‘How do you stop a serial killer, who’s already dead?’
The Lockdown Hauntings is 2020 British horror film about a ghostly serial killer set during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Directed by Howard J. Ford (The Ledge; The Dead and The Dead 2: India), the movie Latitude Films production stars genre icon Tony Todd (Candyman; Final Destination), plus Angela Dixon (Dead End), Heather Peace, Jon Campling, Justin Hayward, Jessica Millson and Tiffany Hannam-Daniels.
Plot:
With the streets now empty, it isn’t just nature that is taking advantage of this unprecedented global disaster. Spirits are freer than ever before and the spirit of a notorious serial killer, aka ‘The Locksmith’, is back from the dead and he has even more potential victims.
Can self-isolating detective George Parker (Angela Dixon) with the guidance of paranormal expert Jordan Myers (Tony Todd), prevent more young women from becoming victims of The Lockdown Hauntings?
Reviews:
“The movie can’t keep its own shoddy storyline straight, ending on a bizarre implication that seemingly says, “We really dug a hole we don’t quite know how to get out of, didn’t we?” […] But without any sensible substance or the slightest scare, the only thing going for The Lockdown Hauntings is a loose COVID gimmick whose limited timeliness won’t outlast the pandemic that motivated it.” Culture Crypt
” …the biggest flaw is the story. It’s pretty bad. The central theme itself is kinda hilarious and the execution does no favours. It mostly consists of ambient sounds and jumpscares and hilarious moments that are meant to be scary. If anything, I was bored the entire runtime while waiting for something significant to happen.” Leisure Byte
Release:
The Lockdown Hauntings is currently in post-production and will be released in May 2021.
Background:
Director Howard J Ford explains the background to his project:
“Having been sat in Lockdown for a couple of months and a project I should have been filming put on hold, I figured I could either sit around moaning about the lack of things going on or I could make something happen. I thought, what is out there right now; fear, isolation, anxiety. Could I do something cinematic with that? Also, what is this COVID-19, I heard the virus is not even alive, yet it can kill us and be hidden anywhere.
Then boom! It hit me, my killer needed to be the same. Not even alive, yet out there causing havoc and taking innocent lives. That’s where the plot came from… I then posted on Facebook ‘Actors, if I was doing a lockdown movie and I could film you as part of it in your own homes, would you do it?’ I was inundated! I was shooting less than a week later, writing as I went. Like a one-man tour around the UK to actor’s houses and trying to do everything, sanitised and from two meters apart. Crazy I know but fun! The cast were all brilliant and I’ve been super lucky to get the level of talent involved.”
Cast and characters:
Tony Todd … Jordan Myers
Angela Dixon … Detective George Parker
Heather Peace … Rachel Parker
Jon Campling … Doctor Clarke
Justin Hayward … Detective Sergeant Alex Briggs
Tiffany Hannam-Daniels … Chloe
Emily Haigh … Sammy
Jessica Millson … Nicola
Sarah-Jane Potts … Nicola’s Mum
Kate Davies-Speak … Jamie’s mum
Sophie Flack … Sammy
Jamie Langlands … Sammy’s Boyfriend
Vanessa Bailey … Chloe’s Mum
Anaïs Parello … Delphine
Ivan Cori … Delphine’s Boyfriend
Technical details:
101 minutes
Trailer:
MOVIES & MANIA comment and rating:
We’ve all been through the 2020 pandemic lockdown so watching the mundane day-to-day frustrations of what happened dates the film immediately. And, as The Lockdown Hauntings was actually shot during lockdown restrictions much of the overlong film is necessarily comprised of dull interactions via phone or online chats. That doesn’t make for an interesting movie. And despite the paranormal manifestations and some brief bloody deaths, none of its supposedly terrifying trivia is worth anyone’s time.
