Otto Baxter: Not A F****ing Horror Story and the accompanying short film The Puppet Asylum will be released in cinemas and on Sky this September and will also have a special showing at the horror festival FrightFest in August.
Otto Baxter: Not A F****ing Horror Story follows Otto Baxter, a 35-year-old man with Down Syndrome, over six years, as he writes and directs a foul-mouthed, autobiographical comedy-horror-musical set in Victorian London.
Otto, who has always struggled to explain how he feels, uses his film The Puppet Asylum to explore his birth, adoption and his epic battle with ‘The Master’ – an evil magician hell-bent on controlling his life. During the filmmaking process Otto’s birth mother dies and he finds himself confronting life in the real world, including his future. Otto’s filmmaker friends Bruce Fletcher and Peter Beard help him to bring his vision to life, but also learn more about his unique perspective on the world and how they can play a role in his future.
Set in Victorian London, The Puppet Asylum, is an allegorical horror biopic written and directed by Otto Baxter as a reimagining of his own life, from birth to becoming his own master.
Fusing horror, dark comedy, an evocative soundtrack and a foul-mouthed ventriloquist’s dummy, this entirely unique short film is a macabre story of a misunderstood child on a path to controlling their own life.
The film stars Paul Kaye (Pennyworth), Rebecca Callard (A Bit Of Light), Myanna Buring (The Witcher), Otto Baxter, and Ruben Reuter with the voice of Dexter Fletcher (Terminal) and Adeel Akhtar (Killing Eve), and features an original score by Ed Harcourt
The Puppet Asylum is the first original commission of this scale, written and directed by a person with Down Syndrome, to be ordered by a major British broadcaster. It is written and directed by Otto Baxter. Otto Baxter: Not A F****ing Horror Story is directed by BAFTA winners Bruce Fletcher and Peter Beard.
Otto Baxter: Not A F****ing Horror Story and The Puppet Asylum will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on September 1 and on Sky Documentaries and NOW from September 23. It will be showing at FrightFest on Monday 28 August. Get your tickets here.