Horror at Haddo with Alec Westwood

We have interviewed Alec Westwood. We interviewed him to find out about his career and his recent project at Haddo House.

Why did you choose Halloween as a genre?

I’m a professional actor and performed in many TV programmes, it’s just that recently a production company called Clear Focus Films's chosen genre is horror and I’ve been involved in the last two films. One was called Redwood Massacre and that’s just premiered in Aberdeen and this Halloween at Haddo House is kind of themed on that film so there’s 8 actors in the movie being actors on this live experience. One of the killers goes around with an axe chopping up people in the film so he’ll be scaring people on the tour.

How long does it take to make a film?

It depends on the length of the film and your shooting schedule.  The last film that I did is 1 hour and 20 minutes long. That took 4months to film because we could only film at weekends because people had day jobs. If you multiply that up it’s roughly 32 days to film that one. There is possibly a couple of pick up days afterwards so roughly 40 days.

What is your favourite film?

I have lots and lots. I don’t tend to have an overall favourite film but I have favourite films within genres. My favourite sci-fi film is 2001, my favourite horror film is The Shining and my favourite dramatic films are seventies films like The Godfather, Taxi Driver and Apocalypse Now but I don’t have one that’s my favourite above all else.

What do you enjoy most about being an actor?

I enjoy doing different jobs all the time. I’m not the kind of actor who is happy doing a soap. I like moving from one job to the next and I like moving from one type of acting to the next as well, so theatre to radio to film. One of the most enjoyable things about being an actor is constantly doing something new

Are you currently working on a project?

The live horror experience at Haddo House which is all themed around the horror film Redwood Massacre. In 6 weeks I’ll be starting work on a supernatural film set in the Highlands. I’m also away to do a dance rehearsal for a dance company from France who are performing as part of Dance Live at Beach Ballroom.

What are you doing in Haddo House?

The live horror experience will take place there. I just got back from  the rehearsal and it was really good. They are actually holding paranormal investigations in the house at the same time and the investigators were here last week and said the project was off the scale and everything felt very scary.

What is your favourite thing about Halloween?

Dressing up and getting covered in gore, I always get dressed up for Halloween. It’s one of my favourite things. It’s also the beginning of the Pagan new year so it’s almost like Pagan Hogmanay. It’s also a really important day historically, particularly in terms of the harvest and getting everything stored away for winter. I just love Halloween!

By Agnie, Adrian, Estelle, Katie, Stacey and Connor