British zombie film sets new budget low

A British horror film made for just £45 could become a box office smash later this year after it was picked up by a distribution company following a screening at the Cannes Film Festival. To put that in perspective, even a cheap movie these days would be expected to cost $10m-plus.

The movie, with the rather prosaic title of Colin, was made by Marc Price, a 30-year-old courier from Swansea, and his friend, actor Alastair Kirton. It tells the story of the eponymous hero who is bitten by a zombie, dies and is resurrected as one of the flesh-eating un-dead.

It is shot from Colin's perspective, documenting his life prior to being bitten and his attempts to come to terms with his new circumstances after a plague brings civilisation to a grinding halt.

It took Price 18 months to complete Colin using a 10-year-old camcorder and PC editing software. It was shot in Wales and London, extras were rounded up through websites like Facebook and Myspace, and make-up artists and other actors were persuaded to help for free.

"Apart from three large sequences the bulk of the movie is just me, Alastair and my cheap little camcorder - that is where the heart of the movie lies," says Price.

After being shown at the Marche des Films at Cannes, several distributors vied for the rights. Kaleidoscope eventually secured the deal and say the film should be in cinemas in time for Hallowe'en.

The director, who now lives in London, has no formal training in film-making and said he picked up most of his skills from watching DVD extras, such as directors' commentaries. He named the central character after his father, who had introduced him to films as a youngster.