Neil Marshall felt “handcuffed” by the creative process on ‘Hellboy’.
The 50-year-old filmmaker has returned to his horror roots with his new flick ‘The Reckoning’, and he made a conscious decision after being disappointed with the way things worked on the 2019 comic book reboot.
He told SFX magazine: “I was kind of handcuffed on that film. It was really miserable, because I didn’t get any creative input in the project.
“And so for this one I deliberately sacrificed having a budget for having complete control over the film.
“It was rough, but it was a way more satisfying experience. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved out of very little.”
‘The Reckoning’ sees Grace Haverstock – played by Marshall’s partner and co-writer Charlotte Kirk – accused of being a witch after losing her husband in the plague.
She ends up in the custody of England’s most ruthless witch-hunter, Judge Moorcroft (Sean Pertwee).
The filming location was given a lot of consideration, with the filmmaker admitting he was concerned about shooting in Hungary.
He explained: “I’d imagined filming it in the UK, in winter, and it being kind of rainy and bleak and moody. But of course we ended up shooting it in Hungary in the height of summer.
“Certainly the fields and the trees pass for England, and that’s absolutely find, but my worry was the weather. I was thinking, ‘Oh, that’s just not the vibe I want…’
“So I flipped it on its head. I thought, ‘We’ve got characters riding around on horses, they’ve got big hats and they carry guns.
“And there’s a town, and a corrupt guy ruling the town, and then there are farmsteaders… this is a Western!
“So why don’t we just take onboard that aesthetic and make it hot and dusty and ‘Once Upon A Time In The West… of England!’ “
