British Horror Studio announces a new feature-length anthology inspired by H. P. Lovecraft, with its Kickstarter pre-launch page now open to followers.

British Horror Studio has announced the forthcoming return of its supernatural anthology For We Are Many, this time in the form of a distinctly Lovecraftian sequel.

A Kickstarter pre-launch campaign is now live for For We Are Many 2: Lovecraft, a new feature-length collection of tales inspired by the strange and unsettling fiction of H. P. Lovecraft.

The original For We Are Many assembled supernatural stories from filmmakers working throughout the independent horror world. A direct continuation may not have been widely anticipated, yet the early response to the new campaign suggests that the prospect of forbidden knowledge, ancient terrors and nameless things has already stirred the enthusiasm of genre devotees.

The production is being mounted through Hex Studios, now operating as part of British Horror Studio and continuing its established interest in ambitious horror fashioned after the traditions of classical British cinema.

Previous Hex Studios productions include The Devil’s Machine, originally released under the title Automata, and The Unkindness of Ravens. The company has also recently completed the Gothic film noir Black Chariot, starring Megan Tremethick and Laurence R. Harvey.

A NEW COMPANY OF HORROR FILMMAKERS

The anthology will bring together several actors, writers and directors associated with British Horror Studio.

Megan Tremethick will both perform in and direct material for the picture, while writer and Hex Studios co-founder Sarah Daly is to make her debut as a film director.

Further contributions will come from Tom Staunton, previously seen in the Hex Studios production Ghost Crew, and Oliver Revie, co-director of the forthcoming horror film Mr Whispers.

The announced cast includes Megan Tremethick, Michael Daviot of Amicus Productions’ In the Grip of Terror, Stephen Kerr of Spoiling You and Andrew Gourlay of The Reign of Queen Ginnarra.

Further names associated with the original Hellraiser and The Human Centipede films are expected to be disclosed as the campaign progresses.

MEGAN TREMETHICK AS RANDI CARTER

Tremethick will appear in a segment directed by Lawrie Brewster which, judging from the character’s name and the film’s Lovecraftian character, appears to have been inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s celebrated short story The Statement of Randolph Carter.

Lovecraft’s tale concerns a disastrous nocturnal expedition into an ancient burial place and the dreadful testimony of the sole surviving witness. Precisely what fate awaits Randi Carter has not yet been revealed, although the newly issued images suggest a heroine already standing upon the threshold of something unearthly.

IN THE GREAT PORTMANTEAU TRADITION

The individual stories will be united by a connecting narrative in the established tradition of the British portmanteau horror picture.

British Horror Studio has promised that this wraparound sequence will contain a final twist, paying tribute to the celebrated anthologies of Amicus Productions.

Such films frequently assembled a collection of strangers in curious surroundings, only to reveal the dark circumstance binding them together. For We Are Many 2 appears poised to continue that tradition while introducing the cosmic unease, buried histories and incomprehensible creatures of Lovecraft’s fiction.

After all, no respectable Amicus-inspired anthology would be complete without a final turn of the screw.

THE CAMPAIGN OPENS

Supporters of independent cinema, British horror and the studio’s deliberately anachronistic approach to classical filmmaking may now follow the project through its official Kickstarter pre-launch page.

Those registering their interest will be notified when the full campaign opens in the coming weeks. Blu-ray editions, digital copies and further rewards are expected to be offered to campaign backers.

For admirers of Gothic cinema, cosmic horror and the grand British anthology tradition, the message is plain.

The Old Ones are stirring once more.