Darklands is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 horror film

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 written and directed by Julian Richards

Julian Richards (director)

Julian Richards, is a British film director.- Early life :Julian Richards was born and raised in Newport, South Wales, where his father owned DIY retail store Handiland...

, starring Craig Fairbrass

Craig Fairbrass

Craig Fairbrass is an English actor. He is known for his distinctive Cockney accent.-Life and career:Fairbrass was born in Stepney, London. He made his acting debut in an episode of the television series Shelley in 1980. This was followed by appearances in series such as Emmerdale, Three Up Two...

, Jon Finch

Jon Finch

Jon Finch is an English actor noted for many Shakespearean roles. Perhaps his most notable role was the title role in Roman Polanski's 1971 film adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. His other famous role was as a down-and-out ex-RAF pilot wrongly accused of murder in Alfred Hitchcock's...

, Rowena King

Rowena King

Rowena Josephine King , sometimes credited as Roweena King, is an English film, television and theatre actress.-Early life and education:She was born in London, England, to an African mother and a Caucasian British father....

 and released in 1997

1997 in film

-Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...

.

Richards wrote the screenplay after attending the Beltane Fire Festival

Beltane Fire Festival

Beltane Fire Festival is an annual participatory arts event and ritual drama, held on April 30 on Calton Hill in Edinburgh.-Historical background:...

 in Edinburgh and it was produced by Paul Brooks

Paul Brooks

Paul Brooks is a British-born film producer.Brooks has a Humanities degree in English/Philosophy/Psychology and Sociology from the University of London...

 at Metrodome Films.

Dubbed "the Welsh Wicker Man" by the UK press, Darklands is possibly the first home grown Welsh horror film.

Plot

Darklands follows journalist Frazer Truick as he investigates the mysterious death of the brother of trainee journalist Rachel Morris. Delving deeper, Truick becomes convinced that the tragedy was murder, committed by a bizarre religious cult. But as the evidence unfolds, things take on a more sinister and potentially lethal significance for the reporter, as he becomes embroiled in devil worship, witchcraft and ultimately human sacrifice.

Release

In 1998 Darklands was theatrically released in the UK by Metrodome Films, released on VHS by Pathé

Pathé

Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...

 and broadcast by ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

.

Darklands is available on DVD in Germany (Splended Films), France, Fox Film Corporation and Spain (Filmax).

Awards

• Critics' Award - Fantasporto
• Méliès d'Argent - Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver - Fantasporto
• Best Screenplay - Fantasporto
• Special Jury Award - Fantasporto
• Best Independent Feature Award - Festival of Fantastic Films (UK)
• Silver Remi Award - WorldFest Houston

Festivals

• Welsh International Film Festival - Aberystwyth, UK
• Fantasporto
  Fantasporto
  Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from...
  
   Film Festival - Portugal
• Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Films - Belgium
• Valenciennes Action & Adventure Film Festival - France
• Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival - Netherlands
• Newport Beach Film Festival
  Newport Beach Film Festival
  The Newport Beach Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Newport Beach, California, that showcases more than 350 films to more than 30,000 attendees annually....
  
   - USA
• WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival - USA
• Fantafestival - Rome, Italy
• Shots In The Dark Film Festival - Nottingham, UK
• Puchon Fantastic Film Festival - South Korea
• Espoo Ciné
  Espoo Ciné International Film Festival
  Espoo Ciné International Film Festival is an annual event held in Espoo, Finland, in August. The festival was established in 1990 and it has since grown to be one of Finland's leading film festivals , screening about 100 feature films each year in addition to short films.Espoo Ciné focuses on...
  
   - Finland
• Festival of Fantastic Films (UK)
  Festival of Fantastic Films (UK)
  The Festival of Fantastic Films is an annual non-profit celebration of cinema fantastique, held annually in central Manchester, England. It was created by Tony Edwards and the late Harry Nadler , together with their fellow enthusiast Gil Lane-Young.Past...
  
   - Manchester
• Lund Fantastisk Film Festival - Sweden
• Sitges Film Festival - Spain
• Leeds Film Festival - UK
• San Sebastián Film Festival - Spain
• Cinenygma Fantasy Festival - Luxemburg
• Scienceplusfiction Film Festival -Trieste, Italy
• Another Hole in the Head Genre Film Festival -San Francisco, USA