MANY patches of wilderness have their mythical inhabitants, and the Pilliga Forest is no different.
Now, the forest is the setting for a B-grade film about to hit another 20 countries.
There’s Something in the Pilliga is a “found-footage” monster horror film about four men and women who go into the forest to see an old hermit, “when chaos ensues”.
And while the setting is familiar to many in this region, so might be the main man behind the scenes: former Gunnedah boy Dane Millerd.
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The film’s writer, producer and director, he said it was already on Amazon Prime Video, and OzFlix – where it was April’s most-rented Australian film.
This month, it will hit Amazon Prime Video in countries and continents including the US, UK, Europe and Asia.
“Bounty Films have stepped in and taken our little film under their wing,” Mr Millerd said.
“We have finally reached a point where we can showcase this film to a wider audience … now we can show off our niche genre piece to horror and monster fans across most of the world.”
Starring Brendan Byrne and Rebecca Callander, the movie was filmed between 2011 and 2014 on a shoestring budget in the forest.
“It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it will certainly be some people’s shot of whisky.”
Legends live on
Mr Millerd said conditions in Australia were ripe for such mythical monsters as the Pilliga Yowie.
“About 85 per cent of Australians live on 15 per cent of the land, so there is a lot of the country that hasn’t been seen by the white man,” he said.
“So the legends such as Pilliga Yowie live on unabated.”
Mr Millerd said his future included Are You Scared Yet?, to be shot in the US with horror icon Bill Moseley and Lauren Grimson; as well as progress on The Speckled Hen, based on the Peter Lalor book Blood Stain about Aberdeen murderer Katherine Knight.
