Myskatonic is a genre film, television, and media production company. We’re passionate about the power of the conventions of genre filmmaking, and how they can serve as a trojan horse to convey political ideas.

At Myskatonic, we’re interested 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 (Protein, Edge of Summer, Queen Cleopatra), Mary Woodvine (Rose of Nevada, 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.

Awards
Winner - Best Horror - Cambridge Short Film Festival, July 2025

Screenings

  • 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

  • HP Lovecraft Film Festival, Rhode Island, USA, 22-24 August 2025

  • Switzerland Premiere, Golden Swan Zurich International Film Festival, Zurich, 21 August 2025

  • Jane Austen International Film Festival, Nominee, Bath, 4-5 September 2025

  • The Independent Horror Society Indie Film Showcase, Birmingham, 11 September 2025

  • HP Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, USA, 19-21 September 2025

  • Dead Northern Horror Film Festival, York, UK, 26-28 September 2025

  • Fortean Film Festival, UK, October 2025

  • Ireland premiere - Underground Cinema Film Awards, Dublin, Ireland, November 2025

  • The Independent Horror Society Indie Film Showcase, Norwich, UK, 27 November 2025

  • GlowFlare Horror Film Festival, Nominee, May 2025

  • CenterFrame Selects, Longlisted, May 2025

  • Celtic Media Festival, Nominee, June 2025

  • West Coast US Premiere: Portland Horror Film Festival, June 2025

  • The Independent Horror Society Indie Film Showcase, London, June 2025

  • The Independent Horror Society Indie Film Showcase, York, July 2025

  • Cambridge Short Film Festival, Winner, Cambridge, July 2025

  • Out of the Can Film Festival, July 2025The Independent Horror Society Indie Film Showcase, Brighton, 7 August 2025

  • The Independent Horror Society Indie Film Showcase, Manchester, 14 August 202

“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


Screenings
World Premiere: H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, US
UK Premiere: London Short Film Festival, UK
Winner: HP Lovecraft Award, Rhodes Island International Film Festival, US
Fastnet Film Festival, Ireland
Bizarre Bazaar, US
SciFi Terror and Fantasy Film Festival, Mexico
Profile & Interview: Director’s Notes: https://bit.ly/3QLmYt1