In cinemas today is the fantastic Cockneys vs. Zombies, a gruesome comedy from director Matthias Hoene and writer James Moran.
One of the highlights of this year's FrightFest, audiences nationwide now get the pleasure of seeing Alan Ford, Honor Blackman and Richard Briers fending off the undead with uzis. They're joined by a fresh young cast, including Harry Treadaway, Michelle Ryan, Rasmus Hardiker and Ashley Thomas - the latter playing the amusingly deranged Mental Mickey.
You can read our full review of Cockneys vs. Zombies here. Sam Faulkner sat down with Snatch legend 'Brick Top' Ford and 'Bashy' Thomas for a chat about snogging Honor Blackman and handling live weapons.
How did you come to be interested in Cockneys vs. Zombies?
Ashley: Well I got sent the sides, and when I read it I got so excited, so I went to the audition and I just went crazy in my audition piece. When I left I thought it was horrible, then I got a call back and it turned out they loved it and the role was mine. When I got to read the script I just thought 'this is hilarious'. I've done a lot of drama so this was a chance to do something that was funny, a bit crazy and action-packed at the same time, with a good cast so I just jumped at it.
Alan: Well I got the sent the script and as soon as I read it I thought, 'this is a fantastic script, it's really funny, and I'd really love to play that character, Ray McGuire'. Fortunately I was offered the job and I was very happy to do it. It was nice to play somebody my age, because I'm too old to playing gangsters now and I actually play a real mean bastard in this - and I get to be a bit of a hero which makes a nice, pleasant change.
And you get to kiss Honor Blackman!
Alan: Yeah I got to snog Honor Blackman - if she's good enough for James Bond, she's good enough for me.
You both play these great, brilliant, larger than life characters, and there are some really great moments and highlights in the film - have you got any favourite moments?
Ashley: Mine is just Dudley's cockney rhyming slang, because I just died every time, that's how funny it is when someone is speaking in cockney rhyming slang because you don't know where it comes from. We hear the story of why it's called a 'dog and bone' and why a watch is called a kettle. I love that, I think it's a good history.
Alan: I like it when the fighting began and I got my hands on the gun, and all the guns are supplied by Ashley here, Mental Mickey. The most shocking moment for me, I'm not saying it's the best moment but the most shocking, is with Ashley and the pram and I won't go any further than that, that is a real screamer when that happens. But most people seem to love Richard Briers, when he's moving on the Zimmer frame from the zombies.
Ashley, A lot of films you've done have been heavy dramas with weighty subjects, so it must be nice to let loose in something like this. Is comedy something you'd be interested in doing again?
Ashley: Yes because I love comedies, the ones that are just playing in straight where you're in the moment and it is so funny. It was a good change to go from something like The Man Inside, which was a crazy, heavy dark character, really sort of recluse bordering on mental health [issues], to something that was mental but in a funny, crazy way. A character that was stereotypical and larger than life. I like comedy, it's cool.
And Alan, you've done a lot of comedy over the years, famously.
Alan: I've done a lot of comedy, yeah, and a lot of serious stuff, but I like comedy and this was a great one to get stuck into.
It looked like you had a lot of fun, but it must have been a chaotic shoot.
Ashley: Yeah, it was the first time I'd worked with live firearms on set. Me and Alan were saying that the zombies are real. They are not actors, they are real. Some of them are full time zombies, this is what they do! So that was pretty cool to deal with. The director Matthias, he was really cool, with his direction he was really relaxed. It was just a fun vibe, but me and Alan were in different groups, I was in a younger group, but there were no egos even though there were some hot up and coming actors, it was just like being at school, everyone was friendly.
Alan: Ashley and I have never got to work together, we were on different shoots. I found it a tough gig, I'm not complaining. But for three weeks, I was up at six, it was a long drive into the care home, I'd work on my lines, then I would be covered in blood and wouldn't get home until about nine o'clock. So it was three weeks of that and I found it quite a tough gig. And all of my gang were over seventy; Honor Blackman was eighty-five when we were doing it. The baby of the group was Georgina Hale, she is still in her sixties, so she was our young one. I found it a tough gig but I'm not complaining, I was very happy to do it, I'll do another one.
It's interesting, I didn't realise it was live fire arms ? there must have been a lot of prep involved.
Ashley: Yeah, the young group were the worst because we had the fire arms and it was just like Call of Duty. And I had a shotgun - I loved it.
Alan: I had a M16 with rocket launcher, with which I blow a zombie's head off. There was no kick back on them, they were very smooth, I was expecting one. They were really amazing guns.
What's next for you, what have you got coming up?
Alan: I've got nothing lined up at the moment, but I've got another film coming out next month which is The Sweeney with Ray Winstone and Plan B, so I'm looking forward to that. But as I was saying to Ashley earlier, our work comes up at the last minute.
Ashley: Yeah, I'll let you know tomorrow! I've got My Brother the Devil, which comes out in November, and The Man Inside which came out last month.
Watch Filmbeat's report from the World Premiere at FrightFest below.
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