Book of The Witch Joshua Sowden interview

The Book of the Witch

Dir. Joshua Sowden

Reviewed by Matt Adcock  (X @cleric20, Bluesky @cleric20.bsky.social)

Joshua Sowden’s The Book of the Witch is a smouldering cauldron of dread, a slow-burn horror steeped in folklore, occult imagery, and an oppressive sense of creeping doom. It promises much with its gothic atmosphere and unsettling premise, there is much to admire here.

The story follows Sarah (Krishna Smitha), a reclusive historian sent to catalogue an ancient, handwritten tome in a remote village. The titular Book of the Witch is a menacing artefact tied to local legends of possession, curses, and a vengeful spirit who may—or may not—be watching Sarah’s every move. The deeper she delves into its pages, the more her grip on reality begins to fray, and the closer the film edges toward outright nightmare fuel.

From the opening shot of a mist-shrouded forest, Sowden’s direction is meticulous, almost oppressively so. Every frame feels designed to crawl under your skin: dim candlelight flickers ominously over faded ink, shadows stretch unnaturally across walls, and the constant sound of wind howling outside Sarah’s cabin keeps you on edge. It’s a masterclass in atmosphere, but one that teeters dangerously close to suffocating its own narrative momentum.

Henderson gives a raw, unnerving performance, embodying Sarah’s descent into paranoia with enough subtlety to keep the audience guessing whether the horrors are real or imagined. 

it's not WICKED

The film features many wordless sequences that evoke a building dread but you need to pay attention to get maximum out of them.

The real standout here is the sound design. Low, guttural whispers seem to emanate directly from the Book of the Witch itself, and the score—composed of atonal strings and unsettling chants—feels like it’s slowly unspooling your sanity. At its best, it’s genuinely terrifying. 

And then there’s the ending. Without giving too much away, the final act veers into abstract territory, abandoning much of the narrative groundwork and going full-on psych out!?

Out of a potential 5, you have to go with a Darkmatters:

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(4 - A witchy horror that delivers!)

Read my day-to-day film-watching review over here: https://letterboxd.com/Cleric20/

Sowden is a filmmaker to watch for sure - and I had the joy of getting to ask him some questions... Read on for more:

Joshua Sowden - the filmmaker behind The Book of the Witch

Matt: What was your inspiration for The Book Of The Witch?

Joshua: The Witch’s book is actually in my first-ever horror feature film ‘Extramundane’. And after I shot that film, I knew I needed to learn more about that book. A very talented artist friend of mine, Daniel Paige, made the book for that film and once I saw it on screen, I needed to know more! That led me to always wanting to do a classic witch film which then tied into my own fear of death. Combine all of that and you get ‘The Book of the Witch’!

Matt: What is the most disturbing thing you’ve ever read or watched in a book/film of any genre?

Joshua: That is tough! For me, Exorcist. When her head spins around and vomits all over. That disturbed me at a young age and still!

Matt: Do you believe in witches and if so do you know any?

Joshua: Sure, I do! I have a few friends who are. They always surprise me with their abilities.

Matt: You’re in a strange city with unlimited credit that you have to spend as much as possible of in a single evening – talk me through what you get up to…

Joshua: I would probably take my wife to the nicest dinner, as many desert places that we could hit, and stay in the penthouse level of the tallest building! Pre-order breakfast room service, of course. 

Matt: Who or what inspires you most (can be living or dead)?

Joshua: My fear of leaving nothing behind inspires me to push. That’s how/why I shoot most of my films solo. I don’t let anything stop me from making something that can live on forever. 

 

Matt: There’s a masked assailant with a gun to your head , who is most likely to be under the mask?

Joshua: Someone who did not enjoy one of my films. 

Matt: What is the meaning of life?

Joshua: To make an impact somehow on the world. 

Matt: What was the best gift you’ve ever been given?

Joshua: I’m about to have my firstborn son. 

Matt: What’s next for your cinematic creation journey?

Joshua: My next film that I am writing is about two brothers that investigate a haunted house! Think Paranormal Activity meets the tone of Haunting of Hill House. 

Matt: What would you like written on your tombstone?

Joshua: He did alright. 

Matt: Any final words you’d like to add...

Joshua: Thank you for having me on! If you’d like to follow us on social and YouTube- you can find all of that and the link the Book of the Witch here: 

The Book of the Witch neon.page

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Funnyman review and recollections of filmmaker

Funny Man

Dir. Simon Sprackling 

Reviewed by Matt Adcock  (X @cleric20, Bluesky @cleric20.bsky.social)

“You're a funny man, Mister Taylor, but I've known funnier… and so will you.” 

🎭💀 If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if The Mask had a dark, demented British cousin who moonlights as a supernatural killer, Funny Man is your answer. 

This 1994 cult oddity serves up a twisted cocktail of surreal humour, low-budget horror, and unapologetic absurdity that feels like an unholy lovechild of Monty Python and Clive Barker. And yes, it’s as weird as it sounds.

The plot kicks off with a shady card game resulting in a mansion being passed to a hapless winner. Said mansion, however, comes with a gruesome bonus: a murderous jester who thrives on torturing and dispatching victims in gleefully bizarre ways. Enter the Funnyman himself, played with unhinged glee by Tim James, whose charisma and cackling menace turn even his worst one-liners into oddly memorable zingers. Is he scary? A little. Entertaining? Absolutely!!

Director Simon Sprackling isn’t afraid to embrace the bonkers premise, leaning into the low-budget charm with inventive kills and fourth-wall-breaking antics. The Funnyman’s habit of addressing the audience directly adds a twisted theatricality, making you feel like a complicit spectator in his macabre vaudeville - kind of like Funny Games but not quite as bleak. One moment you’re laughing at his pun-laden quips; the next, you’re questioning your sense of humour as he gleefully carves up his victims.

The supporting cast is a grab bag of eccentric characters who range from oblivious to outright ridiculous. Highlights include Christopher Lee’s cameo (yes, Christopher ‘The Wicker Man’ Lee) as a devilishly droll gambler who seems to have wandered effortlessly adds a ton of classy gravitas. 

it's not PC...

The film’s refusal to take itself seriously is both its charm and its Achilles’ heel, I absolutely love the madness but I can see that if you’re not on its bizarre wavelength, Funny Man might feel a bit tedious and account for the underwhelming 2.7/5 score on Letterboxd!?

Visually, the film punches above its weight with its creative gore effects and surreal set pieces. The mansion itself becomes a character, a nightmarish playground for the titular killer’s antics. There’s a hallucinatory quality to the whole affair, as if the filmmakers decided that reality was optional and just rolled with it.

Funny Man is proudly crass, chaotic, and occasionally nonsensical. If you have taste for offbeat horror-comedies, and haven’t watched this yet - GO WATCH IT NOW!! For my money, it’s a hidden gem that offers something truly unique. Beneath the silliness lies a sly commentary on genre conventions, as the film gleefully skewers tropes while revelling in them at the same time.

So, if you’re in the mood for a film that’s equal parts twisted pantomime and gore-soaked fever dream, Funny Man is worth your time. Just don’t expect it to make sense🎭🔪

Out of a potential 5, you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

(5 - A stunningly creative and insanely fun comedy horror)

Read my day-to-day film-watching review over here: https://letterboxd.com/Cleric20/

Recollections of Funnyman -- Dominic Hailstone

I had the pleasure of bumping into the artist/film-maker Dominic Hailstone who worked on Funny Man.

The Funny Man was the first feature film that myself and effects artist Duncan Jarman worked on.

Up until that point, we were both making shot-on-video horror films and doing odd fx jobs for fetish magazines, so we were both eager to cut our teeth on something more substantial.

It was probably the craziest film I’ve ever worked on in more ways than one.

Our boss was Neil Gorton, who now runs Millennium fx. He pulled us in to help but then graciously handed us the keys as he was busy on another job, so we effectively got to get a taste of what it was like to run an

actual show.

It was exceptionally hard work. Literally trying to figure out how to tackle the job, thrown in at the deep end, sink or swim stuff. Absolute hell, but I now look back on it fondly because we were basically left alone, something which is rare nowadays.

The film was directed and written by Simon Sprackling who whilst a lovely guy, isn’t one to spend money. At all! The film was made for next to nothing and the FX budget was about ten grand or so. In fact, we still haven’t been paid!

Because of this the crew weren’t exactly professional. There were a few pros there, but most of it was made up of a rag tag gang of characters that Simon knew. There was a lot of hash to smoke and beer to drink, so that smoothed things over.

The location was a huge, disused insane asylum -- Fairmile Hospital near Reading -- And the place was as spooky as you’d expect. It was like being part of a horror film it’s self, wandering the deserted, dusty halls and finding old medical records and implements. Quite disturbing stuff.

The stairwells all had nets, like a prison might, to stop people jumping off and there were various secret passages and odd rooms. The place was fully kitted out with bunks and showers like a military building, so we slept in a sort of barracks. It was often impossible to get sleep simply because of the amount of squeaky bed springs we’d hear when members of the crew were getting busy with each other.

There was also the very real problem of the patients coming back -- The ex-patients who used to live in asylum saw it as a place of comfort, and so they’d often escape their care and travel miles just to get back home. It’s very sad but what it meant was that you’d see these poor fellows wandering the grounds just wanting to come inside.

This understandably scared the crew. Our workshop was a few hundred yards away from the main building, and we used to giggle as the AD’s would come to visit us, act calm, then run like the clappers back to the main building terrified out of their skin.

Then, one night we heard commotion outside our workshop. The threat was real. A helicopter was buzzing and we were told us to get inside as a dangerous patient had escaped and was seen in the area. He was caught soon afterwards... Or was he? We never really knew.

It was a very dangerous location though. People were riding dirt bikes, van surfing and generally behaving like idiots most of the time. I almost lost some fingers due to a mishap with some piano wire and choked to death due to cyanide fumes at one point. This was on top of the constant Asbestos signs that we’d find everywhere and ignore.

Christopher Lee was the guest star in the film and the whole crew had dinner with him at the beginning of the shoot. My memory of him was that he sat at the head of a huge dinner table, a fire roaring at one end, talking endlessly. Simon the director dutifully listened to him as he got tireder and tireder and more and more drunk. I

was on LSD at the time though, and had better things to do.

Once the main shoot was over we relocated to Shepperton studios which made things much easier. Some extra money was thrown around and we got to add some more effects.

There was a old set there that was being used for a period drama and Simon wrangled a deal to blow it up. It’s always a lot of fun seeing things explode and I remember being impressed that Simon was basically able to take advantage of the set being there (it was going to get knocked down anyway) and add value to his film for very little money.

Proper Roger Corman stuff.

One of my fondest memories wasn’t about the film though, but a production that was working nearby.

When we were in the Shepperton pub, the doors opened and Béatrice Dalle, Betty Blue herself walked in. She was the pinup of the moment and the pub literally stopped dead as she sauntered through the bar swinging her

hips. The hilarious thing was though, that as soon as she entered we saw she had a train of about five men, all drooling, following her like dogs. In a few moments she was gone, smiling with all the confidence in

the world.

--

www.dominichailstone.com

Read more about the film here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funny_Man_(film) 

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Writing Review of 2024

The Year in Complete Darkness

Matt Adcock  (X @cleric20, Bluesky @cleric20.bsky.social)

2024 has been an incredibly productive year - it's sometimes only when you stop and take stock that you appreciate the outputs - so I thought I'd capture some highlights.

Overview:

One comic launched - COMPLETE DARKNESS ISSUE III

This was a fun project, Karl Brown who is my artist went to town on the battle sequence that sees the authorities of London 2 come up against otherworldly foes who can not be stopped. It cumulates in a tactical nuclear strike... This is set against the backdrop of the hero Cleric20's romantic tryst which I wanted to be a classic one-two punch of sex and violence :)

We successfully funded the issue on Kickstarter and went on to sell most of the initial print run of 500 copies throughout the year at various comic-cons and direct orders.

Two comic short stories published in anthologies

KILLTOPIA NANO JAMS

Had a great time seeing my story come to life in Dave Cook's incredible expansion of his Killtopia universe. I got to work with an excellent team of comic artist talent including Laura Helsby: (Hoops) illustrator and Comic book artist | Grantie award winner | 2000 AD etc! 

My story SMUFF is a 'what if' kind of black mirror look at what might happen if the government launched a new foodstuff. Cheap, addictive, and erm, packing homicidal side effects... 

WIP COMICS SHORT STORIES

I love the WIP London group I've been part of for several years now. WIP Comics (or Work in Progress Comics, to give it its full name) is a group made to help aspiring artists, writers and comic creators move their ideas and projects forward. With two monthly meetups and a podcast, led by the mighty Joe Stone, you will not find a nicer bunch to hang out with.

They produce an annual publication of comics in anthology form and this year I had a story in it. I got Jim Hobbs to draw fun short of COMPLETE DARKNESS character Captain Addams - getting his own video game spin off.

An Audiobook of COMPLETE DARKNESS

Since getting published I've been keen to get an audiobook version of my novel out into the world and this year I worked through ACX to achieve it. The process was smooth, 40 voice artists auditioned and I found the brilliant Nick Cracknell who stood out with his use of voice modulation to tackle the extense 'Hitchikers Guide To Galaxy' style footnotes.

I feard it might be cringe to hear your book read back to you but instead it made me grin, and the feedback has been great too. Making it's production cost back in just a few months and selling well. It's lovely to have this version of the darkness available on Audible.

Two new locally set short stories launched

THE HITCHIN HIGHWAY MURDERS

This was the second local scary legend tale following The Hertfordshire Drownings. 

Long shadows stalk the lanes and alleys of the quiet market town Hitchin. Grisly deaths begin to mount up along with sightings of a Highwayman. Could a vengeful spirit be claiming revenge for past wrongs?

- I wrote this based on the local historic hanging of a Highwayman in the town (there is a plaque over the gateway to the Kite at The Red Hart pub). My speculative tale sees a brutal murder spree grip the town - but is it the long dead Highwayman or some other psycho killer?

Had a great launch reading this at Hitchin Library in the summer where we sold 40 tickets and put on a wine and deli food to make an evening of it. The story featured cameos of some of the book group i go to (who get massacred)...

A CURIOUS CHRISTMAS ROMANCE

As a change, I wrote a less grim counterpoint to the James Herbert horror of The Highwayman, A Curious Christmas Romance does what it says on the cover but does pack a twist.

A Christmassy tale set again in Hitchin of how a chance meeting leads to a relationship neither side saw coming. Can love survive between two very different souls? 

Inspired by a book my elderly aunt Gloria gave me earlier in the year, this was a nice project and deals with some contemporary issues such as coercive controlling behaviours in relationships.

I got to launch it at Hitchin Library as part of the Winter Festival which was a memorable evening - despite the mulled cider!? Thanks to local artist Liz Noble for the illustrations!

Comic Cons and Literature Festivals...

in 2024 I tabled at:

Thought Bubble

Hitchin Comic Con

Hertfordshire Book Festival

Forward Festival

Hitchin Summer Festival

Medway River Literature Festival

Hitchin Creative Day

Coco Comic Con

Luton Comic Con

Norwich Comic Con

Hitchin Winter Festival

I absolutely love selling books and comics face to face, meeting other creatives and speaking on panels too. Getting to an event every month bar 2 as been a great way to make sales - the inaugral Hitchin Comic Con was the biggest ROI with one day sales of over £500 (and no fee to attend).

Overall this year have sold more 1,000 units across the range that I have written which feels like a nice amount for a part time author / creator.

WORK IN PROGRESS

I am currently working on two novels HARSH LANGUAGE - a '90s set heist thriller and INHERENT DARKNESS - the second Darkmatters Novel both of which I'd like to get out in 2025, as well as another local legend short story 'The Grey Lady's Curse'.

Let's see what happens!

>>> Imagine a world where the earth is becoming hell?

Click banner below to hear a FREE 5 mins sample of my audiobook which is becoming a graphic novel too)...