaisons that he still uses
today, inciuding Tobias Schliessler,
now considered one of the top
three cameramen in Canada; Ray
Hall, who is now head of the UBC
Film Department; Haida Paul, who
is a well-known film editor; and
Cal Shumiatcher, who was his
partner at Petra Films.

My Kind of Town was Wilkin-
son’s first feature film, which was
actually produced in a slightly
underhanded way.

He was hired to make The Little
Town That Did, a documentary
about the town of Chemainus,
B.C., but during the documen-
tary’s production, the crew shot
another feature without anyone
knowing.

Without a script, they filmed My
Kind of Town at night.

The Litthe Town That Did,
meanwhile, was very well receiv-
ed and won awards.

Wilkinson then went to the
newly-formed Telefilm Canada
and secured financing to finish the
feature.

See Wilkinson page 27

Wednesday, February 19, 1992 - North Shore News - 23

INNERS!

Congratulations to the
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The winners receive
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Forsters — Larry Wignes

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