Exclusive Photos From Psychological Horror Film MUSE

David Gelmini |

Dec 20, 2018

Director Richard John Taylor has provided us with an exclusive batch of photos from his upcoming psychological horror film, Muse. The film is described as Hereditary meets Hard Candy meets Misery, and stars Lowri Watts-Joyce, Nicholas Ball, Jeffrey Charles Richards, Emily Price, and Kev Orkian.

Muse is about a struggling actor who is left devastated after the death of his young daughter, Ethel. After retreating to a country home in the South of France, he finds himself being plagued by nightmares, and also starts to develop an obsessions with a neighbor who bears an uncanny resemblance to his deceased daughter. Taylor, who also wrote the screenplay, was also kind enough to provide us with the following quote about Muse:

“This isn’t another slasher movie – it’s more the clever, slow burning psychological kind, paying homage to Hitchcock and King. It’s steeped in grief with terrific performances Emily Price and Jeffrey Charles Newman. Lowri Watts-Joyce is also one to watch in the future. She’s only young, bless her but an incredible natural talent.”

Muse was filmed mainly in France throughout October. with a few scenes also being shot in London. Production wrapped on Halloween, which seems oddly fitting, given the film’s subject matter. As Taylor also describes, he was able to find a house deep in the South of France which seemed to be completely untouched by history, making it the perfect setting for Muse.

“It was the most incredible place – there was still writing in the attic from where it had been occupied during the war. We stayed and shot there – most of us slept with the lights on! Neither the locals nor the current owners have any idea of its history – it was like we were in a scene from The Others – even google or local records – it’s like it just appeared one day, yet at the same time had always been there. A 16 bedroom chateau on 26 acres of private woodland – we were sure there was a burial plot on there somewhere. When we arrived it was gone midnight and it was lit only by the moonlight – it was reminiscent of how eerie and abandoned Wayne Manor was on Batman vs Superman.”

We can expect to see Muse next year after it hits the festival circuit. It will also be the final film of Taylor’s close friend Leslie Grantham, who worked on the project for several years but sadly passed away earlier this year. Taylor, meanwhile, will next shoot the supernatural horror film Baba Yaga in Bulgaria in February. He is also in the process of developing a documentary about Granthan, which will be called His Life and Other Times.