Corin Hardy

Corin Hardy’s work shows him most comfortable when walking on the dark, seamier side of life and film. An avowed, life-long horror and monster film fan, Hardy’s segue into training at Wimbledon School Of Art in the alchemy of making creatures come to life on film, and into directing, seems natural.

Signed to Academy in 2005, stand outs include the ink-splotched, Gothic illustrations in “She Is The New Thing” for The Horrors, which won best video at the 2007 MVAs, and a literal fire-starter of a cigarette packet rave for The Prodigy’s banger “Dance”.

Lushly-shot live-action comes in the smart juxtaposition of a slo-mo punk show narrated with poetry (“BBC Poetry”) and the sinister tension of a late-night walk in Rumblestrips “The Only Person”. 

On what subject could you be called upon to speak as an expert for a documentary film?
Yeti-themed monster movies. I’ve been on a mission to track down each and every film that has a yeti in it for research. My favorite is the The Legend Of Boggy Creek, which terrified me as a child and has stuck with me ever since.

How old were you when you started making films?
Age 12. Early experiments with the Ferguson VideoStar involved myself performing a series of impressive (at the time) magic tricks involving video trickery, which I found incredibly satisfying (a ping pong ball could appear and disappear in my hand using crude stop-frame animation. I could make people’s clothes vanish!). I wore a cape. In fact I still like to wear a cape sometimes.

Name a contemporary filmmaker or visual artist that you admire. Why?
The way Thomas Alfredson told the story of Let The Right One In was inspiring. Neill Blomkamp’s in-camera approach with District 9 took me aback technically. Guillermo Del Toro’s ability to invade Hollywood with his wonderful creatures. Raimi making Evil Dead against all odds always got me going.

How did you celebrate your most recent birthday?
I am 34. [I celebrated with] a highwayman-themed walk across a chilly Hampstead Heath in my cape (in January) with my friends, stopping for regular swigs of whiskey and ginger and holding a gliding competition before a night on London town. It was perfect stuff. Q

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