11:15am Sunday 28th October 2007
By Steve Dancey
ANDOVER resident George Hilton usually works in the field of finance but he has long had a fascination with the world of film especially the horror films produced by the Hammer company in the 1960s and 1970s.
When, after a gap of 28 years, Hammer decided to shoot a new movie, Beyond the Rave, George wanted to be part of it.
"Being aware that they were looking for extras to be in the film I contacted them and ended up on set," said 29-year-old George from Herons Rise.
"The company was in the middle of shooting a large party scene consisting of 250 extras plus the stars.
"Amazingly for me I was picked out of the crowd to play a speaking role in the movie and had five lines.
"After living a dream of acting in a Hammer Film for 22 years, it was unbelievable to me that I was really doing this."
The cast included Sadie Frost and Ingrid Pitt, who starred in The Wicker Man and Where Eagles Dare.
His efforts and knowledge of the genre were much appreciated by the crew who also used his services to help dress one of the sets.
George believes that he was chosen from the crowd of extras because of his 6ft height and dark looks.
He doesn't think the horror genre is particularly frightening and describes them a gothic fairy tales for adults with wonderful scripts and actors'.
His favourite film is the original Dracula from 1958, which included the two most celebrated names of British horror - Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
There are already plans for a second horror film and the first four minutes of Beyond the Rave is expected to be available on the internet by Hallowe'en with a general release next year.
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