At Myskatonic, we’re interested primarily in identity and place and are drawn to stories where characters find themselves displaced from the everyday into otherworldly situations that challenge their perceptions. We’re intrigued by the unknown, and how stories of personal identity and psychogeography can say something beyond the literal.
T H E B I R D W A T C H E R
Director: Ryan Mackfall. Producer: Kingsley Marshall. Writer: Lachlan Marks.
Cast: Craig Russell (Edge of Summer, Queen Cleopatra, The 95th), Mary Woodvine (Enys Men, Bait), Rimca Karmakar (Pendulum, Nation Down), Kevin Horsham (The Northman).
Synopsis
Investigators visit the site of a strange disappearance – a solitary birdwatching hut deep in the forest. Situated in Cornwall and drawing upon the county’s natural environment, seafaring tradition, Celtic history, and Cornish language – The Birdwatcher takes its themes from a time when the world seemed much larger, mysterious, and frightening, drawing parallels with the fears and xenophobia of the contemporary moment.
World Premiere - Frightfest/Glasgow Film Festival, March 2025
US Premiere - Chicago Horror Film Festival, May 2025
Scandinavian Premiere: Ravenheart International Film Festival, May 2025
London Premiere: Offbeat Folk Film Festival, May 2025
Northern Premiere: GlowFlare Horror Film Festival, May 2025
CenterFrame Selects, Longlisted, May 2025
Celtic Media Festival, Nominee, June 2025
West Coast US, Premiere - Portland Horror Film Festival, June 2025
Fortean Film Festival, October 2025
Underground Cinema Film Awards, November 2025
“The most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly and see what comes. Our everyday lives obscure a truth about existence - that at the heart of everything there lies a stillness and a light.”
Lynn Thomson - Birding with Yeats: A Mother's Memoir
“Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.”
H.P. Lovecraft - The Picture in the House
B A C K W O O D S
Director: Ryan Mackfall. Producer: Kingsley Marshall. Writer: Neil Fox.
Cast: Kevin Horsham (The Northman), Ciaran Clarke, Noah Wallace.
Synopsis
1907, Massachusetts. A scholar drifts from his path and finds himself in a house he takes for deserted. Deserted, apart from a beguiling book containing dark secrets that exerts a powerful hold over those who come into contact with it.
Backwoods Trailer: https://vimeo.com/307522810
Backwoods Full Film: https://youtu.be/ADypzr6KyBI
Licensed: Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (2021): https://youtu.be/aSYBpdDSh9A
Profile & Interview: Director’s Notes: https://bit.ly/3QLmYt1
