As a Vegan animal rights chickaroo, I am always having to explain just what exactly is wrong with milk, and where the cruelty in the dairy industry lies. Well.....director Melanie Light is about to make that subject all the easier for me to get my point across with her new short The Herd, and I am fucking ecstatic about it!! :)
Starring Pollyanna McIntosh (The Woman, Filth) and featuring a score by Laurent Bernard of Gallows, THE HERD is a study into the most unimaginable human suffering, yet it depicts a violence that is perpetrated every day on a massive scale.
THE HERD is written by Ed Pope and directed by Melanie Light, and features the additional acting talents of Victoria Broom (ABCs of Death 2, Stalled), Jon Campling (Sleeping Dogs, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows) and Charlotte Hunter (Dungeons and Dragons, Vitality).
Imprisoned within inhuman squalor with other women; Paula’s existence and human function is abused as a resource by her captors.
Escape, on any level, is hopeless as the women are condemned to a life of enforced servitude at the whims of their imprisoners for one reason only – their milk. Enslaved, inseminated and abused – every facet of their life is violated. At first the premise seems exaggerated and absurd; but is, in fact, disgusting in its stark normality.
Deliberately avoiding the lack of finesse associated with “torture porn” and sexploitation, THE HERD eschews these in favour of a vicarious descent into the visceral nightmare of relinquishing the most innate rights of existence.
Existing principally as a dark and transgressive horror short; THE HERD also asks questions as to how we approach the sentiency of other beings and the importance of the concept of individual freedoms in modern society.
The Herd brings together a ridiculously talented team, and those who were at Jennifer's Bodies in February will know Melanie from her gore~geous serial killer short Escape. Written by Ed Pope, this is a story I've always wanted to do. It's the kind of extremity that one almost needs to use to make a point, and to get people to listen. It's not shock for shock's sake, there is purpose behind it. And one very dear to me at that.
To make this project to Melanie's exceptionally usual high standards, she is calling on YOU, the fans, and fellow advocates of horror and animal rights, to help her! The perks that go along with helping to fund the film are pretty awesome I'm sure you'll agree, so if you've got some spare pennies and want to help make what I'm pretty god damn sure will be one of the best films this year...then get a clicking and find out more HERE!
To keep up to date with the project please be sure to LIKE it on good old Facebook, and of course keep your peeps peeped here too! :)
Cool site, Jennifer!
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