As Dead And SudBuried, the successful Sudbury, Suffolk based horror film festival prepares for its 10th Anniversary and an expanded 4-day edition, inspired by the flood of annual submissions from indie filmmakers from all over the world, Festival Director Andy Piper has decided to finally chase the lifelong dream of directing his own horror movie!
Six is a dumb, fun, old school horror movie! It has no aspirations to be ‘elevated’ or be anything other than an exhilarating experience, aiming to thrill, scare and leave its audience thoroughly entertained. Inspired by low-budget masterpieces like The Evil Dead and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Six will not be bogged down in a slow burn pace, showy heavyweight acting or pushy subtext (though dig deep enough, there’s always a subtext!), we’re not going to hammer you with social commentary – we want to scare you, thrill you and leave you happy with a big, ridiculous grin!
Six follows a group of seemingly unrelated characters thrust together into a collision with a bizarre satanic cult, aiming to sacrifice six individuals, one by one over one terrifying night in a blood-filled ritual which they believe will resurrect the devil himself and plunge the world into darkness. The film follows our six characters as the ritual plans slowly takes shape during a single day, before they are held against their will and slaughtered one by one in inventive, bloody ways over the course of a single night. As each victim is sacrificed, our group of individuals is reduced to a single survivor who will end the night of madness in a brutal, gore-packed act of vengeance.
Six was developed by PIKEMAN Films, a production company originally made up of Andy Piper (the PI) and Edd Keogh (the KE). The film was originally conceived way back in 2021 tackling many obstacles in its journey to this crowdfunder but gaining an avalanche of experience and knowledge on its way. Andy Piper has been planning on directing a full length movie since he was 5 years old! Dazzled as a child by Star Wars, Jaws, ET, Superman and Raiders in the 70’s and early 80’s, he wanted to be the next Steven Spielberg – in awe of blockbuster film-making to learn how movies are made. Andy made a few lost super-8 movies with friends in his pre-teens until his passion was turned on its head and ignited stronger in 1987 when he experienced the ‘sequel to the ultimate experience in gruelling terror’ – Evil Dead II. Sam Raimi’s inventive, frenetic style of direction blew him away and changed his aspirations, opening his eyes to imaginative filmmaking which was further compounded after viewing the original The Evil Dead. Horror movies became his love, watching and studying as many as possible throughout his teens, even making a few shorts on VHS with the goal of becoming a filmmaker when leaving school.
However, fate had other plans and distracted by day to day life, Andy went in a different direction plunging into advertising and media buying, then product distribution and bizarrely hospitality management, running a number of pubs! Some 25 years later, Andy made the unenviable decision, fuelled by unwavering support from best friend Edd, to start a horror film festival in his small hometown of Sudbury. Despite many obstacles, the event grew annually over 10 years, from a single day to four days of horror, attracting films and filmmakers from all over the world with more than a few premieres and a dedicated sold out audience. Inspired by meeting and talking to the passionate filmmakers, the desire to create returned and a random conversation with Edd led to plans to make a low budget, fun, gory horror movie locally in Sudbury.
Andy sought advice from filmmakers and during a number of conversations, hit it off with director Jonathan Zaurin leading to the start of a beautiful friendship and an invite to join the team of Derelict – a bleak, grim thriller to be shot in Hereford in 2023. Initially a satellite position working as a producer in Suffolk, Andy dropped everything to be hands-on on site in Hereford, helping to get the movie made. Involved in all aspects of the production, from development to post, Andy learnt a huge amount about real indie filmmaking from Jonathan and the team. Derelict had its premiere in Leicester Square at FrightFest in 2024, going on to more festivals, winning awards and finally being release in late 2025 through 101Films. Whilst Andy was proud to have finally made a movie, the dream wouldn’t be complete until he directed his own! Hence, in 2025 Andy and Edd went back to work on Six, creating a proof-of-concept trailer, utilising basic equipment, locations and bare minimum team in an effort to sell the movie to investors.
Edd Keogh was a huge film fan but not necessarily an ambitious filmmaker! Andy’s best friend, Edd was the type of person who would not only push anybody to chase their dreams, Edd would be there to help or more accurately, make them a reality. Armed with precision timing, Edd suggested making a movie with Andy, initially so they could spend more time together but mainly, selflessly to chase Andy’s dream! Whilst Edd would have been content to put anything resembling a film together with friends, enjoy a few beers on ‘set’ and have something to show to anybody interested – Andy had more serious aspirations to make a professional, horror movie that could be screened at film festivals and eventually be released! Whilst Andy is the driving force behind Six and Edd may not have been as passionate about making the movie, he was just as passionate to help his friend. Edd contributed to early development of the project and was with us on set for the first day of shooting the trailer, although illness stopped him from fully helping with the remaining production. Edd sadly lost his battle with illness in late 2025. He will retain sole Producer credit and the film will dedicated to his memory.
Andy believes he can make Six with a budget as small as £5,000, adopting a basic ‘Bad Taste’ strategy but can make something really special for more like £30,000. Every penny raised through the crowdfunder will go into boosting production values on every aspect of the film from new equipment, remuneration for cast and crew, food and accommodation, shooting locations, set design and production, costumes and masks, practical special effects and make-up and post production.
Andy Piper says, “We’ve spent the last 10 years building a horror film festival and now we want to make our own horror movie right here in Sudbury, Suffolk. I obviously felt my life wasn’t complicated enough with the film festival, a music festival my day job and family so decided I need to finally make a movie! I’m hoping to raise the budget through the crowdfunder to make something really special, bloody and fun, using local talent to create not only a great movie but a local filmmaking scene! We’re not looking for a huge amount, it will running on enthusiasm and dedication, so every penny in our direction is hugely appreciated.”
The crowdfunder for Six is now live at IndieGoGo with perks ranging from a social media shout-out, digital copies of the finished film through to more substantial producer level contributions. The site includes the four minute proof-of-concept trailer and everything you need to know about the production.
For more information:
https://www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/six_horrormovie/six_horrormovie
www.sixhorrormovie.com
