Sawney: Flesh of Man
The cannibal horror was screened as part of Glasgow Film Festival's 2013 Frightfest strand
There was a sneaky bonus before the screening of Sawney with the world premiere of Spencer Estabrook’s short The Hunt (●●●●), a nicely comedic concise monster movie that begs the question who’s hunting who?
Sawney played well to the Scottish crowd. It follows the life of one of Sawney Bean’s descendents who has kept up the family business after all these years. David Hayman takes the title role as head of this murderous clan, picking up victims across Scotland in his black cab before taking them back to his lair for all manner of nastiness. However, investigative reporter Hamish MacDonald (Samuel Feeney) is on his trail. Sawney’s kids are kids are bad enough, but wait until you meet their mother …
Its low budget shows through the cracks at times, it’s a bit rough round the edges and there are a few variable performances from the cast. It over labours a couple of plot points and indulges in a few clichés but it’s a solidly entertaining film and Hayman makes a great cinematic villain: his strong central performance as the murderous butcher keeps the whole production on track. There are enough dismembered body parts (Sawney’s lair is reminiscent of the farmhouse in Texas Chainsaw Massacre) to satisfy most gore hounds. It never takes itself too seriously with a wicked sense of humour right up to the blood-soaked final showdown.
Director Ricky Wood, his father and writer Rick Wood and stars Hayman, Gavin Mitchell and Feeney were all on hand for a fun, informative Q&A session afterwards which gave you even more respect for what they had achieved with such a small crew and budget.