In the company of werewolves

The Geordie film-maker has been back at the cinema, this time as a film-maker rather than spectator when the world premiere of his first feature film, Dog Soldiers, was held at the Odeon.

"I saw the first Star Wars at the Odeon in 1978 and that set me on the path I am now," says Marshall, who directed, wrote and edited the werewolf horror movie. "I wanted to have the screening here because it's my home town. If we'd premiered in London, we wouldn't have got our mums and dads along."

The North-East is also home to four actors in the film - Craig Conway, Chris Robson, Darren Morfitt and Emma Cleasby - who also attended the premiere alongside leading actors Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd and Liam Cunningham.

"What we set out to do was bring London and the world to us," says Keith Bell, Marshall's partner in Newcastle-based Northmen Productions. "If we can't shoot here, the first place to see it is here. We think the audience in Newcastle will appreciate it as much as an audience in London."

Set in Scotland, the £2.5m film was actually shot in Luxembourg because of financial incentives. "Filming is only part of the process," says Bell. "Pre-production, post-production, and the editing were all done in Newcastle. We have things to offer up here apart from fantastic locations."

The North-East is benefiting from a good deal of exposure on film at the moment. Another feature film, The One And Only, shot in Newcastle had its first cast and crew screening yesterday. And BBC1's current series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was shot in Newcastle and Middlesbrough.

Like most films from British film-makers, Dog Soldiers had a long gestation period. Marshall and Bell first met in 1990 on the film and TV course at the University of Northumbria, or Newcastle Polytechnic as it was then.

"We sort of hit it off and were friends. We worked on each other's student films. Then we went off in different directions," explains Bell.

The pair were reunited on a film called Killing Time, made by another Newcastle company, Pilgrim Films. Bell was production manager, Marshall was co-writer and editor.

"That was a major learning curve for us on how not to make a movie," says Bell. "We determined to do it right next time and do it our own way. It was very much done seat of the pants and was rushed."

Marshall wrote Dog Soldiers, about a group of soldiers battling werewolves in remote Scottish countryside, in 1996. He and Bell spent the next five years trying to find the finance to shoot the film, while working in other areas of the industry.

"We wanted to make a commercial British film to fill multiplex cinemas on a Friday night," says Bell. "In Britain we make social realism films, period dramas and romantic comedies but not horror movies since Hammer in the 1960s."

Marshall, 31, wanted to be in the company of werewolves because he feels they're under-represented on screen. "There's a big hole in the market," he says. "I've always love werewolf movies but never been satisfied with them. I made the werewolf film I've wanted to see all these years."

He has directed several short films already but Dog Soldiers marks his feature debut, and raising money for first-time directors isn't easy. They wanted a big enough budget to afford decent special effects. Shooting in Scotland was too expensive and nowhere in the North-East was considered suitable. Money from the Luxembourg Film Fund led to filming in that country.

"Making the film was everything I hoped it would be," says Marshall. "It was a dream come true. It went incredibly smoothly and I think my editing experience helped, and the actors were so in tune with the production. We had a good time off set too."

Dog Soldiers was picked up by Pathe for distribution in this country after a screening in London late last year. The film has been sold around the world, except to North America. They're waiting to see reaction over here before selling it on the other side of the Atlantic.

The omens are good with four-star reviews in British film magazines and good reactions at advance screenings. "We had a press showing in Leicester Square in London. I was expecting 20 people and there were over 400. They went through the roof and really enjoyed it," says Marshall. "That was the moment I thought, 'there's something going on here. People like it'."

Marshall is now planning his next movie. A sequel to Dog Soldiers is a possibility - "next time it would be Frankenstein's monster not werewolves". What he and Bell would like to film is a script, described as "an Arthurian heist movie", written by Marshall and calling for a $20m budget. "That's large by British standards but nothing by US standards," says Marshall.

One thing is certain, his next film won't be premiered at the same Odeon. The cinema is under threat of closure, once a new cinema opens in the city centre at the end of the year.

"Unfortunately, it looks like the place is being knocked down," says Marshall. "We wanted to make a gesture by having the premiere there."

Dog Soldiers (15) opens in cinemas on Friday.