North East horror cannot be talked about without mentioning 28 Years Later (2025) which is filmed and set around Northumberland with the primary filming location being Holy Island/Lindisfarne, along with Kielder Forest, Newcastle and Gateshead. The iconic regional sets of the Angel of the North, Lindisfarne and the Sycamore Gap highlights the beautiful industrial, religious and classical history of the region and allows for moments of respite from the horror, gore and pressure of the film by showing these landmarks unscathed by humanity. This film is both a credit to the horror genre and to the North East as it highlights a young local actor (Alfie Williams) as well as showing both the Geordie accent and culture through the use of the song 'Blaydon Races'.
A significant North East director is Ridley Scott who's filmography includes Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982) and Gladiator 2 (2024). Scott hails from South Shields and whose family has a history in film as his great uncle Dixon Scott designed and built Tyneside Cinema. Alien was a sci-fi horror following a commercial starship crew who explore an abandoned vessel and find, well, an alien. Scott's Alien has since become a franchise with, despite Scott not directing it, Alien 3 (1992) filming in the North East. The filming locations were Blyth power station and Blast Beach in Seaham due to the sand appearing darker due to coal which was ideal for the sci-fi horror.
North East director Neil Marshall primarily works within the horror genre with films such as Dog Soldiers (2002), The Descent (2005) and The Reckoning (2020). My personal favourite of his works is The Descent due to the interesting and horrifying setting of the dark caves, which is nightmare fuelled without the addition of the murderous creatures. Marshall has proven to be dedicated to the horror genre with his works winning multiple awards such as a BIFA for best director (The Descent) and The Reckoning winning best horror at Hot Springs International Horror Film Festival.
I would love to see where the North East takes the horror genre in the future and hopefully these Geordie directors and films will inspire many young directors to stay in the North East and to use our region for their sets for many years to come.