The Grey Man | Short Horror Film

Based on a Scottish legend that tells of an eerie presence that haunts the slopes of Ben MacDui, The Grey Man follows one mans journey into the heart of Scotland's Cairngorms mountain range to find his missing brother.
The Grey Man was shot almost entirely on location in the Cairngorms with the crew being left at the mercy of the Scottish elements, trekking three days through the mountains to capture the essence of the location. We had so much gear to carry that we ended up leaving behind the sound recording equipment so I had the task of recreating the entire sound design in post production.
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Shot on Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k
Edited on DaVinci Resolve
Sound Design, Pro Tools
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WRITER/DIRECTOR // Joe Summerton
CAST // Liam Muir, Jeff Hannan, Aislinn Mulholland
VFX & CINEMATOGRAPHY // Felix Geen
PRODUCTION DESIGN // Sian Duncan
MUSIC // Daniel Telford
COLOUR // Simon Williamson
Based on the legend of the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDui

[@JD-ge9hj]

THE WORST HORROR FILM I HAVE EVER WATCHED

[@michaellecaplain3377]

Genuinely creepy and disturbing. Awesome landscapes, unnerving sound and clever ending. Didn't rely on daft jump scares, either. Absolutely brilliant - well done!

[@joesummerton]

Thanks very much!

[@redghost3170]

I wish I had the talent and ability to make a production like this. Nice work capturing the little nuances and the leadings up of fear to the end. I liked the ending.

[@joesummerton]

You can do it! If you have a good story to tell you can film even on a phone these days. I used my friends for this film, crew of three in total filming. Also called in favours to borrow equipment etc.

[@philwoodward2992]

This is class, really cracking unnerving horror! Well done all 👏👏👏

[@joesummerton]

Why thank you Phillip.

[@EmmaPassion]

Hell , this was creepy 😱 and that breathtaking landscape... ❣️

[@joesummerton]

Thanks Emma! If you thought it was creepy then I did my job!

[@blakerice7928]

Great cinematography

[@joesummerton]

Thanks Blake!

[@LadyDi0514]

I enjoyed this however, I needed a little bit more n the end.

[@joesummerton]

Thanks for your feedback! You are not the first to mention the ending. Endings are always so tough! I learned so much making this film though so hopefully I'll use what I've learnt to make the next one better!

[@LadyDi0514]

@@joesummerton you’re so welcome for the feedback- it was so well done and the ending was VERY creepy! Just wanted a teeny bit more. Can’t wait to see your upcoming projects!!

[@joesummerton]

@@LadyDi0514 Thank you! I really need to make another short film.

[@agentepyrofbi3934]

El Hombre Gris era el Slenderman Escocés ?

[@einienj3281]

Great story, absolutely stunning landscape, Thank You 😊🤟🏻

[@joesummerton]

Thanks so much! I love the landscape, making a film set there was just an excuse to visit again

[@einienj3281]

@@joesummerton I can see why.. 😄❤️

[@isaacs1052]

Great production. The landscape is really extraordinary. The ending was solid, though if you are looking for suggestions, a few seconds of bleak empty landscape after the jumpscare might bookend the creepiness neatly. This reminds me of an australian genre of film, where the wilderness will swallow you up and no one will notice. Such films usually linger on the emptiness at the end.

[@joesummerton]

Thanks Isaac! Good to hear more feedback. I really struggled with writing this, I think ultimately the idea was a feature but I tried to fit it in a short so some themes were left unexplored. I would like to expand this into a feature one day. I've not watched many Australian films, apart from Walkabout and recently The Stranger.

[@isaacs1052]

​@@joesummerton This is excellent cinematography and tight storytelling. Brevity is the trickiest part of writing, and you nailed it.

[@joesummerton]

@@isaacs1052 Thank you! And thanks again for even watching it in the first place.

[@skuhlemeyer]

You are lucky to have such a awesome location I never see mountains cause I live it flat il

[@joesummerton]

You should visit the mountains closest to you! I also live in a flat but love to escape to the wilderness every now and then. That's why I set this whole film in the mountains!

[@cindymorris2567]

It was great up until his light started going off & on. Then it was like any other video!!!

[@joesummerton]

I can't help that they make defective lights! Kidding. Joking aside, it's hard to avoid all the cliches, but you are right, maybe we could have thought of a more creative way to end the film.

[@cindymorris2567]

@Joseph Summerton It was great any way you look at it. 😊 Thanks so much...

[@kurtweiand7086]

The landscape made me shiver, you could literally sense how cold 🥶 it must be! And no wood available to burn!

[@joesummerton]

@@kurtweiand7086 There are very few trees up there! It's often described as a tundra-like environment in the Cairngorms and the closest thing we have to an arctic-alpine.

[@flamingmonkeyxii]

I don't understand what happened.

[@joesummerton]

Which part?

[@flamingmonkeyxii]

@@joesummerton I guess when he fell asleep? or the noise started? after that... it's just confusing. There's a horrible noise, or a dream? Then there's a cairn on an outcrop above a cave with cans and a sleeping area and chalk pictoglyphs... and someone calling his name and also in the cave. If this weren't labeled "horror" I'd just say he ran into some disorienting infrasound and found his brother camped out. And why did he throw that notebook in the beginning? It seemed to be an accounting of sightings of the Grey Man, but not necessarily his brother...

[@joesummerton]

@@flamingmonkeyxii Hi Henri, cheers for the feedback. Maybe we left certain aspects of the story a bit too ambiguous. It was really hard to tell when writing the film how much to spell out for the audience and how much to leave for them to figure out. I will say, on the logbook, it was supposed to be a normal bothy logbook which usually contain hillwalkers accounts of their days out in the mountains, but the brother character had defaced this with multiple pictures of the Grey Man. The main character finds this frustrating as he is sick of his brothers obsession with the Grey Man and so he throws the book away in anger. Again, maybe not super obvious or even hinted at! It's great to get your perspective on it and it is feedback i will take forward to the next project.

[@flamingmonkeyxii]

@@joesummerton ok that helps. I'm not familiar with bothies (or similar European structures) personally, I just know they exist. I thought it was a logbook filled out by random travelers but that the Grey Man pictures were from numerous sightings, not just the brothers'. Maybe I'm just not familiar enough with Scottish folklore or highland descriptions to know what was going on. Perhaps he should have just had another smoke?

[@flamingmonkeyxii]

@@joesummerton what were the objects in the cave? I couldn't quite make them out, looked like a couple of cans and some orange things and a long thing? Maybe it's just my computer but the 1080p has a lot of artifacts or something when the screen is mostly dark.

[@thisismadness1827]

read it as the "gay man" for a second. good film.

[@joesummerton]

That's the sequel

[@thisismadness1827]

@@joesummerton Im gonna be honest, I didnt actually watch it because Im a pussy when it comes to horror films, I'll prolly watch it later today and see how it is. (i hate jumpscares)

[@TheFlyingRaptor]

Super creepy movie depicting a man's descent into madness and encounter with the unknown. Loved all of the little details leading up to the final encounter, or perhaps not so final encounter? I guess we'll never know! Great job! Had me hooked from the start!

[@joesummerton]

Thank you! Great to have your feedback.

[@danthieman7858]

I'm just grooving on all these short horror films. Nice work

[@caleb700]

Aliens

[@joesummerton]

Could well be...

[@finonyoutube]

bravo man! this is incredible. Made me truly feel bad for Liam

[@joesummerton]

Thank you my friend!

[@thenebraskan6977]

Very creepy, great movie!!!

[@susancoddington6393]

This was great!!

[@davidhill8362]

Bravo bravo clap clap nail it

[@janavaculikova1735]

Jana Vaculíková Dracula

[@GnarfleTheGarthok]

Please tell me a continuation is in the works! More info about the brother, anything!

[@joesummerton]

I really hope to expand this story into a feature length film one day. In the meantime I'm working on a horror podcast so stay tuned for info on that!

[@hchgchg5402]

Absolutely sexy cinematic film

[@nathanforrest3483]

The gay man. 😆

[@kai4344]

are you 12

[@nathanforrest3483]

@@kai4344 Yes.

[@hudscookin7609]

This was absolutely stunning!

[@nattohorrorfilm9255]

Awesome film😆

[@joesummerton]

Thank you!

[@JoeFromThatPlace]

One of the greatest short films I have seen in a while.

[@joesummerton]

Thanks so much!

[@jeffreyharnden7523]

Take a bow Joseph you and your cast and crew all did a great job suffering through the elements and the very hard work of all of you guys has certainly paid off job well done maybe one day you can post a behind the scenes of this very classy well written story and very well acted piece of work me and my friends were all watching this after it was done we were all upset because this should've been a 2 hour movie we wanted some more we always say to ourselves that this type of genre is the superior ones we have been big horror fans since we were little boys and girls respectively now we are all grown up in our 40s and 50s and we are still huge diehard fans of the genre and this is definitely one of tge very best ones that we've seen thanks for posting this gem. Again Joseph you and your cast and crew should take a bow great work here .

[@joesummerton]

Thanks so much Jeffery! I do have a few 'behind the scenes' videos I could maybe share. I took some videos of me recording the sound effects in post production. It's great to hear you enjoyed the film though, comments like these make it worth it!

[@joesummerton]

P.s I'd love to make this into a feature one day.

[@thefurrybastard1964]

Good movie, excellent use of the location. Really enjoyed it.

[@joesummerton]

Thank you! We put a lot of effort into the location, it was really important to me to film it out in the elements!