A fascinating World War Two Nazi zombie film that has been created by an Edinburgh film graduate is set to feature Irvine Welsh as Russian chemical scientist.
‘Dick Dynamite:1944’, a Fife based production, that includes a host of Edinburgh locations, is an over the top WW2 movie that has been written, directed and edited by Robbie Davidson.
Robbie, 43, from Kirkcaldy, is probably best known for his role as a guitarist with Edinburgh punk legends, ‘The Exploited’, but the film maker, who studied at both Telford and Stevenson College, has turned his hand to creating a 1980s action meets Grindhouse blockbuster.
READ MORE: East Lothian couple need to raise £6,000 to have a child of their own
The film, which is said to have been created using the budget of a second hand Skoda, will feature some big names including the likes of Irvine Welsh, Clive Russell of Game of Thrones/Thor and Noah Hathaway of The Never-ending Story.
Edinburgh’s iconic author, Welsh, makes his cameo in this grassroots production as a Russian scientist called Mikhael Leznik, who is drafted in by the Nazis to build a bomb that turns the Western Allied population into feuding zombies.
On the premise and story of the film, Robbie said: “I came up with the concept with my brother in law, Jared Young, who is an award winning Canadian author that actually pipped Stranger Things to an award not long ago.
“We came up with the idea of Dick Dynamite, who is a cigar chomping one man army like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“The story line is that the secret service have come across a film reel that shows a gigantic german bomber housing a chemical weapon.
“This weapon is made up of a special serum - produced by Welsh’s character - that turns the Western Allied populations into zombies attacking one another.
“And in order to stop this secret weapon from taking over, the secret service have drafted in the one man capable of putting an end to the Nazis plans, Dick Dynamite.
“It is set in Europe 1944 along the Austrian/German border and places in France but the filming has taken place all across Scotland.
“Dick Dynamite appears at once as such an absurd yet strangely obvious concept that is baffling to consider why no one has ever attempted it before.
“We sort of asked, where are the Arnie-style 80s action flicks set in WW2?
“And though if we’re going all in, with WW2, zombies and nazi ninjas, why not make it like a 1980’s fever dream and add in some horror flair, mad scientists and their abominations wreaking havoc on behalf of the Third Reich?
“I guess having a mutual love of 80’s Schwarzenegger movies and WW2 films inspired me to make a movie that combined both.”
Robbie says that the film has been a real family effort and a collaboration of a number of friends, musicians, actors and authors that have shown an interest in the project.
Filming began in 2019 and has been interrupted several times by the pandemic and personal tragedy.
But that did not stop those behind the movie from realising their dream by filming various scenes whenever they found the time - something that Robbie likens to “band practice.”
On this he added: “It has taken a few years as it is not a big budget film and has sort of been mates doing it how we can and when we can.
“Everyone involved is sort of like a member of a band and we have just clubbed together to make it work whenever we could.
“I even recruited the help of my nearest and dearest by asking my wife Valerie to star in the film as the leading lady playing ‘Agent Jennings’ - a Femme Fatale in the form of a double agent.
“Even the kids were roped in to do special effects and make-up. My 10-year-old son, Harry plays a zombie child, villager and even a member of the Hitler Youth.
“Three-year-old Ava also plays a family member in a flashback and Cammie was a gen with the make-up.
“Robbie’s brother Shauny, plays a main character in the form of the flamboyant ‘Dash Dalton’ - a bungling British agent, with mum Margo playing a murdered innocent Villager.
“But tragedy struck over the course of filming when my dad Geoff Davidson was knocked off his Harley Davidson and sadly passed away.
“He had a helping hand in some of the writing of the film and also made many of the props featured within its scenes.
“And the tragedy didn’t end there as unfortunately my uncle Jack, who had invested in the film, fell ill to cancer.
“As a result, Jack was unable to appear in the film directly, so he was immortalised by appearing on a label of a bottle of whiskey that is drunk during the film.”
The film is set to be shown at the Carnegie Hall at the end of September in Dunfermline and Robbie hopes to be able to tour the movie around various film festivals internationally.
Anyone who wishes to watch the trailer - and we warn you it is graphic - can do so by clicking on the link here.
READ MORE:
Little known Edinburgh hack to charge your phone on Princes Street
The real reason some Edinburgh New Town tenements have their windows boarded up
Edinburgh firefighters race to plush suburb after resident chucks out unsafe battery
Edinburgh man says he 'needs to see doctor' after discovery in Chinese takeaway
Heart-stopping footage shows Edinburgh driver going wrong way on roundabout
