Screen screams – Nathan Hill shows off some of the props from his horror film. 36589

By Tania Martin
UPWEY’S answer to Roman Polanski is bringing his own brand of horror to the hills.
Nathan Hill, 35, is getting ready to release his first feature film next month.
The Upwey director and screenwriter has been working for years to realise his dreams in the movie business.
His movie, Tomboys, was featured last month as part of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival.
The horror flick was filmed in Chirnside Park, edited in Mt Evelyn and the final touches were put on the movie at Mr Hill’s home.
This upcoming director has had a passion for film making since he was just a kid.
He went to film school in Footscray and has spent years perfecting his craft.
Tomboys is about five country girls who take a serial rapist hostage to get their revenge.
Mr Hill said the movie was similar in style to cult classics like Saw and Wolf Creek.
It starts with the five girls surrounding a bound and masked man.
“It was shot on location in Chirnside Park in a country setting… the girls take the man back to a barn and tied him up in a shed,” Mr Hill said.
Mr Hill hopes his film will help revive cult-horror flick in Australia.
“It’s a dying genre,” he said.
It has taken this director just two years to get up and running.
He also co-wrote the script with Fabian Lapham and Stuart Van Eysden.
Mr Hill was inspired by a group of cult rape revenge movies from the 1980s such as I Spit on Your Grave.
He said the movie had cost just under $1 million to produce.
Mr Hill said it had taken him years to get to this stage and was thrilled to finally be able to make a career out of his passion for movies.
“It’s unbelievably hard. I even had to kick down the door to get into the Melbourne Underground Film Festival,” he said.
“The competition is so much bigger these days and it’s hard to weed out the tourists from the real filmmakers. It’s really over populated in the industry.”
Mr Hill also won the converted ShriekFest Award with his screenplay Utterson last year as part of the Los Angeles based horror film festival.
“It gave me recognition and confidence,” he said.
After returning with his prized award, Mr Hill started filming Tomboys.
He said it was cheaper to shoot the flick at home than in the United States.
It will be released straight to DVD in Australia and New Zealand on Friday 16 October.
Mr Hill hopes to also release Tomboys in America and Europe.
“I have just shot my second feature film and once that’s in the can and sales have picked up on Tomboys I will just keep shooting,” he said.