Scopophobia: A horror movie driven by authenticity and putting Wales on the world stage

Stephen Price

Welsh horror movie, Scopophobia, gets its Welsh premiere in a few days time, and we sat down with its writer and director, Aled Owen, to discuss the importance of his critically acclaimed and ‘authentically Welsh’ project.

On Saturday 7 September, the Lyric Theatre will screen the Welsh premiere of  Scopophobia – a 100-minute horror feature film.

The film was written and directed by Carmarthen native Aled Owen, who also produced the film, alongside Portsmouth’s Tom Rawding, as part of Carmarthen-based production company Melyn Pictures Ltd, which was established in 2021.

Ghost town

The title, “Scopophobia”, refers to the fear of being watched.

The film follows Rhiannon (Swansea’s Catrin Jones) who suffers from the titular condition as a result of deep guilt, having been peer-pressured by her friends to steal money from their local steel mill as a teenager.

Ten years later, the film finds Rhiannon reuniting with these friends, played by Carmarthen’s Bethany Williams-Potter, Bridgend’s Emma Stacey, and Tenby’s Ellen Jane-Thomas.

This time, the place is a ghost town, and the girls pressure Rhiannon into taking them back into the now-abandoned mill, to retrieve the stolen money.

Rhiannon hid the cash box within the mill’s walls, but when they enter the mill to find it, they get locked inside, and there’s someone strange inside the mill with them.

Perhaps their past has come back to haunt them, or perhaps it’s just their guilty conscience playing tricks.

Passion project

‘Scopophobia’ was produced on a shoestring budget made up entirely of the cast and crew’s own funding, and two online crowdfunding campaigns.

Aled Owen and Tom Rawding met at the Northern Film School (Leeds Beckett University) and both graduated in 2019. This project began when the Covid-19 pandemic caused Aled’s first film industry job to end prematurely.

Worried that this would set him back to square one, Aled and Tom decided to create an opportunity for themselves.

The script’s story was conceived by Aled while walking around Carmarthen during his allowed outdoor hours throughout lockdown. Seeing his hometown so empty and lifeless inspired the plot of ‘Scopophobia’

The Melyn Pictures crew is made up of diverse people from all over the country, with the majority of them set to return to Carmarthen, for the Welsh premiere at the Lyric Theatre.

The cast is entirely Welsh, with several originally from Carmarthen itself. Bethany Williams-Potter and Steffan Cennydd were fellow Ysgol Bro Myrddin alumni alongside Aled Owen, with Bethany and Aled having become friends through the Carmarthen Youth Opera.

Seasoned actors Ioan Hefin, Christine Kempell, and Lisa Marged are also Carmarthen-based, having played supporting roles in the film.

Despite its financial limitations, it has already been accepted into some prestigious horror film festivals around the world, where Melyn Pictures hopes to acquire widespread distribution for ‘Scopophobia’.

The first of these festivals was London’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest, where ‘Scopophobia’ had its UK premiere two weeks before its Welsh premiere, at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square on Saturday 24 August.

The film was edited by Daniel Rosenberg, composed by Cardiff-based Lloyd Morgan, and features songs written and performed by Carmarthen’s own GG Fearn.

Fearn will be performing these songs live at Cwrw, on King Street, immediately after the screening on 7 September, to celebrate the film’s release.

Exclusive interview with writer and director, Aled Owen

Why was it important for you to work in Wales, and with a Welsh cast? Kudos to both, by the way.

“So little is known about Wales worldwide, in part because there are so few films that show an authentic idea of what Wales is.

“The few times I’ve seen Wales depicted on the world’s stage, not only has it been about the closure of the mines or those cliche subjects, but it also typically stars a largely English cast putting on fake accents.

“Wales has so much talent at its disposal, and I think it’s long overdue that we see some authentic representation that isn’t just about well-trodden subject matter.”

Where did the principal filming take place?

“We began with a 5-day shoot in Carmarthen in March 2022. I was born and raised here, so not only could I think of plenty of places to film, but I also had lots of friends and family who were kind enough to let me film in their houses and pubs.

“We used the footage to fundraise, and shot again for 6 days in October 2022, this time in Swansea’s Bay Studios and the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

“We repeated this process, leading to a third and final 4-day shoot in March 2023. This time, we made the trip to Middlesbrough, to use the huge industrial factories as a setting for the film’s most dramatic scenes.

“It was well worth the trip, because those huge factories really bring a sense of scale and grit to the story.”

The reviews are coming in and they’re very good – has it been ’scary’ not knowing how it might go down?

“It has. It’s an interesting feeling to know your film inside and out and yet not know whether it’s working from an audience’s standpoint.

“Having scrutinised over every detail for the best part of three years, I’ve been too close to the project to be able to judge what an audience with fresh eyes will experience.

“Finally, I’m getting to enjoy the film with audiences and it’s such a relief to hear laughs where I wanted laughs, gasps where I wanted gasps (and not the other way around!).”

GG (who we adore) did an incredible job with the soundtrack – it works so well as a standalone album too – how does it all work with the movie?

“GG and I were both in the Carmarthen Youth Opera as teenagers, and I remember being very impressed by her original music when I first heard it.

“My favourite film is The Graduate, so I’ve always loved the consistency of Simon and Garfunkel’s voices throughout that soundtrack.

“When I was preparing to film Scopophobia, I wanted to inorporate a consistent young female voice in the soundtrack, to match the four female leads, and Fearn’s songs felt perfect.

“She wrote some songs based on the script, and we allowed her to maintain all the copyright as long as we could use them in the film. We’re hoping fans of her music discover the film and fans of the film discover her music.”

The Welsh premiere is imminent – do you think it’ll get a wider release soon too?

“Our world premiere at London’s FrightFest was a whirlwind experience, and I’m glad to also have the opportunity to show the film to my hometown where the whole thing began.

“It’ll be a bigger turnout, with loads more people who actually worked on it or contributed towards our fundraising being present.

“As for what happens next, we’re hoping that these screenings and festivals lead to a distribution company becoming interested in aquiring the rights, so that we can make our money back and maybe start thinking about developing our next project.

“We’ll just have to wait and see where Scopophobia ends up in the end!”

Is Scopophobia suitable for those suffering from the condition?

“Unlike some other films that are named after phobias, it was important to me that our film didn’t exploit those suffering from the fear.

“Scopophobia explores the titular condition from a respectful distance, showing it more as a manifestation of Rhiannon’s guilt, and exploring the ways the other girls have processed their guilt differently.

“The others don’t suffer from Scopophobia, but maybe if they did, their paranoia wouldn’t be their undoing in quite the same way as it ends up being.

“It explores the idea of crippling fears as proof of a conscience rather than a weakness, and proves Rhiannon to be far more just a person than her friends.”

The Welsh premiere of Scopophobia takes place at the Lyric Carmarthen on 7 September at 7.30. Find out more about that and future screenings here.

Stream the Scopophobia Soundtrack from GG Fearn here.