Welsh low budget horror film gets global release

The Mill Killers is a horror film made and set in Wales, with an all-Welsh cast and released globally across major streaming services

A horror film made and set in Wales, with an all-Welsh cast has been released globally across several major streaming services.

Aled Owen, from Carmarthen, is the writer, producer and director of The Mill Killers, a 100-minute feature film made on a "very low budget" which explores the horror of friendship and the lasting impact of peer pressure.

It follows a woman who returned to an abandoned mill with her former friends to confront the deadly consequences of her teenage actions.

Mr Owen told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, The Mill Killers was a "thriller disguised as a horror", inspired by the eerie emptiness of his hometown Carmarthen during lockdown.

The indie film which Mr Owen produced alongside the Carmarthen-based production company Melyn Pictures Ltd, was released on Tuesday in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Despite a shoestring budget funded by the cast, crew, and two crowdfunding campaigns, The Mill Killers is available across a range of major steaming platforms.

Filming was spread across three shoots between March 2022 and March 2023 in Carmarthen, Swansea, and Middlesbrough, with the entire film completed in just 15 shooting days.

Mr Owen says the idea for the film came after he saw the eerily empty streets of his hometown - Carmarthen, during lockdown

After graduating in 2019 from the Northern Film School in Leeds and working in television in Cardiff, Mr Owen found himself "back at square one" when his job ended during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

He wanted to create an "opportunity for himself and fellow filmmakers" and decided to make a feature film on a short film budget.

Mr Owen said The Mill Killers follows the character Rhiannon, who is played by Swansea's Catrin Jones.

Rhiannon is haunted by paranoia after being pressured by her friends as a teenager to steal a cashbox from a local rural steel mill - which led to the treasurer's suicide.

A decade later, the "toxic dynamic" between the group remains, rooted in habit rather than genuine connection.

As they return to the now-abandoned mill to recover the stolen money, the film "explores the horror of their friendship and the lasting impact of peer pressure".

Mr Owen said the idea for the film came from "a scary place which is Carmarthen" after he saw the eerily empty streets of his hometown during lockdown, which inspired him to create a story fitting such a haunting setting.

The Mill Killers was made on a shoestring budget funded by the cast, crew, and two crowdfunding campaigns

The Mill Killers had a successful festival run, beginning at London's FrightFest in August 2024, and won several awards, including 'Best Feature Film' at the Wales International Film Festival.

Mr Owen added: "Well, it's definitely at the top of my very limited career so far."