15-minute short horror film Night of the Hell Hamsters recently won its first festival award at Sydney's A Night of Horror Short Film Festival, with director Paul Campion picking up the award for Best Director. 15-minute short horror film Night of the Hell Hamsters recently won its first festival award at Sydney's A Night of Horror Short Film Festival, with director Paul Campion picking up the award for Best Director.Originally an idea for the 2005 NZ 48hr Film Challenge, Paul Campion and writers Hadyn Green and Mike Roseingrave developed the concept into a 15-minute black comedy horror short. The film follows a young couple who fool around with the occult and find themselves fighting for their lives against possessed killer hamsters.

The film was shot on location in London by New Zealand DoP Jono Smith, with post-production taking place simultaneously in London and Wellington. Visual effects artists from Lord of the Rings and King Kong helped create visual effects shots for the film.

The film has successfully shown at the British Fantasy Society Fantasy Con, England (2006); Horror Fest UK, England (2006); Nevermore Film Festival, USA (2007); Angry Film Festival, Australia (2007).

It has so far been selected to play at at the It Came From Lake Michigan Film Festival and Zompire, The Undead Film Festival, USA, and is entered in most major genre festivals worldwide.

The director, producers and writers are currently in development on several feature film projects, and are in pre-production on Eel Girl, a 35mm 4-minute science fiction horror short film with special makeup effects provided by Richard Taylor and Weta Workshop, and shot in Wellington by Black Sheep Director of Photography Richard Bluck.

16/4/07